time very plain and single and nothing costly Lib. 1 Inst cap. 14. And Rabanus at large declareth that this costly and manifold Furniture of Vestments of late used in the Church was fetcht from the Jewish usage and agreeth with Aaron's apparelling almost altogether For the maintenance of the which Innocentius the Pope pronounceth boldly that all the customs of the Old Law be not abolished that we might in such Apparel of Christians the more willingly become Jewish This is noted not against Churches and Temples which are most necessary and ought to have their due use and honour as is in another Homily for that purpose declared nor against the convenient cleanness and ornaments thereof but against the sumptuousness and abuses of the Temples and Churches For it is a Church or Temple also that glittereth with no Marble shineth with no Gold nor Silver glistereth with no Pearls nor precious Stones but with plainness and frugality signifieth no proud Doctrine nor People but humble frugal and nothing esteeming earthly and outward things but gloriously decked with inward Ornaments according as the Prophet declareth saying The Kings Daughter is altogether glorious inwardly Now concerning excessive decking of Images and Idols with Painting gilding adorning with precious Vestures Pearl and Stone what is it else but for the further povocation and enticement to spiritual Fornication to deck spiritual Harlots most costly and wantonly which the Idolatrous Church understandeth well enough For she being indeed not only an Harlot as the Scripture calleth her but also a foul filthy old withered Harlot for she is indeed of ancient years and understanding her lack of natural and true Beauty and great loathsomness which of her self she hath doth after the custom of such Harlots paint her self and deck and tire her self with Gold Pearl Stone and all kind of precious Jewels that she shining with the outward beauty and glory of them may please the foolish phantasie of fond Lovers and so entice them to spiritual Fornication with her Who if they saw her I will not say naked but in simple Apparel would abhor her as the foulest and filthiest Harlot that ever was seen According as appeareth by the description of the garnishing of the great Strumpet of all strumpets the Mother of Whoredom Apoc. 17. set forth by St. John in his Revelation who by her glory provoked the Princes of the Earth to commit Whoredom with her Whereas on the contrary part the true Church of God as a chaste Matron espoused as the Scripture teacheth to one Husband our Saviour Jesus Christ whom alone she is content only to please and serve and looketh not to delight the eyes or phantasies of any other strange Lovers or Wooers is content with her natural Ornaments not doubting by such sincere simplicity best to please him who can well skill of the difference between a painted Visage and true natural Beauty And concerning such glorious gildings and decking of Images both Gods Word written in the tenth Chapter of the Prophet Jeremy Jer. 10. and St. Hierom's Commentaries upon the same are most worthy to be noted First the words of the Scripture be these The work-man with his Ax hewed the timber out of the wood with the work of his hands he decked it with gold and silver he joyned it with nails and pins and the stroke of an hammer that it might hold together They be made smooth as the Palm and they cannot speak if they be born they remove for they cannot go Fear ye them not for they can neither do evil nor good Thus saith the Prophet Upon which Text St. Hierome hath these words This is the description of Idols which the Gentiles worship their matter is vile and corruptible And whereas the Artificer is mortal the things he maketh must needs be corruptible he decketh it with Silver and Gold that with the glittering or shining of both Metals he may deceive the simple Which Error indeed hath passed over from the Gentiles that we should judge Religion to stand in Riches And by and by after he saith They have the beauty of Metals and be beautified by the Art of Painting but good or profit is there none in them And shortly after again They make great promises and devise an Image of vain worshipping of their own phantasies they make great brags to deceive every simple body they dull and amaze the Vnderstanding of the unlearned as it were with golden sentences and eloquence shining with the brightness of Silver And of their own devisers and makers are these Images advanced and magnified in the which is no utility nor profit at all and the worshipping of the which properly pertaineth to the Gentiles and Heathen and such as know not God Thus far of St. Jerome's words Whereupon you may note as well his judgment of Images themselves as also of the painting gilding and decking of them that it is an Error which came from the Gentiles that it perswadeth Religion to remain in Riches that it amazeth and deceiveth the simple and unlearned with golden sentences and silver-shining eloquence and that it appertaineth properly to the Gentiles and Heathens and such as know not God Wherefore the having painting gilding and decking of Images by St. Jerome's judgment is erroneous seducing and bringing into Error specially the simple and unlearned heathenish and void of the knowledge of God Surely the Prophet Daniel in the eleventh Chapter declareth such sumptuous decking of Images with Gold Silver and precious Stones to be a token of Antichrists Kingdom who as the Prophet fore-sheweth shall worship God with such gorgeous things Now usually such excessive adorning and decking of Images hath risen and been maintained either of Offerings provoked by Superstition and given in Idolatry or of Spoils Robberies Usury or Goods otherwise unjustly gotten whereof wicked men have given part to the Images or Saints as they call them that they might be pardoned of the whole as of divers Writings and old Monuments concerning the cause and end of certain great gifts may well appear And indeed such Mony so wickedly gotten is most meet to be put to so wicked a use And that which they take to be amends for the whole before God is more abominable in his sight than both the wicked getting and the more wicked spending of all the rest For how the Lord alloweth such gifts he declareth evidently in the Prophet Isaiah saying I saith the Lord do love judgment and I hate spoil and raveny offered in Sacrifice which the very Gentiles understood Dialog de legib 10. For Plato sheweth That such men as suppose that God doth pardon wicked men if they give part of their spoils and rapine to him take him to be like a Dog that would be entreated and hired with part of the Prey to suffer the Wolves to worry the Sheep And in case the Goods wherewith Images be decked were justly gotten Lib. 2. inst cap. 4. yet it is extream madness so
and continue in are the Bodies and Minds of true Christians and the chosen People of God according to the Doctrine of the Holy Scripture declared in the First Epistle to the Corinthians Know ye not saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 3. that ye be the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you If any Man defile the Temple of God him will God destroy For the Temple of God is Holy which ye are And again in the same Epistle Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost dwelling in you whom ye have given you of God 1 Cor. 6. and that ye be not your own For ye are dearly bought Glorifie ye now therefore God in your Body and in your Spirit which are Gods And therefore as our Saviour Christ teacheth in the Gospel of Saint John John 4. they that worship God the Father in Spirit and Truth in what place soever they do it worship him aright For such Worshippers doth God the Father look for For God is a Spirit and those that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit and Truth saith our Saviour Christ Yet all this notwithstanding the material Church or Temple is a place appointed as well by the usage and continual Examples expressed in the Old Testament as in the New for the People of God to resort together unto there to hear Gods Holy Word to call upon his Holy Name to give him thanks for his innumerable and unspeakable benefits bestowed upon us and duly and truly to celebrate his Holy Sacraments in the unfeigned doing and accomplishing of the which standeth that True and Right Worshipping of God aforementioned and the same Church or Temple is by the Holy Scriptures both of the Old Testament and New called the House and Temple of the Lord for the peculiar service there done to his Majesty by his People and for the effectuous presence of his Heavenly Grace wherewith he by his said Holy Word endueth his People so there assembled And to the said House or Temple of God at all times by common order appointed are all People that be godly indeed bound with all diligence to resort unless by sickness or other most urgent causes they be letted therefore And all the same so resorting thither ought with all quietness and reverence there to behave themselves in doing their bounden duty and service to Almighty God in the Congregation of his Saints All which things are evident to be proved by God's Holy Word as hereafter shall plainly appear And first of all I will declare by the Scriptures that it is called as it is indeed the House of God and Temple of the Lord. He that Sweareth by the Temple saith our Saviour Christ John 2. Matth. 23. John 2. Sweareth by it and him that dwelleth therein meaning God the Father which he also expresseth plainly in the Gospel of Saint John saying Do not make the House of my Father the House of Merchandize And in the Book of the Psalms Psal 5. the Prophet David saith I will enter into thine House I will Worship in thy Holy Temple in thy Fear And it is almost in infinite places of the Scripture especially in the Prophets and Book of Psalms called the House of God or House of the Lord. Somtimes it is named the Tabernacle of the Lord Exod. 25. and somtimes the Sanctuary that is to say the Holy Place or House of the Lord. And it is likewise called the House of Prayer Levit. 19. 3 Reg. 8 2 Par. 6. as Solomon who builded the Temple of the Lord at Jerusalem doth oft call it the House of the Lord in the which the Lords Name should be called upon Isaiah 56. Matth. 12. Matth. 21. Mark 11. Luke 19. Luke 18. Luke 2. And Isaiah in the Fifty sixth Chapter My House shall be called the House of Prayer amongst all Nations Which Text our Saviour Christ alledgeth in the New Testament as doth appear in Three of the Evangelists and in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican which went to pray in which Parable our Saviour Christ saith They went up into the Temple to pray And Anna the Holy Widow and Prophetess served the Lord in Fasting and Prayer in the Temple Night and Day And in the Story of the Acts it is mentioned Acts 3. how that Peter and John went up into the Temple at the Hour of Prayer And Saint Paul praying in the Temple at Jerusalem was wrapt in the Spirit and did see Jesus speaking unto him And as in all convenient places Prayer may be used of the Godly privately So it is most certain that the Church or Temple is the due and appointed place for common and publick Prayer Now that it is likewise the place of Thanksgiving unto the Lord for his innumerable and unspeakable benefits bestowed upon us appeareth notably at the latter end of the Gospel of Saint Luke Luke 24. Acts 22. and the beginning of the Story of the Acts where it is written that the Apostles and Disciples after the Ascension of the Lord continued with one accord daily in the Temple always praising and blessing God And it is likewise declared in the First Epistle to the Corinthians Cor. 11. that the Church is the due place appointed for the use of the Sacraments It remaineth now to be declared that the Church or Temple is the place where the lively Word of God and not Man's Inventions ought to be Read and Taught and that the People are bound thither with all diligence to resort And this proof likewise to be made by the Scriptures as hereafter shall appear In the Story of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 13. we read that Paul and Barnabas Preached the Word of God in the Temples of the Jews at Salamine And when they came to Antiochia they entred on the Sabbath-day into the Synagogue or Church and sate down and after the Lesson or Reading of the Law and the Prophets the Ruler of the Temple sent unto them saying Ye Men and Brethren if any of you have any Exhortation to make unto the People say it And so Paul standing up and making silence with his Hand said Ye Men that be Israelites and ye that fear God give Ear c. Preaching to them a Sermon out of the Scriptures as there at large appeareth And in the same Story of the Acts the Seventeenth Chapter is testified how Paul preached Christ out of the Scriptures at Thessalonica And in the Fifteenth Chapter James the Apostle in that Holy Council and Assembly of his Fellow Apostles saith Acts 15. Moses of old time hath in every City certain that preach him in the Synagogues or Temples where he is read every Sabbath-day By these places ye may see the usage of Reading the Scriptures of the the Old Testament among the Jews in their Synagogues every Sabbath-day and Sermons usually made upon the same How much more then is it
