where he now Sitteth at the Right-hand of God the Father Almighty Q. After what Manner did Christ Ascend into Heaven A. He went up Visibly in the Presence of all his Disciples A Cloud came down under his Feet and he mounted by degrees in it They follow'd him a long time with their Eyes till at last having lost Sight of Him but yet still looking after him to the Place Where he passed Two Angels appear'd to them and thus confirm'd them in the Truth of what they had seen Ye Men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven This same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so Come in like manner as ye have seen Him Go into Heaven Acts i. 9 10 11. Q. Did Christ Ascend in the same Body in which He conversed with his Disciples after his Resurrection A. He did Ascend in the same Body and has assured Us thereby that We shall hereafter be Received up thither in our Bodies as well as Souls and so Reign in Both together with Him Q. Into what part of Heaven did Christ Ascend A. He ascended into the Highest Heaven where God does in a singular Manner shew his Majesty and Glory And therefore our Creed tells us that being ascended into Heaven he sat down at the Right-hand of God the Father Almighty Where also He shall continue till he shall come again from thence to judge both the Quick and the Dead Luk. xxii 69 1 Cor. iii. 1 2. Q. What do you mean by the Right-hand of God A. Not to Represent God under the Figure of a Man nor to intimate any particular Posture of Christ Above though having a Humane Body he might well enough be described in it But as by the One I understand a Place of Power Honour and Authority 1 King ii 19 Psal. xvi 11 xliv 3 Luk. xxii 69 Heb. i. 3 4. So by the Other I suppose is meant the settled Possession and Enjoyment of all these Prov. xx 8 Heb. x. 12 And the Sense of the whole I take to be this That Christ being Ascended up into Heaven was immediately thereupon enstated by God in the full Possession of his Regal Office and Dignity and shall continue to enjoy it till he shall have finish'd the whole Work of our Redemption By bestowing Glory and Salvation upon all his faithful Servants and by finally destroying in Hell-fire all the Enemies of his Power and Dignity Q. Does our Saviour do any thing at present for Us with God in Heaven A. Yes he perfects his Priestly Office there by Interceding Effectually with God for our Forgiveness As the High Priest under the Law when he went into the Holy Place before the Ark with the Bloud of the Sin-offering did thereby finish the Propitiation which he was to make for the Sins and Offences of the People of the Jews Rom. viii 34 1 Tim. ii 5 Heb. ix 11 12 24. 1 Jo. ii 1 SECT XIV Q. HOW long shall our Saviour Christ continue to Sit and Intercede for Us at God's Right-hand A. Till the End of the World Which being Come He shall Return from thence with Glory to Iudge both the Quick and the Dead Acts iii. 21 The Heavens must Receive him till the times of Restitution of all Things And then This same Jesus which was taken up into Heaven shall so Come in like manner as he was seen to Go into Heaven Acts i. 11 Q. What do you mean by that Phrase the Quick and the Dead A. By the Quick I understand those who shall be found Alive on the Earth at the Day of Judgment 1 Cor. xv 51 1 Thess. iv 15 By the Dead those who shall have before departed out of this Life And I make mention of Both to shew that ALL Men shall be judged And that Christ shall be the Judge of ALL. Acts x. 42 2 Cor. v. 10 2 Tim. iv 1 1 Pet. iv 5 Q. Do you then believe that there shall be a General Day of Judgment to the whole World A. I do believe there shall be such a Day and that most Solemn and Terrible Mat. x. 15 xi 22 24. xii 36 Jo. v. 22 25. Acts xvii 31 Rom. ii 5 c. 2 Pet. ii 9 iii. 7 Heb. vi 2 ix 27 1 Jo. iv 17 Jude 6. Wherein first the Angels shall Sound the Trumpet at the Voice of which all that are in the Graves shall Arise and Come forth and be Gather'd together into One certain Place Then our Saviour shall come down in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and Great Glory and the Books shall be Open'd and the Judgment sit and every Man be judged out of the things which are Written in those Books according to his Works See Mat. xxv 31 comp Mat. xxiv 30 Q. After what Manner shall this Judgment be transacted A. The particular Manner is unknown to Us Yet this we are told that we shall then be call'd to an Account for all that we shall have done in the whole Course of our Lives here on Earth Every evil Work every foolish and wicked Word every secret Thought shall be brought to light Nothing that we now covet the most to hide but shall be then disclosed And we shall be either Acquitted or Condemn'd according to what we shall have done whether it be Good or whether it be Evil. Eccles. xii 14 1 Cor. iv 5 2 Cor. v. 10 Mat. xii 36 Rom. ii 5 Rev. xx 12 Q. Shall there be any particular Method observed in the Proceedings of this Judgment A. Yes there shall For First The Just shall be Raised and Judged and Acquitted and Caught up into the Air at some convenient distance from the Earth where with the Holy Angels they shall fill up the Retinue of our Blessed Saviour Then the Wicked shall be Raised and brought to Judgment And being condemn'd not only by Christ and his Saints but by the Sentence of their Own Consciences they shall together with the Devils be driven away by the Angels thereunto appointed into their Place of Torments Which being done Our Saviour shall together with all his Saints Return triumphantly to Heaven and there Reign in Glory at the Head of them for Ever and Ever Mat. xxv 1 Thess. iv c. SECT XV. Q. WHat does the THIRD PART of your Creed contain A. It contains all that is needful to be Known and Profess'd by Us with Relation to the Holy Ghost Q. What do you account needful to be believed concerning Him A. Not only that there is a Holy Ghost but that he is the Third Person in the ever-blessed Trinity and partakes as such of the same Divine Nature with the Father and the Son Q. How does this appear A. By the plain Testimony of the Holy Scriptures by which alone we are capable of knowing any thing in these Matters Now those Sacred Writings evidently speak of him not only as a Person but as a Divine
