Whole Works, Tracts 1 · Tract 4 · Part 1 · Section 18
¶ Of worſhipping and what is to be vnderſtand by the worde.
COncerning worſhipping or honouring (which two termes are both one) M. More Worſhip… and…are …th one.bringeth forth a difference, a diſtinction or diuiſion of Greke wordes, fayned of our ſcholemen, which of late neither vnderſtode greke, latine or hebrue, called doulia, hyperdoulia and La…ria. But the difference declareth he not, nor the properties of the wordes, but with confuſed termes leadeth you blindfolde in hys maze. As for hyperdoulia I woulde fayne we…e where he readeth of it in all the ſcripture, and whether the worſhip done to hys Lord the Cardinalles hat were doulia, hyperdoulia, or idololatria. And as for doulia and latria we fynde thē both referred vntounto God in a thouſand places.
Therefore that thou be not beguiled wyth falſhod of ſophiſticall words, vnderſtand that the wordes which the ſcripture vſeth in the worſhipping or honouring of God are theſe: louelove god, The true wordes that expreſſe the God.cleaue to God, dread, ſerue, bow, pray and call on God, beleue and truſt in God and ſuch like. Which wordes all we vſe in the worſhipping of man alſo, how be it diuerſly, and the differēce thereof doth all the ſcripture teach.
God hath created vsus and made vsus vntounto his owne likenes, and our ſauiour Chriſt hath bought vsus wyth hys bloud. And therfore are we Gods poſſeſſion of dutie and right, and Chriſtes ſeruauntes onelyonly, to wa…e on his will What it is to honour God.and pleaſure, and ought therefore to moue neither hand nor fo…e, nor any other member, eyther hart or mynde, otherwiſe then he hath appointed. God is honoured in his owne perſon, whē we receaue al things both good & bad The true honour of God.at his hand, and louelove his lawe wyth all our hartes, and beleue, hope, and long for all that he promiſeth.
THe officers that rule the worlde in What it is to honour rulers.Gods ſtede, as father, mother, maſter, huſband, Lord and Prince are honoured, when the lawe which almighty God hath committed vntounto them to rule with, is obeyed. Thy neighbour that is out of office, is honoured, when What it is to honour … mās neighbour.thou (as God hath commaunded thee) loueſt hym as thy ſelfe, counteſt hym as good as thy ſelfe, thinkeſt hym as worthy of any thing as thy ſelfe, and commeſt louingly to helpe hym at all hys neede, as thou wouldeſt be holpe thy ſelfe, becauſe God hath made him like vntounto hys owne image as well as thee, and Chriſt hath bought hym as well as thee.
If I hate the lawe, ſo I breake it in What it is to diſhonour God and diſhonour our neighbour.myne hart, and both hate & diſhonour God the maker therof. If I breake it outwardly, then I diſhonour god before the worlde, and the officer that miniſtreth it. If I hurt my neighbour, then I diſhonour my neighbour and him that made him, and him alſo that bought him wyth hys bloud. And euē ſo, if I hate my neighbour in mine hart, then I hate him that commaundeth me to louelove him and him that hath deſerued that I ſhould at the leſt way for his ſake louelove him. If I be not ready to helpe my neighbour at hys nede, To deny to helpe my neighbour is to diſhonour hym.ſo I take his due honour from him, & diſhonour him, & him that made him, and him alſo that bought him with his bloud, whoſe ſeruaunt he is. If I louelove ſuch thinges as God hath lent me and committed vntounto mine adminiſtration, ſo that I can not finde in myne hart to beſtow them on the vſes which God hath appointed me, then I diſhonour God and abuſe his creature in that I geue more honour vntounto it thē I ſhuld do, And then I make an idole of it in that I louelove it more then God and hys commaundement and then I diſhonour my neighbour from whoſe nede I withdraw it.
In like maner if the officer abuſyng his power, cōpell the ſubiect to do that To do that God forbiddeth is to diſhonour God.which God forbiddeth or to leue vndone that which God commaundeth, ſo he diſhonoureth God, in withdrawyng his ſeruaunt from him, & maketh an Idole of his owne luſtes, in that he honoureth them aboue God, & he diſhonoureth his brother in that he abuſeth hym contrary vntounto the right vſe which God hath created him for and Chriſt hath bought him for, which is to wayte on Gods cōmaundementes. For if the officer be otherwiſe mynded I true officer in the ſight of God.then this, the worſt of theſe ſubiectes is made by the hādes of him that made me, and bought with the bloud of hym that bought me, and therfore my brother, and I but his ſeruaunt onelyonly, to defend him and to kepe him in the honour that God & Chriſt hath ſet him, that no man diſhonour him: he diſhonoureth both God & man. And therto if any ſubiect thinke any otherwiſe of yt officer (though he be an Emperour) then that he is but a ſeruaunt onelyonly, to miniſter the office indifferently, he diſhonoureth the office and God that ordemed it. So that all men, what ſoeuer degree they be of are eueryevery man in his rowme, ſeruauntes to other, as the hand ſerueth the foote and eueryevery member one an other. And the aungels of heauen are alſo our brethren and very ſeruauntes for Chriſtes ſake, to defend vsus from the power of the deuils.
And finally all other creatures that All creatures are o…ed to …ue ….are neither aungels nor man, are in honour leſſe then man, and man is Lord ouer them, and they created to ſerue him, as Scripture teſtifieth, and he not to ſerue them, but only, his Lord God and his Sauiour Chriſt.