found And as concerning Worldly commodities we have a sure promise of our Saviour Christ Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof and all these things shall withal be given unto you And thus we have in the First Part of this Homily declared by God's Word that the Temple or Church is the House of the Lord for that the Service of the Lord as Teaching and Hearing of his Holy Word calling upon his Holy Name giving Thanks to him for his great and innumerable Benefits and due ministring of his Sacraments is there used And it is likewise declared by the Scriptures how all Godly and Christian Men and Women ought at times appointed with diligence to resort unto the House of the Lord there to serve him and to glorifie him as he is most worthy and we most bound to whom be all Glory and Honour World without end Amen The Second Part of the Homily of the right Use of the Church IT was declared in the First Part of this Homily by God's Word that the Temple or Church is the House of the Lord for that the Service of the Lord as Teaching and Hearing his Holy Word calling upon his Holy Name giving Thanks to him for his great and innumerable Benefits and due ministring of the Sacraments is there used And it is likewise already declared by the Scriptures how all Godly and Christian Men and Women ought at times appointed with diligence to resort unto the House of the Lord there to Serve him and to Glorifie him as he is most worthy and we most bounden Now it remaineth in this Second Part of the Homily concerning the right use of the Temple of God to be likewise declared by God's Word with what quietness silence and reverence those that resort to the House of the Lord ought there to use and behave themselves It may teach us sufficiently how well it doth become us Christian Men reverently to use the Church and Holy House of our Prayers by considering in how great reverence and veneration the Jews in the old Law had their Temple which appeared by sundry places whereof I will note unto you certain In the 26th of Matthew it is laid to our Saviour Christ's charge before a Temporal Judge as a matter worthy death by the two false witnesses that he had said He could destroy the Temple of God and in three days build it again not doubting but if they might make Men to believe that he had said any thing against the Honour and Majesty of the Temple he should seem to all Men most worthy of death Acts 21. And in the 21st of the Acts when the Jews found Paul in the Temple They laid hands upon him crying Ye Men Israelites help this is that Man who teacheth all Men every where against the People and the Law and against this place Besides that he hath brought the Gentiles into the Temple and hath prophaned this holy place Behold how they took it for a like offence to speak against the Temple of God as to speak against the Law of God and how they judged it convenient that none but Godly Persons and the true worshippers of God should enter into the Temple of God And the same fault is laid to Paul's charge by Tertullus an eloquent Man and by the Jews in the 24th of the Acts Acts 24. before a Temporal Judge as a matter worthy of death that he went about to pâ—llute the Temple of God And in the 27th of Matthew Matth. 27. when the chief Priests had received again the pieces of Silver at Judas's Hand they said It is not lawful to put them into Corban which was the Treasure-House of the Temple because it is the price of Blood So that they could not abide that not only any unclean Person but also any other dead thing that was judged unclean should once come into the Temple or any place thereto belonging And to this end is Saint Paul's saying in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 6. the Sixth Chapter to be applyed What Fellowship is there betwixt Righteousness and Vnrighteousness Or what Communion between Light and Darkness Or what Concord between Christ and Belial Or what part can the Faithful have with the Vnfaithful Or what agreement can there be between the Temple of God and Images Which sentence although it be chiefly referred to the Temple of the Mind of the Godly yet seeing that the Similitude and Pith of the argument is taken from the material Temple it enforceth that no Ungodliness specially of Images or Idols may be suffered in the Temple of God which is the place of worshipping God And therefore can no more be suffered to stand there than Light can agree with Darkness or Christ with Belial For that the true worshipping of God and the worshipping of Images are most contrary And the setting of them up in the place of Worshipping may give great occasion to the Worshipping of them But to turn to the Reverence that the Jews had to their Temple You will say that they Honoured it Superstitiously and a great deal too much crying out The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord Jer. 7. being notwithstanding most wicked in Life and be therefore must justly reproved of Jeremiah the Prophet of the Lord. Truth it is that they were Superstitiously given to the Honouring of their Temple But I would we were not as far too short from the due Reverence of the Lord's House as they overshot themselves therein And if the Prophet justly reprehended them hearken also what the Lord requireth at our Hands that we may know whether we be blame-worthy or no. It is written in Ecclesiastes the Fourth Chapter Eccles â— When thou dost enter into the House of God saith he take heed to thy Feet draw near that thou must hear For Obedience is much more worth than the Sacrifice of Fools which know not what evil they do Speak nothing râ—shly there neither let thâ—ne Heart be swift to utter words before God For God is in Heaven and thou art upon the Earth therefore let thy words be few Note welbeloved what quietness in gesture and behaviour what silence in talk and words is required in the House of God for so he calleth it See whether they take heed to their Feet as they be here warned which never cease from uncomely walking and jetting up and down and overthwart the Church shewing an evident signification of notable contempt both of God and all good Men there present And what heed they take to their Tongues and Speech which do not only speak words swiftly and rashly before the Lord which they be here forbidden but also oftentimes speak Filthily Covetously and Ungodlily talking of matters scarce honest or fit for the Ale-House or Tavern in the House of the Lord little considering that they speak before God who dwelleth in Heaven as is here declared when they be but Vermine here
one into the Heresie of the Anthropomorphites thinking God to have Hands and Feet and to sit as a Man doth which they that do saith St. Augustine in his Book De fide symbolo cap. 7. fall into that Sacriledge which the Apostle detesteth 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 erect such an Image to God in a Temple and much more wickedness to erect such an one in his Heart by believing of it But to this they reply that this reason notwithstanding Images of Christ may be made for that he took upon him flesh and became Man It were well that they would first grant that they have hitherto done most wickedly in making and maintaining of Images of God and of the Trinity in every place whereof they are by force of God's Word and good Reason convicted and then to descend to the Tryal for other Images Now concerning their Objection that an Image of Christ may be made the Answer is easie For in God's Word and Religion it is not only required whether a thing may be done or no But also whether it be lawful and agreeable to God's Word to be done or no. For all wickedness may be and is daily done which yet ought not to be done And the words of the reasons above alledged out of the Scriptures are that Images neither ought nor can be made unto God Wherfore to reply that Images of Christ may be made except withal it be proved that it is lawful for them to be made is rather than to hold ones peace to say somewhat but nothing to the purpose And yet it appeareth that no Image can be made of Christ but a lying Image as the Scripture peculiarly calleth Images lies for Christ is God and Man Seeing therefore Rom. 1. that for the Godhead which is the most excellent part no Images can be made it is falsly called the Image of Christ Wherefore Images of Christ be not only defects but also lies Which reason serveth also for the Images of Saints whose Souls the most excellent parts of them can by no Images be presented and expressed Wherefore they be no Images of Saints whose Souls reign in joy with God but of the Bodies of Saints which as yet lie putrefied in the Graves Furthermore no true Image can be made of Christ's Body for it is unknown now of what Form and Countenance he was And there be in Greece and at Rome and in other places divers Images of Christ and none of them like to other and yet every of them affirmeth that theirs is the true and lively Image of Christ which cannot possibly be Wherefore as soon as an Image of Christ is made by and by is a Lye made of him which by God's Word is forbidden Which also is true of the Images of any Saints of Antiquity for that it is unknown of what Form and Countenance they were Wherefore seeing that Religion ought to be grounded upon Truth Images which cannot be without Lies ought not to be made or put to any use of Religion or to be placed in Churches and Temples places peculiarly appointed to true Religion and Service of God And thus much that no true Image of God our Saviour Christ or his Saints can be made Wherewithal is also confuted that their allegation that Images be the Lay-mens Books For it is evident by that which is afore-rehearsed that they teach no things of God of our Saviour Christ and of his Saints but Lies and Errors Wherefore either they be no Books or if they be they be false and lying Books the teachers of all Error And now if it should be admitted and granted that an Image of Christ could truly be made yet it is unlawful that it should be made yea or that tho Image of any Saint should be made specially to be set up in Temples to the great and unavoidable danger of Idolatry as hereafter shall be proved And first concerning the Image of Christ that though it might be had truly yet it were unlawful to have it in Churches publickly it is a notable place in Irenaeus Lib. 1. c. 24. who reproved the Hereticks called Gnostici for that they carried about the Image of Christ made truly after his own proportion in Pilate's time as they said and therefore more to be esteemed than those lying Images of him which we now have The which Gnostici also used to set Garlands upon the Head of the said Image to shew their affection to it But to go to Gods word Be not I pray you the words of the Scriptures plain Beware lest thou being deceived Levit. 26. Deut. 5. Sculptile Fusile Similitudo Deut. 27. make to thy self to say to any use of Religion any graven Image or any Similitude of any thing c. And Cursed be the Man that maketh a Graven or Molten Image abomination before the Lord c. Be not our Images such Be not our Images of Christ and his Saints either Carved or Molten or Cast or Similitudes of Men and Women It is happy that we have not followed the Gentiles in making of Images of Beasts Fishes and Vermines also Notwithstanding the Image of an Horse as also the Image of the Ass that Christ rode on have in divers places been brought into the Church and Temple of God And is not that which is written in the beginning of the Lords most Holy Law and daily read unto you most evident also Thou shalt not make any likeness of any thing in Heaven above in Earth beneath or in the Water under the Earth c. Could any more be forbidden and said than this Either of the kinds of Images which be either Carved Molten or otherwise Similitudes Or of things whereof Images are forbidden to be made Are not all things either in Heaven Earth or Water under the Earth Exod. 20. And be not our Images of Christ and his Saints likenesses of things in Heaven Earth or in the Water If they continue in their former answer that thâ—â—â— prohibitions concern the Idols of the Gentiles and not ouâ— Images First that answer is already confuted concerning the Images of God and the Trinity at large and concerning the Images of Christ also by Irenaeus And that the Law of God is likewise to be understood against all our Images as well of Christ as his Saints in Temples and Churches appeareth further by the Judgment of the old Doctors and Primitive Church Epiphanius's renting a painted Cloth wherein was the Picture of Christ or of some Saint affirming it to be against our Religion that any such Image should be had in the Temple or Church as is before at large declared judged that not only Idols of the Gentiles but that all Images of Christ and his Saints also were forbidden by Gods Word and our Religion Lactantius affirming it to be certain that no true Religion can
be where any Image or Picture is as is before declared judged that as well all Images and Pictures as the Idols of the Gentiles were forbidden else would he not so generally have spoken and pronounced of them And S. Augustine as is before alledged Lib. 4. c. 3. de Civ Dei in Ps 36. 113. greatly alloweth M. Varro affirming that Religion is most pure without Images and saith himself Images be of more force to crook an unhappy Soul than to teach and instruct it And he saith further Every Child yea every Beast knoweth that it is not God that they see Wherefore then doth the Holy Ghost so often admonish us of that which all Men know Whereunto S. Augustine answereth us For saith he when Images are placed in Temples and set in Honourable Sublimity and begin once to be Worshipped forthwith breedeth the most vile affection of Errour This is S. Augustine's Judgment of Images in Churches that by and by they breed Errour and Idolatry The Christian Emperors the Learned Bishops all the Learned Men of Asia Greece and Spain assembled in Councils at Constantinople and in Spain Seven and Eight Hundred years ago and more condemning and destroying all Images as well of Christ as of the Saints set up by the Christians as is before at large declared testifie that they understood Gods Word so that it forbad our Images as well as the Idols of the Gentiles Sap. 1â— Origen cont Celsum l. â— 8. Cyprianus contra Demetrium And 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 in the Primitive Church God grant they may in the end be destroyed For all Christians in the Primitive Church as Origen against Celsus Cyprian also and Arnobius do testifie were sore charged and complained on that they had no Altars nor Images Wherefore did they not I pray you conform themselves to the Gentiles in making of Images but for lack of them sustained their heavy displeasure if they had taken it to be lawful by Gods Word to have Images It is evident therefore that they took all Images to be unlawful in the Church or Temple of God and therefore had none though the Gentiles therefore were most highly displeased following this rule Acts 5. We must obey God rather than Men. And Zephyrus in his Notes upon the Apology of Tertullian gathereth that all his vehement persuasion should be but cold except we know this once for all that Christian Men in his time did most hate Images with their Ornaments And Irenaeus as is above declared reproveth the Hereticks called Gnostici for that they carried about the Image of Christ And therefore the Primitive Church which is specially to be followed as most incorrupt and pure had publickly in Churches neither Idols of the Gentiles nor any other Images as things directly forbidden by Gods Word And thus it is declared by Gods Word the Sentences of the Doctors and the Judgment of the Primitive Church which was most pure and sincere that all Images as well ours as the Idols of the Gentiles be by Gods Word forbidden and therefore unlawful specially in Temples and Churches Now if they as their custom is flee to this answer that Gods word forbiddeth not absolutely all Images to be made but that they should not be made to be Worshipped and that therefore we may have Images so we worship them not for that they be things indifferent which may be abused or well used Which seemeth also to be the Judgment of Damascene and Gregory the first as is above declared And this is one of their chief Allegations for the maintenance of Images Damas l. 4. de fide orth c. 17. Greg. in Epist ad Serenum Massil which have been alledged since Gregory the First his time Well then we be come to their Second Allegation which in part we would not stick to grant them For we are not so Superstitious or Scrupulous that we do ahhor either Flowers wrought in Carpets Hangings and other Arras either Images of Princes Printed or Stamped in their Coins which when Christ did see in a Roman Coin we read not that he reprehended it neither do we condemn the Arts of Painting and Image-making as wicked of themselves But we would admit and grant them that Images used for no Religion or Superstition rather we mean Images of none Worshipped nor in danger to be Worshipped of any may be suffered But Images placed publickly in Temples cannot possibly be without danger of Worshipping and Idolatry wherefore they are not publickly to be had or suffered in Temples and Churches The Jews to whom this Law was first given Origen cont Celsum l. 4. Joseph antiq l. 17. c. 8. l. 18. c. 5. l. â—8 c. 15. and yet being a Moral Commandment and not Ceremonial as all Doctors interpret it it bindeth us as well as them the Jews I say who should have the true sense and meaning of Gods Law so peculiarly given unto them neither had in the beginning any Images publickly in their Temple as Origen and Josephus at large declare neither after the restitution of the Temple would by any means consent to Herod Pilate or Petronius that Images should be placed only in the Temple at Jerusalem although no Worshipping of Images was required at their Hands but rather offered themselves to the Death than to assent that Images should once be placed in the Temple of God neither would they suffer any Image-maker among them And Origen added this cause lest their Minds should be plucked from GOD to the Contemplation of Earthly Things And they are much commended for this earnest zeal in maintaining of GOD'S Honour and true Religion And Truth it is that the Jews and Turks who abhor Images and Idols as directly forbidden by GOD'S Word will never come to the Truth of our Religion whilst the stumbling blocks of Images remain amongst us and lie in their way If they object yet the brasen Serpent which Moses did set up or the Images of the Cherubims or any other Images which the Jews had in their Temple the answer is easie We must in Religion obey Gods General Law which bindeth all Men and not follow Examples of particular Dispensation which be no warrants for us Else we may by the same reason resume Circumcision and Sacrificing of Beasts and other Rites permitted to the Jews Neither can those Images of Cherubims set in secret where no Man might come nor behold be any example for our publick setting up of Images in Churches and Temples But to let the Jews go Where they say that Images so they be not Worshipped as things indifferent may be tolerable in Temples and Churches we infer and say for the adversative that all our Images of God our Saviour Christ and his Saints publickly set up in Temples and Churches places peculiarly appointed to the true Worshipping of God be
and the warnings and remedies hard to know or come by if the stumbling-blocks lie continually in the way and poison be ready at hand every where and warnings and remedies but seldom given and if all men be more ready of themselves to stumble and be offended than to be warned all men more ready to drink of the poison than to taste of the remedy as is before partly and shall hereafter more fully be declared and so in fine the poison continually and deeply drunk of many the remedy seldom and faintly tasted of by a few How can it be but that infinite of the weak and infirm shall be offended infinite by ruine shall break their necks infinite by deadly venom be poisoned in their souls And how is the charity of God or love of our Neighbours in our hearts then if when we may remove such dangerous stumbling-blocks such pestilent poisons we will not remove them What shall I say of them which will lay stumbling-blocks where before there was none and set snares for the feet nay for the souls of weak and simple ones and work the danger of their everlasting destruction for whom our Saviour Christ shed his most precious Blood where better it were that the Arts of Painting Plaistering Carving Graving and Founding had never been found nor used than one of them whose souls in the sight of God are so precious should by occasion of Image or Picture perish and be lost And thus is it declared that preaching cannot possibly stay Idolatry if Images be set up publickly in Temples and Churches And as true is it that no other remedy as writing against Idolatry Councils assembled Decrees made against it severe Laws likewise and Proclamations of Princes and Emperours neither extream Punishments and Penalties nor any other remedy could or can be possibly devised for the avoiding of Idolatry if Images be publickly set up and suffered For concerning writing against Images and Idolatry to them committed there hath been alledged unto you in the Second Part of this Treatise a great many places out of Tertullian Origen Lactantius S. Augustine Epiphanius S. Ambrose Clemens and divers other learned and holy Bishops and Doctors of the Church And besides these all Histories Ecclesiastical and Books of other godly and learned Bishops and Doctors are full of notable examples and sentences against Images and the worshipping of them And as they have most earnestly written so did they sincerely and most diligently in their time teach and preach according to their writings and examples For they were then preaching Bishops and more often seen in Pulpits than in Princes Palaces more often occupied in his Legacy who said Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to all men than in Embassages and Affairs of Princes in this World And as they were most zealous and diligent so were they of excellent learning and godliness of life and by both of great Authority and Credit with the People and so of more force and likelihood to perswade the People and the People more like to believe and follow their Doctrine But if their Preachings could not help much less could their Writings which do but come to the knowledge of a few that be learned in comparison to continual Preaching whereof the whole multitude is partaker Neither did the Old Fathers Bishops and Doctors severally only by Preaching and Writing but also together great numbers of them assembled in Synods and Councils make Decrees and Ecclesiastical Laws against Images and the worshipping of them neither did they so once or twice but divers times and in divers Ages and Countries assembled Synods and Councils and made severe Decrees against Images and worshipping of them as hath been at large in the Second Part of this Homily before declared But all their Writing Preaching assembling in Councils decreeing and making of Laws Ecclesiastical could nothing help either to pull down Images to whom Idolatry was committed or against Idolatry whilst Images stood For those blind Books and dumb School-masters I mean Images and Idols for they call them Lay-mens Books and School-masters by their carved and painted Writings teaching and preaching Idolatry prevailed against all their written Books and preaching with lively voice as they call it Well if Preaching and Writing could not keep men from worshipping of Images and Idolatry if Pen and Words could not do it you would think that Penalty and Sword might do it I mean that Princes by severe Laws and Punishments might stay this unbridled affection of all men to Idolatry though Images were set up and suffered But experience proveth that this can no more help against Idolatry than Writing and Preaching For Christian Emperors whose Authority ought of reason and by Gods Law to be greatest above eight in number and six of them successively reigning one after another as is in the Histories before rehearsed making most severe Laws and Proclamations against Idols and Idolatry Images and the worshipping of Images and executing most grievous punishments yea the penalty of Death upon the maintainers of Images and upon Idolaters and Image-worshippers could not bring to pass that either Images once set up might throughly be destroyed or that men should refrain from the worshipping of them being set up And what think you then will come to pass if men of learning should teach the People to make them and should maintain the setting up of them as things necessary in Religion To conclude it appeareth evidently by all stories and writings and experience in times past that neither Preaching neither Writing neither the consent of the Learned nor authority of the Godly nor the decrees of Councils neither the Laws of Princes nor extream punishments of the Offenders in that behalf nor any other remedy or means can help against Idolatry if Images be suffered publickly And it is truly said that times past are School-masters of Wisdom to us that follow and live after Therefore if in times past the most vertuous and best learned the most diligent also and in number almost infinite ancient Fathers Bishops and Doctors with their Writing Preaching Industry Earnestness Authority Assemblies and Councils could do nothing against Images and Idolatry to Images once set up what can we neither in learning nor holiness of life neither in diligence neither in authority to be compared with them but men in contempt and of no estimation as the World goeth now few also in number in so great a multitude and malice of men What can we do I say or bring to pass to the stay of Idolatry or worshipping of Images if they be allowed to stand publickly in Tempâ—es and Churches And if so many so mighty Emperors by so severe Laws and Proclamations so rigorous and extream Punishments and Executions could not stay the People from setting up and worshipping of Images what will ensue think you when men shall commend them as necessary Books of the Lay-men Let us therefore of these latter days learn this Lesson
the living God giving the honour due unto him which made them when they were nothing and to our Saviour Christ who redeemed them being lost to the dead and dumb Idol the work of mans hand which never did nor can do any thing for them no is not able to stir nor once to move and therefore worse than a vile Worm which can move and creep The excellent King Josias also did take himself no hurt of Images and Idols for he did know well what they were did he therefore because of his own knowledge let Idols and Images stand much less did he set any up Or rather did he not by his knowledge and authority also succour the ignorance of such as did not know what they were by utter taking away of all such stumbling-blocks as might be occasion of ruine to his People and Subjects Will they because a few took no hurt by Images or Idols break the General Law of God Thou shalt make to thee no similitude c They might as well because Moses was not seduced by Jethro's Daughter nor Boaz by Ruth being strangers reason that all the Jews might break the general Law of God forbidding his People to joyn their Children in Marriage with strangers lest they seduce their Children that they should not follow God Wherefore they which thus reason though it be not expedient yet it is lawful to have Images publickly and do prove that lawfulness by a few picked and chosen men if they object that indifferently to all men which a very few can have without hurt and offence they seem to take the multitude for vile souls as he saith in Virgil of whose loss and safeguard no reputation is to be had for whom yet Christ paid as dearly as for the mightiest Prince or the wisest and best learned in the Earth And they that will have it generally to be taken for indifferent that a very few take no hurt of it though infinite multitudes besides perish thereby shew that they put little difference between the multitudes of Christians and brute Beasts whose danger they do so little esteem Besides this if they be Bishops or Parsons or otherwise having charge of mens Consciences that thus reason It is lawful to have Images publickly though it be not expedient what manner of Pastors shew they themselves to be to their Flock which thrust unto them that which they themselves confess not to be expedient for them but to the utter mine of the souls committed to their charge for whom they shall give a strict account before the Prince of Pastors at the last day For indeed to object to the weak and ready to fall of themselves such stumbling-blocks is a thing not only not expedient but unlawful yea and most wicked also Wherefore it is to be wondred how they can call Images set up in Churches and Temples to no profit or benefit of any and to so great peril and danger yea hurt and destruction of many or rather infinite things indifferent Is not the publick setting up of them rather a snare for all men and the tempting of God I beseech these reasoners to call to mind their own accustomed Ordinance and Decree whereby they determined that the Scripture though by God himself commanded to be known of all Men Women and Children should not be read of the simple nor had in the vulgar Tongue for that as they said it was dangerous by bringing the simple People into Errors Deut. 31. And will they not forbid Images to be set up in Churches and Temples which are not commanded but forbidden most strictly by God but let them still be there yea and maintain them also seeing the People are brought not into danger only but indeed into most abominable Errors and detestable Idolatry thereby Shall Gods Word by God commanded to be read unto all and known of all for danger of Heresie as they say be shut up and Idols and Images notwithstanding they be forbidden by God and notwithstanding the danger of Idolatry by them shall they yet be set up suffered and maintained in Churches and Temples O worldly and fleshly wisdom even bent to maintain the inventions and traditions of men by carnal Reason and by the same to disanul or deface the Holy Ordinances Laws and Honour of the Eternal God who is to be honoured and praised for ever Amen Now it remaineth for the conclusion of this Treatise to declare as well the abuse of Churches and Temples by too costly and sumptuous decking and adorning of them as also the lewd painting gilding and clothing of Idols and Images and so to conclude the whole Treatise Tertul. Apol. cap. 39. In Tertullian's time an hundred and threescore years after Christ Christians had none other Temples but common Houses whither they for the most part secretly resorted And so far off was it that they had before his time any goodly or gorgeous decked Temples Euseb lib. 5. Eccl. Hist that Laws were made in Antonius Verus and Commodus the Emperors times that no Christians should dwell in Houses come in publick baths or be seen in Streets or any where abroad and that if they were once accused to be Christians they should by no means be suffered to escape As was practised on Apollonius a Noble Senator of Rome who being accused of his own Bondman and Slave that he was a Christian could neither by his defence and apology Hieronymus learnedly and eloquently written and read publickly in the Senate nor in respect that he was a Citizen nor for the dignity of his Order nor for the vileness and unlawfulness of his accuser being his own Slave by likelihood of malice moved to forge lies against his Lord nor for other respect or help be delivered from death So that Christians were then driven to dwell in Caves and Dens so far off was it that they had any publick Temples adorned and decked as they now be which is here rehearsed to the confutation of those which report such glorious glossed Fables of the goodly and gorgeous Temple that St. Peter Linus Cletus and those thirty Bishops their Successors had at Rome until the time of the Emperor Constantine and which St. Policarp should have in Asia or Irenaeus in France by such lies contrary to all true Histories to maintain the superfluous gilding and decking of Temples now adays wherein they put almost the whole sum and pith of our Religion But in those times the World was won to Christendom not by gorgeous gilded and painted Temples of Christians which had scarcely Houses to dwell in but by the godly and as it were golden minds and firm faith of such as in all Adversity and Persecution professed the truth of our Religion And after these times in Maximinian and Constantius the Emperors Proclamation the places where Christians resorted to publick Prayer were called Conventicles And in Galerius Maximinus the Emperor's Epistle they are called Oratories and Dominicae to say places dedicated to
I pray you when they have the same Books at home with them run on Pilgrimage to seek like Books at Rome Compostella or Jerusalem to be taught by them when they have the like to learn at home Do men reverence some Books and despise and set light by other of the same sort Do men kneel before their Books light Candles at Noon-time burn Incense offer up Gold and Silver and other Gifts to their Books Do men either feign or believe Miracles to be wrought by their Books I am sure that the New Testament of our Saviour Jesus Christ containing the Word of Life is a more lively express and true Image of our Saviour than all carved graven molten and painted Images in the World be and yet none of all these things be done to that Book or Scripture of the Gospel of our Saviour which be done to Images or Pictures the Books and Scriptures of Lay-men and Idiots as they call them Wherefore call them what they list it is most evident by their deeds that they make of them no other Books nor Scripture than such as teach most filthy and horrible Idolatry as the users of such Books daily prove by continual practising the same O Books and Scriptures in the which the devilish School-master Satan hath penned the lewd Lessons of wicked Idolatry for his dastardly Disciples and Scholars to behold read and learn to Gods most high dishonour and their most horrible Damnation Have not we been much bound think you to those which should have taught us the truth out of Gods Book and his Holy Scripture that they have shut up that Book and Scripture from us and none of us so bold as once to open it or read in it and instead thereof to spread us abroad these goodly carved and gilded Books and painted Scriptures to teach us such good and godly Lessons Have not they done well after they ceased to stand in Pulpits themselves and to teach the People committed to their instruction keeping silence of Gods Word and become dumb Dogs as the Prophet calleth them to set up in their stead on every pillar and corner of the Church such goodly Doctors as dumb but more wicked than themselves be We need not to complain of the lack of one dumb Parson having so many dumb devilish Vicars I mean these Idols and painted Puppets to teach in their stead Now in the mean season whilst the dumb and dead Idols stand thus decked and cloathed contrary to Gods Law and Commandment the poor Christian People the lively Images of God commended to us so tenderly by our Saviour Christ as most dear to him stand naked shivering for cold and their Teeth chattering in their heads and no man covereth them are pined with Hunger and Thirst and no man giveth them a penny to refresh them whereas pounds be ready at all times contrary to Gods will to deck and trim dead stocks and stones which neither feel Cold Hunger nor Thirst Clemens hath a notable sentence concerning this matter saying thus That Serpent the Devil doth by the mouth of certain men utter these words We for the honour of the invisible God do worship visible Images which doubtless is most false For if you will truly honour the Image of God you shall by doing well to man honour the true Image of God in him For the Image of God is in every man But the likeness of God is not in every one but in those only which have a godly Heart and pure Mind If you will therefore truly honour the Image of God we do declare to you the truth that ye do well to man who is made after the Image of God that you give honour and reverence to him and refresh the hungry with meat the thirsty with drink the naked with clothes the sick with attendance the stranger harbourless with lodging the Prisoners with necessaries and this shall be accounted as truly bestowed upon God And these things are so directly appertaining to Gods Honour that whosoever doth not this shall seem to have reproached and done villany to the Image of God For what honour of God is this to run to Images of stock and stone and to honour vain and dead figures of God and to despise man in whom is the true Image of God And by and by after he saith Vnderstand ye therefore that this is the suggestion of the Serpent Satan lurking within you which perswadeth you that you are godly when you honour insensible and dead Images and that you be not ungodly when you hurt or leave unsuccoured the lively and reasonable Creatures All these be the words of Clemens Note I pray you how this most ancient and learned Doctor within one hundred years of our Saviour Christs time most plainly teacheth that no service of God or Religion acceptable to him can be in honouring of dead Images but in succouring of the Poor the lively Images of God according to St. James who saith This is the pure and true Religion before God the Father to succour fatherless and motherless Children and Widows in their affliction and to keep himself undefiled from this World True Religion then and pleasing of God standeth not in making setting up painting gilding clothing and decking of dumb and dead Images which be but great Puppets and Babies for Old Fools in dotage and wicked Idolatry to dally and play with nor in kissing of them capping kneeling offering to them incensing of them setting up of Candles hanging up of Legs Arms or whole Bodies of Wax before them or praying and asking of them or of Saints things belonging only to God to give But all these things be vain and abominable and most damnable before God Wherefore all such do not only bestow their mony and labour in vain but with their pains and cost purchase to themselves Gods wrath and utter indignation and everlasting damnation both of Body and Soul For ye have heard it evidently proved in these Homilies against Idolatry by Gods Word the Doctors of the Church Ecclesiastical Histories Reason and Experience that Images have been and be Worshipped and so Idolatry committed to them by infinite multitudes to the great offence of Gods Majesty and the danger of infinite Souls and that Idolatry cannot possibly be separated from Images set up in Churches and Temples gilded and decked gloriously and that therefore our Images be indeed very Idols and so all the Prohibitions Laws Curses Threatnings of horrible Plagues as well temporal as eternal contained in the Holy Scripture concerning Idols and the Makers and Maintainers and Worshippers of them appertain also to our Images set up in Churches and Temples and to the Makers Maintainers and Worshippers of them And all those names of abomination which Gods Word in the Holy Scriptures giveth to the Idols of the Gentiles appertain to our Images being Idols like to them and having like Idolatry committed unto them And Gods own mouth in the Holy Scriptures calleth them Vanities
Lies Deceits Uncleanness Filthiness Dung Mischief and Abomination before the Lord. Wherefore Gods horrible wrath and our most dreadful danger cannot be avoided without the destruction and utter abolishing of all Images and Idols our of the Church and Temple of God which to accomplish God put in the minds of all Christian Princes And in the mean time let us take heed and be wise O ye beloved of the Lord and let us have no strange gods but one only God who made us when we were nothing the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ John 17. who redeemed us when we were lost and with his Holy Spirit doth sanctifie us For this is life everlasting to know him to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent Let us honour and worship for Religions sake none but him and him let us worship and honour as he will himself and hath declared by his Word that he will be honoured and worshipped not in nor by Images or Idols which he hath most strictly forbidden neither in kneeling lighting of Candles burning of Incense offering up of Gifts unto Images and Idols to believe that we shall please him for all these be abomination before God But let us honour and worship God in Spirit and in Truth John 4. fearing and loving him above all things trusting in him only calling upon him and praying to him only praising and lauding of him only and all other in him and for him For such worshippers doth our Heavenly Father love who is a most pure Spirit and therefore will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth And such worshippers were Abraham Moses David Elias Peter Paul John and all other the Holy Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and all true Saints of God who all as the true Friends of God were enemies and destroyers of Images and Idols as the Enemies of God and his true Religion Wherefore take heed and be wise O ye beloved of the Lord and that which others contrary to Gods Word bestow wickedly and to their damnation upon dead stocks and stones no Images but Enemies of God and his Saints that bestow ye as the faithful Servants of God according to Gods Word mercifully upon poor Men and Women Fatherless Children Widows sick Persons Strangers Prisoners and such others that be in any necessity that ye may at that great day of the Lord hear that most blessed and comfortable saying of our Saviour Christ Come ye blessed into the Kingdom of my Father prepared for you before the beginning of the World For I was hungry and ye gave me meat thirsty and ye gave me drink naked and ye clothed me harbourless and ye lodged me in Prison and ye visited me sick and ye comforted me For whatsoever ye have done for the poor and needy in my name and for my sake that have ye done for me To the which his Heavenly Kingdom God the Father of Mercies bring us for Jesus Christs sake our only Saviour Mediator and Advocate to whom with the Holy Ghost one immortal invisible and most glorious God be all Honour and Thanksgiving and Glory World without end Amen AN HOMILY FOR Repairing and keeping clean and comely adorning of Churches IT is a common custom used of all men when they intend to have their Friends or Neighbours to come to their Houses to eat or drink with them or to have any Solemn Assembly to treat and talk of any matter they will have their Houses which they keep in continual reparations to be clean and fine lest they should be counted sluttish or little to regard their Friends and Neighbours How much more then ought the House of God which we commonly call the Church to be sufficiently repaired in all places and to be honourably adorned and garnished and to be kept clean and sweet to the comfort of the People that shall resort thereunto It appeareth in the Holy Scripture how Gods House which was called his Holy Temple and was the Mother Church of all Jewry fell sometimes into decay and was oftentimes profaned and defiled through the negligence and ungodliness of such as had the charge thereof But when godly Kings and Governors were in place then Commandment was given forthwith that the Church and Temple of God should be repaired and the Devotion of the People to be gathered for the reparation of the same We read in the fourth Book of the Kings 4 Kings 12. how that King Joas being a godly Prince gave commandment to the Priests to convert certain Offerings of the People towards the reparation and amendment of Gods Temple Like commandment gave that most godly King Josias 4 Kings 22. concerning the reparation and re-edification of Gods Temple which in his time he found in sore decay It hath pleased Almighty God that these Histories touching the re-edifying and repairing of his Holy Temple should be written at large to the end we should be taught thereby First that God is well pleased that his People should have a convenient place to resort unto and to come together to praise and magnifie Gods Holy Name And secoâ—dâ—â— he is highly pleased with all those which diligenâ—ly and zealously go about to amend and restore such places as are appointed for the Congregation of Gods People to resort unto and wherein they humbly and joyntly render thanks to God for his benefits and with one heart and voice praise his Holy Name Thirdly God was sore displeased with his People because they builded decked and trimmed up their own Houses and suffered Gods House to be in ruine and decay to lye uncomely and fulsomly Wherefore God was sore grieved with them and plagued them as appeareth in the Prophet Aggeus Thus saith the Lord Agge 1. Is it time for you to dwell in your cieled Houses and the Lords House not regarded Ye have sowed much and gathered in but little your meat and your clothes have neither filled you nor made you warm and he that had his wages put it in a bottomless purse By these Plagues which God laid upon his People for neglecting of his Temple it may evidently appear that God will have his Temple his Church the place where his Congregation shall resort to magnifie him well edified well repaired and well maintained Some neither regarding godliness nor the place of godly exercise will say The Temple in the Old Law was commanded to be built and repaired by God himself because it had great Promises annexed unto it and because it was a figure a Sacrament or a signification of Christ and also of his Church To this may be easily answered First that our Churches are not destitute of Promises forasmuch as our Saviour Christ saith Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst among them A great number therefore coming to Church together in the name of Christ have there that is to say in the Church their God and Saviour Jesus Christ present among the
Christians and none other for that were to bind Gods People unto the yoke and burthen of Moses his Policy yea it were the very way to bring us which are set at liberty by the freedom of Christs Gospel into the bondage of the Law again which God forbid that any man should attempt or purpose But to this end it serveth to shew how far the order of Fasting now used in the Church at this day differeth from that which was then used Gods Church ought not neither may it be so tyed to that or any other Order now made or hereafter to be made and devised by the Authority of Man but that it may lawfully for just causes alter change or mitigate those Ecclesiastical Decrees and Orders yea recede wholly from them and break them when they tend either to Superstition or to Impiety when they draw the People from God rather than work any edification in them This Authority Christ himself used and left it to his Church He used it I say for the Order or Decree made by the Elders for washing oft times which was diligently observed of the Jews yet tending to Superstition our Saviour Christ altered and changed the same in his Church into a profitable Sacrament the Sacrament of our Regeneration or New Birth This Authority to mitigate Laws and Decrees Ecclesiastical the Apostles practised when they writing from Jerusalem unto the Congregation that was at Antioch Acts 15. signified unto them that they would not lay any further burthen upon them but these necessaries that is that they should abstain from things offered unto Idols from blood from that which is strangled and from fornication notwithstanding that Moses Law required many other observances This Authority to change the Orders Decrees and Constitutions of the Church was after the Apostles time used of the Fathers about the manner of Fasting as it appeareth in the Tripartite History Tripart hist l. 9. c. 38. where it is thus written Touching Fasting we find that it was diversly used in divers places by divers men For they at Rome fast three weeks together before Easter saving upon the Saturdays and Sundays which Fast they call Lent And after a few lines in the same place it followeth They have not all one uniform Order in Fasting For some do fast and abstain both from fish and flesh Some when they fast eat nothing but fish Others there are which when they Fast eat of all water-fowls as well as of fish grounding themselves upon Moses that such Fowls have their substance of the Water as the Fishes have Some others when they Fast will neither eat Herbs nor Eggs. Some fasters there are that eat nothing but dry bread Others when they Fast eat nothing at all no not so much as dry bread Some fast from all manner of food till Night and then eat without making any choice or difference of meats And a thousand such like divers kinds of Fasting may be found in divers places of the World of divers men diversly used Euseb lib. 5. cap. 24. And for all this great diversity in Fasting yet Charity the very true bond of Christian Peace was not broken neither did the diversity of Fasting break at any time their agreement and concord in Faith To abstain sometimes from certain meats not because the meats are evil but because they are not necessary this abstinence saith St. Augustine is not evil Dogma Ecclesiast c. 66. And to restrain the use of meats when necessity and time shall require this saith he doth properly pertain to Christian men Thus ye have heard good People first that Christian Subjects are bound even in Conscience to obey Princes Laws which are not repugnant to the Laws of God Ye have also heard that Christs Church is not so bound to observe any Order Law or Decree made by Man to prescribe a form in Religion but that the Church hath full Power and Authority from God to change and alter the same when need shall require which hath been shewed you by the example of our Saviour Christ by the practice of the Apostles and of the Fathers since that time Now shall be shewed briefly what time is meet for Fasting for all times serve not for all things but as the Wise man saith Eccles 3. All things have their times There is a time to weep and a time again to laugh a time to mourn and a time to rejoyce c. Our Saviour Christ excused his Disciples and reproved the Pharisees because they neither regarded the use of Fasting nor considered what time was meet for the same Which both he teacheth in his answer Mat. 9. saying The children of the marriage cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them Their question was of Fasting his answer is of Mourning signifying unto them plainly that the outward Fast of the Body is no Fast before God except it be accompanied with the inward Fast which is a mourning and a lamentation of the Heart as is before declared Concerning the time of Fasting he saith The days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them in those days they shall fast By this it is manifest that it is no time of Fasting while the Marriage lasteth and the Bridegroom is there present But when the Marriage is ended Luke 5. Mat. 6. and the Bridegroom gone then is it a meet time to Fast Now to make plain unto you what is the sense and meaning of these words We are at the marriage and again The bridegroom is taken from us Ye shall note that so long as God revealeth his mercy unto us and giveth us of his benefits either Spiritual or Corporal we are said to be with the Bridegroom at the Marriage So was that good Old Father Jacob at the Marriage when he understood that his Son Joseph was alive and Ruled all Egypt under King Pharaoh So was David in the Marriage with the Bridegroom when he had gotten the Victory of great Goliath and had smitten off his Head Judith and all the People of Bethulia were the Children of the Wedding and had the Bridegroom with them when God had by the Hand of a Woman slain Holofernes the grand Captain of the Assyrians Host and discomfited all their Enemies Thus were the Apostles the Children of the Marriage while Christ was corporally present with them and defended them from all dangers both spiritual and corporal But the Marriage is said then to be ended and the Bridegroom to be gone when Almighty God smiteth us with Affliction and seemeth to leave us in the midst of a number of Adversities So God sometimes striketh private men privately with sundry adversities as trouble of Mind loss of Friends loss of Goods long and dangerous Sicknesses c. then is it a fit time for that man to humble himself to Almighty God by Fasting and to mourn and bewail his sins with a sorrowful heart and to Pray unfeignedly saying with the Prophet David Turn
16. The place appointed for the observation thereof was Jerusalem where was great recourse of People from all parts of the World as may well appear in the second Chapter of the Acts wherein mention is made of Parthians Medes Elamites Inhabiters of Mesopotamia Inhabiters of Jury Cappadocia Pontus Asia Phrygia Pamphilia and divers other such places whereby we may also partly gather what great and Royal Solemnity was commonly used in that Feast Now as this was given in commandment to the Jews in the Old Law so did our Saviour Christ as it were confirm the same in the time of the Gospel 1 Cor. 10. ordaining after a sort a new Pentecost for his Disciples namely When he sent down the Holy Ghost visibly in form of cloven Tongues like Fire and gave them power to speak in such sort that every one might hear them and also understand them in his own Language Which Miracle that it might be had in perpetual remembrance the Church hath thought good to solemnize and keep holy this day commonly called Whitsunday And here is to be noted that as the Law was given to the Jews in the Mount Sinai the fiftieth day after Easter so was the Preaching of the Gospel through the mighty power of the Holy Ghost given to the Apostles in the Mount Sion the fiftieth day after Easter And hereof this Feast hath his name to be called Pentecost even of the number of the days For as St. Luke writeth in the Acts of the Apostles when fifty days were come to an end the Disciples being all together with one accord in one place the Holy Ghost came suddenly among them and sat upon each of them like as it had been cloven Tongues of Fire Which thing was undoubtedly done to teach the Apostles and all other Men that it is he which giveth eloquence and utterance in Preaching the Gospel that it is he which openeth the mouth to declare the mighty Works of God that it is he which engendreth a burning zeal towards Gods Word and giveth all Men a Tongue yea a fiery Tongue so that they may boldly and chearfully profess the truth in the Face of the whole World as Isaiah was endued with this Spirit Esay 50. The Lord saith Isaiah give me a learned and a skilful Tongue so that I might know to raise up them that are fallen with the Word The Prophet David crieth to have this gift Psal 50. saying Open thou my lips O Lord and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise For our Saviour Christ also in the Gospel saith to his Disciples Mat. 10. It is not you that speak but the Spirit of your Father which is within you All which testimonies of Holy Scripture do sufficiently declare that the Mystery in the Tongues betokeneth the Preaching of the Gospel and the open confession of the Christian Faith in all them that are possessed with the Holy Ghost So that if any Man be a dumb Christian not professing his Faith openly but cloaking and colouring himself for fear of danger in time to come he giveth Men occasion justly and with good Conscience to doubt lest he have not the Grace of the Holy Ghost within him because he is Tongue-tied and doth not speak Thus then have ye heard the first institution of this Feast of Pentecost or Whitsuntide as well in the Old Law among the Jews as also in the time of the Gospel among the Christians Now let us consider what the Holy Ghost is and how consequently he worketh his miraculous Works towards Mankind The Holy Ghost is a spiritual and divine Substance the third Person in the Deity distinct from the Father and the Son and yet proceeding from them both which thing to be true both the Creed of Athanasius beareth witness and may be also easily proved by most plain Testimonies of Gods Holy Word Mat. 3. When Christ was Baptized of John in the River Jordan we read that the Holy Ghost came down in form of a Dove and that the Father thundred from Heaven saying This is my dear and well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Where note three divers and distinct Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost which all notwithstanding are not three Gods but one God Likewise when Christ did first institute and ordain the Sacrament of Baptism he sent his Disciples into the whole World willing them to Baptize all Nations Mat. 28. In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And in another place he saith I will pray unto my Father and he shall give you another Comforter Again John 4. John 2. When the Comforter shall come whom I will send from my Father c. These and such other places of the New Testament do so plainly and evidently confirm the distinction of the Holy Ghost from the other Persons in the Trinity that no Man possibly can doubt thereof unless he will blaspheme the everlasting truth of Gods Word As for his proper Nature and Substance it is altogether one with God the Father and God the Son that is to say Spiritual Eternal Uncreated Incomprehensible Almighty to be short he is even God and Lord everlasting Therefore he is called the Spirit of the Father therefore he is said to proceed from the Father and the Son and therefore he was equally joyned with them in the Commission that the Apostles had to Baptize all Nations But that this may appear more sensibly to the Eyes of all Men it shall be requisite to come to the other part namely to the wonderful and heavenly Works of the Holy Ghost which plainly declare unto the World his mighty and divine Power First It is evident that he did wonderfully govern and direct the Hearts of the Patriarchs and Prophets in old time illuminating their Minds with the knowledge of the true Messias and giving them utterance to Prophesie of things that should come to pass long time after 2 Pet. 1. For as St. Peter witnesseth the Prophesie came not in old time by the will of Man but the holy Men of God spake as they were moved inwardly by the Holy Ghost And of Zachary the high Priest it is said in the Gospel Luke 1. That he being full of the Holy Ghost Prophesied and praised God So did also Simeon Anna Mary and divers other to the great wonder and admiration of all Men. Moreover was not the Holy Ghost a mighty worker in the Conception and the Nativity of Christ our Saviour St. Matthew saith Mat. 1. that the blessed Virgin was found with Child of the Holy Ghost before Joseph and she came together And the Angel Gabriel did expresly tell her Luke 1. that it should come to pass saying The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the Power of the most High shall over-shadow thee A marvellous matter that a Woman should conceive and bear a Child without the knowledge of Man But where the Holy Ghost worketh there
Enemies with the Countenance of a few of thy Servants calling upon thy Name and trusting in thee Defend O Lord thy Servant and our Governor under thee our Sovereign Lord the KING and all thy People committed to his charge O Lord withstand the cruelty of all those which be Common Enemies as well to the Truth of thy Eternal Word as to their own natural Prince and Country and manifestly to this Crown and Realm of England which thou hast of thy Divine Providence assigned in these our days to the Government of thy Servant our Sovereign and gracious KING O most merciful Father if it be thy holy Will make soft and tender the stony Hearts of all those that exalt themselves against thy Truth and seek either to trouble the quiet of this Realm of England or to oppress the Crown of the same and convert them to the knowledge of thy Son the only Saviour of the World Jesus Christ that we and they may joyntly glorifie thy Mercies Lighten we beseech the their ignorant Hearts to embrace the Truth of thy Word or else so abate their cruelty O most mighty Lord that this our Christian Realm with others that confess thy holy GOSPEL may obtain by thy aid and strength surety from all Enemies without shedding of Christian Blood whereby all they which be oppressed with their Tyranny may be relieved and they which be in fear of their cruelty may be comforted and finally that all Christian Realms and especially this Realm of England may by thy Defence and Protection continue in the Truth of the Gospel and enjoy perfect Peace Quietness and Security And that we for these thy Mercies joyntly all together with one consonant Heart and Voice may thankfully render to thee all Laud and Praise that we knit in one Godly concord and unity amongst our selves may continually magnifie thy glorious Name who with thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ and th◠〈◊〉 Ghost art one Eternal Almighty and most mercâ—â—â—â— God To whom be all Laud and Praise World without end Amen The Third Part of the Homily against Disobedience and Wilful Rebellion AS I have in the First Part of this Treatise shewed unto you the Doctrin of the Holy Scriptures as concerning the Obedience of true Subjects to their Princes even as well to such as be evil as unto the good and in the Second Part of the same Treaty confirmed the same Doctrin by notable examples likewise taken out of the Holy Scriptures so remaineth it now that I partly do declare unto you in this Third Part what an abominable sin against God and Man Rebellion is and how dreadfully the wrath of God is kindled and inflamed against all Rebels and what horrible plagues punishments and deaths and finally eternal damnation doth hang over their heads as how on the contrary part good and obedient Subjects are in Gods favor and be partakers of Peace Quietness and Security with other Gods manifold blessings in this World and by his mercies through our Saviour Christ of life everlasting also in the World to come How horrible a sin against God and Man Rebellion is cannot possibly be expressed according unto the greatness thereof For he that nameth Rebellion nameth not a singular or one only sin as is Theft Robbery Murder and such like but he nameth the whole puddle and sink of all sins against God and Man against his Prince his Country his Country-men his Parents his Children his Kinsfolks his Friends and against all Men universally all sins I say against God and all Men heaped together nameth he that nameth Rebellion For concerning the offence of Gods Majesty who seeth not that Rebellion riseth first by contempt of God and of his holy Ordinances and Laws wherein he so straitly commandeth Obedience forbiddeth Disobedience and Rebellion And besides the dishonor done by Rebels unto Gods holy name by their breaking of their Oath made to their Prince with the attestation of Gods Name and calling of his Majesty to witness Who heareth not the horrible Oaths and Blasphemies of Gods holy Name that are used daily amongst Rebels that is either amongst them or heareth the truth of their Behavior Who knoweth not that Rebels do not only themselves leave all Works necessary to be done upon Work-days undone whiles they accomplish their abominable work of Rebellion and to compel others that would gladly be well occupied to do the same but also how Rebels do not only leave the Sabbath-day of the Lord unsanctified the Temple and Church of the Lord unresorted unto but also do by their Works of wickedness most horribly prophane and pollute the Sabbath-day serving Satan and by doing of his work making it the Devils day instead of the Lords day Besides that they compel good Men that would gladly serve the Lord assembling in his Temple and Church upon his day as becometh the Lords Servants to Assemble and meet Armed in the Field to resist the fury of such Rebels Yea and many Rebels lest they should leave any part of Gods Commandments in the first Table of his Law unbroken or any sin against God undone do make Rebellion for the maintainance of their Images and Idols and of their Idolatry committed or to be committed by them and in despite of God cut and tear in sunder his holy Word and tread it under their Feet as of late ye know was done The fifth Commandment As concerning the second Table of Gods Law and all sins that may be committed against Man who seeth not that they be contained in Rebellion For first the Rebels do not only dishonor their Prince the Parent of their Country but also do dishonor and shame their natural Parents if they have any do shame their Kindred and Friends do disinherit and undo for ever their Children and Heirs The sixth and eighth Commandment Thefts Robberies and Murders which of all sins are most loathed of most Men are in no Men so much nor so perniciously and mischievously as in Rebels For the most arrant Thieves cruellest Murderers that ever were so long as they refrain from Rebellion as they are not many in number so spreadeth their wickedness and damnation unto a few they spoil but a few they shed the Blood but of a few in comparison But Rebels are the cause of infinite Robberies and murderers of great Multitudes and of those also whom they should defend from the spoil and violence of other and as Rebels are many in number so doth their wickedness and damnation spread it self unto many And if Whoredom and Adultery amongst such Persons as are agreeable to such wickedness are as they indeed be most damnable The Seventh Commandment What are the forcible oppressions of Matrons and Mens Wives and the violating and deflouring of Virgins and Maids which are most rife with Rebels How horrible and damnable think you are they Now besides that The Nninth Commandment Rebels by breach of their Faith given and the Oath made to their
them to beware of the subtil suggestions of such restless ambitious Persons and so to flee them that Rebellions though attempted by a few Ambitious through the lack of maintainance by any multitudes may speedily and easily without any great labor danger or damage be re-ressed and clearly extinguished It is well known as well by all Histories as by daily Experience that none have either more ambitiously aspired above Emperors Kings and Princes nor have more perniciously moved the ignorant People to Rebellion against their Princes than certain Persons which falsly challenge to themselves to be only counted and called Spiritual I must therefore here yet once again briefly put you good People in remembrance out of Gods holy Word how our Saviour Jesus Christ and his holy Apostles the Heads and chief of all true Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Men behaved themselves towards the Princes and Rulers of their time though not the best Governors that ever were that you be not ignorant whether they be the true Disciples and followers of Christ and his Apostles and so true spiritual Men that either by Ambition do so highly aspire or do most maliciously teach or most perniciously do execute Rebellion against their lawful Princes being the worst of all carnal Works and mischievous Deeds Mat. 17. d. 25. Mark 12. b. 14. Luke 20. d. 25. Mat. 27. Luke 23. Rom. 13. a. 1 c. 1 Tim. 2. a. 1. 1 Pet. 2. c. 13. John 6. b. 15. and 18. f. 36. Mat. 20. d. 25. Mark 10. f. 42. Luke 22. c. 25. Mat. 23. a. 8. Luke 9. f. 46. 2 Cor. 1. d. 24. 1 Pet. 5. a 3. Mat. 18. a. 4. 20. d. 28. Luke 9. f. 48. 22. c. 27. Sex decre lib. 3. tit 16. cap. unic lib. 5. tit 9. cap. 5. iâ— glossa The holy Scriptures do teach most expresly that our Saviour Christ himself and his Apostles St. Paul St. Peter with others were unto the Magistrates and higher Powers which ruled at their being upon the Earth both obedient themselves and did also diligently and earnestly exhort all other Christians to the like obedience unto their Princes and Governors whereby it is evident that Men of the Clergy and Ecclesiastical Ministers as their Successors ought both themselves specially and before other to be obedient unto their Princes and also to exhort all others unto the same Our Saviour Christ likewise teaching by his Doctrin that his Kingdom was not of this World did by his Example in fleeing from those that would have made him King confirm the same expresly also forbidding his Apostles and by them the whole Clergy all Princely Dominion over People and Nations and he and his holy Apostles likewise namely Peter and Paul did forbid unto all Ecclesiastical Ministers dominion over the Church of Christ And indeed whiles the Ecclesiastical Ministers continued in Christs Church in that order that is in Christs Word prescribed unto them and in Christian Kingdoms kept themselves obedient to their own Princes as the Holy Scripture doth teach them both was Christs Church more clear from ambitious Emulations and Contentions and the State of Christian Kingdoms less subject unto Tumults and Rebellions But after that Ambition and desire of Dominion entred once into Ecclesiastical Ministers whose greatness after the Doctrin and Example of our Saviour should chiefly stand in humbling themselves and that the Bishop of Rome being by the order of Gods Word none other than the Bishop of that one See and Diocess and never yet well able to govern the same did by intolerable Ambition challenge not only to he the Head of all the Church dispersed throughout the World but also to be Lord of all Kingdoms of the World as is expresly set forth in the Book of his own Canon Laws most contrary to the Doctrin and Example of our Saviour Christ whose Vicar and of his Apostles namely Peter whose Successor he pretendeth to be After this Ambition entred and his Challenge once made by the Bishop of Rome he became at once the spoiler and destroyer both of the Church which is the Kingdom of our Saviour Christ and of the Christian Empire and all Christian Kingdoms as an Universal Tyrant over all And whereas before that Challenge made there was great amity and love amongst the Christians of all Countries hereupon began Emulation and much Hatred between the Bishop of Rome and his Clergy and Friends on the one part and the Grecian Clergy and Christians of the East on the other part for that they refused to acknowledge any such Supream Authority of the Bishop of Rome over them The Bishop of Rome for this cause amongst other not only naming them and taking them for Schismatics but also never ceasing to persecute them and the Emperors who had their See and continuance in Greece by stirring of the Subjects to Rebellion against their Sovereign Lords and by raising deadly hatred and most cruel Wars between them and other Christian Princes And when the Bishops of Rome had translated the Title of the Emperor and as much as in them did lie the Empire it self from their Lord the Emperor of of Greece and of Rome also by right unto the Christian Princes of the West they became in short space no better unto the West Emperors than they were before unto the Emperors of Greece for the usual discharging of Subjects from their Oath of Fidelity made unto the Emperors of the West their Sovereign Lords by the Bishops of Rome the unnatural stirring up of the Subjects unto Rebellion against their Princes yea of the Son against the Father by the Bishop of Rome the most cruel and bloody Wars raised amongst Christian Princes of all Kingdoms the horrible murder of infinite thousands of Christian Men being slain by Christians and which ensued thereupon the pitiful losses of so many goodly Cities Countries Dominions and Kingdoms sometime possessed by Christians in Asia Africa Europe the miserable fall of the Empire and Church of Greece sometime the most flourishing part of Christendom into the hands of the Turks the lamentable diminishing decay and ruin of Christian Religion the dreadful increase of Paganism and Power of the Infidels and Miscreants and all by the practice and procurement of the Bishop of Rome chiefly is in the Histories and Chronicles written by the Bishop of Romes own Favorers and Friends to be seen and as well known unto all such as are acquainted with the said Histories The ambitious intents and most subtil drifts of the Bishops of Rome in these their Practices appeared evidently by their bold attempt in spoiling and robbing the Emperors of their Towns Cities Dominions and Kingdoms in Italy Lombardy and Sicily of ancient right belonging to the Empire and by joyning of them unto their Bishoprick of Rome or else giving them unto strangers to hold them of the Church and Bishop of Rome as in capite and as of the chief Lords thereof in which tenure they hold the most part thereof
Serenus his Judgment thinking it meet that Images whereunto Idolatry was committed should be destroyed had taken place Idolatry had been overthrown For to that which is not no Man committeth Idolatry But of Gregory's Opinion thinking that Images might be suffered in Churches so it were taught that they should not be worshipped What ruine of Religion and what mischief ensued afterward to all Christendom Experience hath to our great hurt and sorrow proved First By the Schism rising between the East and the West Church about the said Images Next By the Division of the Empire into two parts by the same occasion of Images to the great weakening of all Christendom whereby last of all hath followed the utter overthrow of the Christian Religion and Noble Empire in Greece and all the East parts of the World and the increase of Mahomet's false Religion and the cruel Dominion and Tyranny of the Saracens and Turks who do now hang over our Necks also that dwell in the West parts of the World ready at all occasions to over-run us And all this do we owe unto our Idols and Images and our Idolatry in worshipping of them Eutrop. lib. de rebus Ro. 23. But now give you ear a little to the process of the History wherein I do much follow the Histories of Paulus Diaconus and others joyned with Eutropius an old Writer For though some of the Authors were Favourers of Images yet do they most plainly and at large prosecute the Histories of those times Platina in vitis Constantini Greg. 2. whom Baptist Platina also in his History of Popes as in the Lives of Constantine and Gregory the second Bishops of Rome and other places where he treateth of this matter doth chiefly follow After Gregory's time Constantine Bishop of Rome assembled a Council of Bishops in the West Church and did condemn Philippicus then Emperor and John Bishop of Constantinople of the Heresie of the Monothelites not without a cause indeed but very justly When he had so done by the consent of the learned about him the said Constantine Bishop of Rome caused the Images of the ancient Fathers which had been at those six Councils which were allowed and received of all Men to be painted in the entry of Saint Peter's Church at Rome When the Greeks had knowledge hereof they began to dispute and reason the matter of Images with the Latins and held this Opinion That Images could have no place in Christs Church and the Latins held the contrary and took part with the Images So the East and West Churches which agreed well before upon this contention about Images fell to utter enmity which was never well reconciled yet But in the mean season Philippicus and Arthemius or Anastasius Emperors commanded Images and Pictures to be pulled down and rased out in every place of their Dominion After them came Theodosius the Third he commanded the defaced Images to be painted again in their places But this Theodosius reigned but one year Leo the third of that Name succeeded him who was a Syrian born a very wise godly merciful and valiant Prince This Leo by Proclamation commanded That all Images set up in Churches to be worshipped should be plucked down and defaced And required specially the Bishop of Rome that he should do the same and himself in the mean season caused all Images that were in the Imperial City Constantinople to be gathered on an heap in the midst of the City and there publickly burned them to ashes and whited over and rased out all Pictures painted upon the Walls of the Temples and punished sharply divers maintainers of Images And when some did therefore report him to be a Tyrant he answered That such of all other were most justly punished who neither Worshipped God aright nor regarded the Imperial Majesty and Authority but maliciously rebelled against wholsom and profitable Laws When Gregorius the Third of that Name Bishop of Rome heard of the Emperors doings in Greece concerning the Images he assembled a Council of Italian Bishops against him and there made Decrees for Images and that more Reverence and Honour should yet be given to them than was before and stirred up the Italians against the Emperor first at Ravenna and moved them to Rebellion Treason and Rebellion for the defence of Images And as Vspurgensis and Anthonius Bishops of Florence testifie in their Chronicles he caused Rome and all Italy at the least to refuse Obedience and the payment of any more Tribute to the Emperor And so by Treason and Rebellion maintained their Idolatry Which Example other Bishops of Rome have continually followed and gone through withal most stoutly After this Leo who Reigned Thirty four years succeeded his Son Constantine the Fifth who after his Fathers example kept Images out of the Temples and being moved with the Council which Gregory had assembled in Italy for Images against his Father He also assembled a Council of all the Learned Men and Bishops of Asia and Greece although some Writers place this Council in Leo Isauricus A Council against Images his Fathers later days In this great Assembly they sate in Council from the Fourth of the Idus of February to the sixth of the Idus of August and made concerning the use of Images this Decree It is not lawful for them that believe in God through Jesus Christ to have any Images neither of the Creator nor of any Creatures set up in Temples to be Worshipped but rather that all things by the Law of God and for the avoiding of Offence ought to be taken out of the Churches And this Decree was executed in all places where any Images were found in Asia or Greece And the Emperor sent the Determination of this Council holden at Constantinople to Paul then Bishop of Rome and commanded him to cast all Images out of the Churches Which he trusting in the Friendship of Pipine a Mighty Prince refused to do And both he and his Successor Stephanus the Third who assembled another Council in Italy for Images condemned the Emperor and the Council of Constantinople of Heresie and made a Decree That the Holy Images for so they called them of Christ the Blessed Virgin and other Saints were indeed worthy Honour and Worshipping When Constantine was dead Leo the Fourth his Son Reigned after him who Married a Woman of the City of Athens named Theodora who also was called Irene Or Eirene by whom he had a Son named Constantine the Sixth and dying whilst his Son was yet young left the Regiment of the Empire and Governance of his young Son to his Wife Irene These things were done in the Church about the year of our Lord 760. Note here I pray you in this process of the Story that in the Churches of Asia and Greece there were no Images publickly by the space of almost Seven Hundred years And there is no doubt but the Primitive Church next the Apostles time was most pure Note also
that when the Contention began about Images how of Six Christian Emperors who were the chief Magistrates by Gods Law to be obeyed only one which was Theodosius who Reigned but one year held with Images All the other Emperors and all the Learned Men and Bishops of the East Church and that in assembled Councils condemned them besides the two Emperors before mentioned Valens and Theodosius the Second who were long before these times who strictly forbad that any Images should be made And universally after this time all the Emperors of Greece only Theodosius excepted destroyed continually all Images Now on the contrary part note ye that the Bishops of Rome being no ordinary Magistrates appointed of God out of their Diocess but Usurpers of Princes Authority contrary to Gods Word were the Maintainers of Images against Gods Word and Stirrers up of Sedition and Rebellion and Workers of continual Treason against their Sovereign Lords contrary to Gods Law and the Ordinances of all Human Laws being not only Enemies to God but also Rebels and Traytors against their Princes These be the first bringers in of Images openly into Churches These be the maintainers of them in the Churches and these be the means whereby they have maintained them To wit Conspiracy Treason and Rebellion against God and their Princes Now to proceed in the History most worthy to be known In the Nonage of Constantine the Sixth the Empress Irene his Mother in whose Hands the Regiment of the Empire remained was governed much by the advice of Theodore Bishop and Tharasius Patriarch of Constantinople who practised and held with the Bishop of Rome in maintaining of Images most earnestly By whose Counsel and intreaty the Empress first most wickedly digged up the Body of her Father in Law Constantine the Fifth and commanded it to be openly burned and the Ashes to be thrown into the Sea Which Example as the constant report goeth had like to have been put in practice with Princes Corses in our days had the Authority of the Holy Father continued but a little longer The cause why the Empress Irene thus used her Father in Law was for that he when he was alive had destroyed Images and had taken away the sumptuous Ornaments of Churches saying That Christ whose Temples they were allowed Poverty and not Pearls and precious Stones Afterward the said Irene at the persuasion of Adrian Bishop of Rome and Paul the Patriarch of Constantinople and his Successor Tharasius assembled a Council of the Bishops of Asia and Greece at the City Nicea where the Bishop of Rome's Legates being Presidents of the Council and ordering all things as they listed the Council which was assembled before under the Emperor Constantine the Fifth and had decreed that all Images should be destroyed was Condemned as an Heretical Council and Assembly And a Decree was made That Images should be put up in all the Churches of Greece and that Honour and Worship also should be given unto the said Images And so the Empress sparing no diligence in setting up of Images A Decree that Images should be Worshipped nor cost in decking them in all Churches made Constantinople within a short time altogether like Rome itself And now you may see that come to pass which Bishop Serenus feared and Gregory the First forbad in vain to wit that Images should in no wise be Worshipped For now not only the Simple and Unwise unto whom Images as the Scriptures teach be specially a snare but the Bishops and Learned Men also fall to Idolatry by occasion of Images yea and make Decrees and Laws for the maintenance of the same So hard is it and indeed impossible any long time to have Images publickly in Churches and Temples without Idolatry as by the space of little more than One Hundred years betwixt Gregory the First forbidding most strictly the Worshipping of Images and Gregory the Third Paul and Leo the Third Bishops of Rome with this Council Commanding and Decreeing that Images should be Worshipped most evidently appeareth Now when Constantine the young Emperor came to the Age of Twenty years he was daily in less and less estimation For such as were about his Mother persuaded her that it was Gods Determination that she should Reign alone and not her Son with her The Ambitious Woman believing the same deprived her Son of all Imperial Dignity and compelled all the Men of War with their Captains to Swear to her that they would not suffer her Son Constantine to Reign during her Life With which Indignity the young Prince being moved recovered the Regimen of the Empire unto himself by force and being brought up in true Religion in his Father's time seeing the Superstition of his Mother Irene and the Idolatry committed by Images cast down brake and burned all the Idols and Images that his Mother had set up But within a few years after Irene the Empress taken again into her Son's Favour after she had persuaded him to put out Nicephorus his Uncle's Eyes and to cut out the Tongues of his four other Uncles and to forsake his Wife and by such means to bring him into hatred with all his Subjects now further to declare that she was no Changeling but the same Woman that had before digged up and burned her Father-in-Law's Body and that she would be as natural a Mother as she had been a kind Daughter seeing the Images which she loved so well and had with so great cost set up daily destroyed by her own Son the Emperor by the help of certain good Companions deprived her Son of the Empire And first like a kind and loving Mother put out both his Eyes and laid him in Prison where after long and many Torments she at the last most cruelly slew him In this History joined to Eutropius it is written That the Sun was darkned by the space of xvij days most strangely and dreadfully and that all Men said that for the horribleness of that cruel and unnatural Fact of Irene and the putting out of the Emperor's Eyes the Sun had lost his light But indeed God would signifie by the darkness of the Sun into what darkness and blindness of Ignorance and Idolatry Christendom should fall by the occasion of Images The bright Sun of his eternal Truth and light of his Holy Word by the mists and black Clouds of Mens Traditions being blemished and darkned as by sundry most terrible Earthquakes that happened about the same time God signified that the quiet estate of true Religion should by such Idolatry be most horribly tossed and turmoiled And here may you see what a gracious and virtuous Lady this Irene was how loving a Neece to her Husband's Uncles how kind a Mother-in-Law to her Son's Wife how loving a Daughter to her Father-in-Law how natural a Mother to her own Son and what a stout and valiant Captain the Bishops of Rome had of her for the setting up and maintenance of their Idols or Images Surely they could
not things indifferent nor tolerable but against Gods Law and Commandment taking theiâ— own Interpretation and Exposition of it First for that all Images so set up publickly have been Worshipped of the Unlearned and Simple sort shortly after they have been publickly so set up and in conclusion of the Wise and Learned also Secondly for that they are Worshipped in sundry places now in our time also And Thirdly for that it is impossible that Images of God Christ or his Saints can be suffered especially in Temples and Churches any while or space without Worshipping of them And that Idolatry which is most abominable before God cannot possibly be escaped and avoided without the abolishing and destruction of Images and Pictures in Temples and Churches for that Idolatry is to Images specially in Temples and Churches an inseparable accident as they term it so that Images in Churches and Idolatry go always both together and that therefore the one cannot be avoided except the other specially in all publick places be destroyed Wherefore to make the Images and publickly to set them up in the Temples and Churches places appointed peculiarly to the service of God is to make Images to the use of Religion and not only against this Precept Thou shalt make no manner of Images but against this also Thou shalt not bowe down to them nor Worship them For they being set up have been be and ever will be Worshipped And the full proof of that which in the beginning of the first part of this Treatise was touched is here to be made and performed To wit that our Images and Idols of the Gentiles be all one as well in the things themselves as also in that our Images have been before be now and ever will be Worshipped in like form and manner as the Idols of the Gentiles were Worshipped so long as they be suffered in Churches and Temples Whereupon it followeth that our Images in Churches have been be and ever will be none other but abominable Idols and be therefore no things indifferent And every of these parts shall be proved in order as hereafter followeth Simulachra gentium Argentum aurum Fusile Similitudo Sculptile Simulachrum opera manuum hominum And first that our Images and the Idols of the Gentiles be all one concerning themselves is most evident the matter of them being Gold Silver or other Metal Stone Wood Clay or Plaister as were the Idols of the Gentiles and so being either molten or cast either carved graven hewen or otherwise formed and fashioned after the similitude and likeness of Man or Woman be dead and dumb Works of Man's hands having Mouths and speak not Eyes and see not Hands and feel not Feet and go not and so as well in form as matter be altogether like the Idols of the Gentiles Insomuch that all the Titles which be given to the Idols in the Scriptures may be verified of our Images Wherefore no doubt but the like Curses which are men-in the Scriptures will light upon the Makers and Worshippers of them both Secondly that they have been and be worshipped in our time in like form and manner as were the Idols of the Gentiles is now to be proved And for that Idolatry standeth chiefly in the mind it shall in this part first be proved that our Image-maintainers have had and have the same Opinions and Judgment of Saints whose Images they have made and worshipped as the Gentiles Idolaters had of their Gods And afterwards shall be declared that our Image-maintainers and Worshippers have used and used the same outward Rites and manner of honoring and worshipping their Images as the Gentiles did use before their Idols and that therefore they commit Idolatry as well inwardly and outwardly as did the wicked Gentiles Idolaters And concerning the first part of the idolatrous Opinions of our Image-maintainers What I pray you be such Saints with us to whom we attribute the defence of certain Countries spoiling God of his due honor herein but Dij Tutelares of the Gentiles Idolaters Dij Tutelares Such as were Belus to the Babylonians and Assyrians Osiris and Isis to the Aegyptians Vulcan to the Lemnians and to such other What be such Saints to whom the safeguard of certain Cities are appointed but Dij Praesides with the Gentiles Idolaters Such as were at Delphos Apollo at Athens Minerva at Carthage Juno at Rome Quirinus c. What be such Saints to whom contrary to the use of the Primitive Church Temples and Churches be builded and Altars erected but Dij Patroni of the Gentiles Idolaters Such as were in the Capitol Jupiter in Paphus Temple Venus in Ephesus Temple Diana and such like Alas we seem in thus thinking and doing to have Learned our Religion not out of Gods Word but out of the Pagan Poets who say Excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis Dij quibus imperium hoc steterat c. That is to say All the Gods by whose defence this Empire stood are gone out of the Temples and have forsaken their Altars And where one Saint hath Images in divers places the same Saint hath divers Names thereof most like to the Gentiles When you hear of our Lady of Walsingham our Lady of Ipswich our Lady of Wilsdon and such others what is it but an imitation of the Gentiles Idolaters Diana Agrâ—tera Diana Coriphea Diana Ephesia c. Venus Cypria Venus Paphia Venus Gnidia Whereby is evidently meant that the Saint for the Image sake should in those places yea in the Images themselves have a dwelling which is the ground of their Idolatry For where no Images be they have no such means Terentius Varro sheweth that there were Three Hundred Jupiters in his time there were no fewer Veneres and Diana's we had no fewer Christophers Ladies and Mary Magdalens and other Saints Oenomaus and Hesiodus shew that in their time there were Thirty Thousand Gods I think we had no fewer Saints to whom we gave the Honour due to God And they have not only spoiled the true living God of his due Honour in Temples Cities Countries and Lands by such devices and inventions as the Gentiles Idolaters have done before them But the Sea and Waters have as well special Saints with them as they had Gods with the Gentiles Neptune Triton Nereus Castor and Pollux Venus and such other In whose places be come Saint Christopher Saint Clement and divers other and specially our Lady to whom Shipmen Sing Ave maris stella Neither hath the Fire scaped the Idolatrous inventions For instead of Vulcan and Vesta the Gentiles Gods of the Fire our Men have placed Saint Agatha and make Letters on her day for to quench Fire with Every Artificer and Profession hath his special Saint as a peculiar God As for Example Scholars have Saint Nicholas and Saint Gregory Painters Saint Luke neither lack Souldiers their Mars nor Lovers their Venus amongst Christians All Diseases have their special Saints as Gods the curers