and to their being saved hereafter Q. What are those things which may be accounted thus necessary to be known by All Christians A. They may in general be reduced to these two Heads viz. The Knowledge of the Gospel-Covenant that is to say Of the Promises made by God to Mankind through our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Conditions upon which We may become Partakers of them And 2dly Of the means which God has appointed whereby to convey his Grace to Us and thereby both to assist and confirm Us in the discharge of our Duty to Him Q. What are the Promises which God has made to Mankind through Jesus Christ A. Pardon of Sins Grace to fulfil our Duty in this Life And upon our sincere Performance thereof Everlasting Salvation in the Life which is to come Q. What are the Conditions required of Us by God in order to our being made Partakers of these Promises A. A hearty Repentance of our Sins past A sincere Endeavour to live according to God's Commands for the time to come And both these made perfect by a lively Faith in God's Mercies towards Us through Jesus Christ Jo. iii. 16 Q. What are the Means ordained of God whereby to convey his Grace to Us A. They are chiefly two Constant Prayer to God for it And a worthy Use of the Holy Sacraments Luk. xi 13 Mark xvi 16 Acts ii 38 1 Cor. x. 16 xi 23 c. Q. Are there not besides these some other means ordain'd by God and necessary to be made use of by Us in order to our Salvation A. Yes there are particularly the Hearing Reading and Meditating upon his Word The Substance of which tho' it be sufficiently gather'd together and represented to Us in our Catechism yet ought not that to hinder our Reading of the Holy Scriptures nor to deprive Us of any other Means of Christian Instruction but rather should be used as a Help whereby to render both the Reading and Hearing of God's Word more plain and profitable to Us. Psal. i. 2 2 Tim. iii. 16 Jo. v. 39 Rom. xv 4 Q. Does your Church-Catechism sufficiently instruct you in All These A. It does For therein both the Nature of the Christian Covenant is declared to Us and the Conditions are set forth on which we may become Partakers of it And we are particularly Instructed both how we ought to Pray to God and what those Sacraments are which are necessary to be Administred unto and Received by All of Us. SECT II. Q. WHat is your Name A. N. or M. Q. Who gave you this Name A. My Godfathers and Godmothers c. Q. What is that Name which is here demanded of you A. It is my Christian Name therefore so called because it was given to Me by my Godfathers and Godmothers at my Baptism For as from my Natural Parents I derive the Name of my Family so from those who were my Spiritual Parents I take that Name which properly belongs to me as a Member of Christ's Church Gen. xvii 5 15. Gen. xxi 3 4. Luk. i. 59 60. Luk. ii 21 Q. Whom do you mean by your Godfathers and Godmothers A. I mean those Persons who became Sureties for me at my Baptism And upon whose Promise there made in my Name I was Baptized and so foederally admitted into the Communion of Christ's Church Q. What are the Benefits which by your Baptism have accrued to you A. They are Many and Great Ones but may in general be reduced to these Three that thereby I was made a Member of Christ the Child of God and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. How were you hereby made a Member of Christ A. As I was made a a Member of his Mystical Body the Church of which Christ is the b Head a 1 Cor. xii 27 Ye are the Body of Christ and Members in particular b Ephes. iv 15 v. 23 Christ is the Head of the Church Q. How were you hereby made the Child of God A. As by this means I was taken into Covenant with Him was adopted into his Family dedicated to his Service and intituled to his Promises Gal. iii. 26 27 Ye are All the Children of God by Faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams Seed and Heirs according to the Promise See Gal. iv 5 7. Eph. i. 5 Q. How were you hereby made an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven A. As by my Baptism I became intituled to a Right to it and was actually put into such a State that if I be not wanting to my self I shall not fail of being made Partaker of it Tit. iii. 4 c. But after that the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost That being justified by his Grace we should be made Heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life 1 Pet. i. 3 c. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for Vs. Q. Are All who are Baptized made Partakers thereby of these Benefits A. They are all at that time either made Partakers of them or intituled to them But those only continue to hold their Right to these Privileges who take care to fulfill their part of the Covenant which was therein made between God and Them Q. Have none but such as are Baptized a Right to these Benefits A. None have a Right to them but such as are Baptized or were ready to have been Baptized had they had the Opportunity of Receiving that Holy Sacrament Jo. iii. 5 Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mark xvi 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved SECT III. Q. WHat did your Godfathers and Godmothers then for you A. They did promise and Uow three things in my Name c. Q. What is the first Thing which your Godfathers and Godmothers promised in your Name A. That I should Renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Uanity of this Wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh. Q. What does the Renouncing of all these import A. It imports an utter forsaking of Them And obliges me not only inwardly to detest Them but so to watch and govern all my Outward Actions as not to follow nor be led by Them Q. Do you think that you shall be able thus to renounce the Devil the World and your Own Flesh A. So perfectly as I could wish I cannot hope to do it in this present Life
The Image of the invisible God Col. i. 15 2 Cor. iv 4 to be from God Jo vii 29 to have Life from the Father Jo. v. 26 and the like And upon this Account it is that our Saviour himself says that the Father is greater than he Jo. xiv 28 That he can do Nothing of Himself but what he seeth the Father do Jo. v. 18 19. Or if this be not yet plain enough they tell us farther in express terms that he is the Begotten and the Only begotten Son of the Father Jo. i. 14 18. iii. 16 18. Heb xi 17 1 Jo. iv 9 v. 1 Q. But will not this make the Holy Ghost as much God's Son as Christ And how then is Christ his Only Son A. In Matters of this kind which are so far above our Capacities and of which we know Nothing but what God has been pleased to Reveal to Us we must speak as God in his Word has taught us to speak Now the Scriptures no where call the Holy Ghost the Son of God nor God the Father of the Holy Ghost And therefore though we know not what the precise Difference is yet because the proper Act of a Father is to beget we say that Christ Received his Divine Nature from God by Generation but of the Holy Ghost we say as the Scriptures do that He Proceedeth from the Father Jo. xv 26 and is the Spirit not of the Father only but of the Son also Gal. iv 6 Rom. viii 9 Phil. i 19. 1 Pet. i. 11 Q. What is the last Respect in which our Saviour is here Represented to Us A. His Relation to Vs OVR LORD Eph. iv 5 1 Cor. viii 5 Rev. x. 6 Q. How is Christ OVR Lord A. As he is God together with the Father and as by Him God Created the World so has he the same Original Right of Dominion with him and is Lord of All his Creatures Q. Is there not some Other ground for this Title and which Restrains it in a particular Manner to Mankind A. Yes there is Inasmuch as by his Coming into the World and Dying for Us he Redeemed Us from Death and so became Our Lord by virtue of that Purchase which thereby he made of Us. Q. When did Christ begin in this Respect to be Our Lord A. He entred in part upon this Authority before his Death though not without Respect to his dying for Us As is Evident from his publishing his Gospel abrogating the Law and setting out the Conditions of Life and Death to Mankind Hence before his Death he asserted to himself the Power to forgive Sins Mat. ix 2 6. But the full exercise of his Dominion he entred not upon till after his Resurrection when as himself declared to his Apostles Mat. xxviii 18 All Power in Heaven and Earth was given unto Him See Eph. i. 20 21. Q. How long will Christ continue in this Respect to be Our Lord A. Christ will continue to be Our Lord for Ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no End Luk. i 32 33. But then as the subject Matter of a great part of that Authority which he now exercises over his Church is proper only to the present State of it and will determine at the Day of Judgment so will all the farther exercise of such Authority cease together with it Christ as Mediator must Reign till he has put all his Enemies under his Feet till Sin Death the Devil and all Wicked Men shall be destroy'd and all his Faithful Servants be delivered from the Power of them Psal. cx 1 1 Cor. xv 25 But that being done Christ will deliver up this Authority to God even the Father 1 Cor. xv 24 Nevertheless still as God-Man he will continue to Reign with and over his Saints to all Eternity in Heaven And so make good what Daniel foretold concerning him Dan. vii 14 That his Dominion is an Everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed SECT X. Q. WHAT does your Creed teach you farther to Believe concerning our Lord Jesus Christ in the following Articles which Relate to Him A. All such Matters as are necessary to be Known and Believed by Us with Relation to the great Work of our Redemption which was accomplish'd by Him Q. By what means did Christ accomplish the Redemption of Mankind A. By giving up Himself to the Death upon the Cross for Us. 1 Pet. i. 18 19. Q. How could Christ whom you believe to be God die A. He took upon him our Nature He became Man like unto one of Us and being found in fashion as a Man he yielded up himself to Death even the Death of the Cross for Us Phil. ii 7 8. Act. xx 28 Q. After what manner was Christ made Man A. Not by the Conversion of his Divine Nature into the Humane nor by any Confounding of the Two Natures together But by Vniting our Humane Nature to His Divine after a Singular manner and such as cannot be perfectly Express'd by Us. Q. Were then Two distinct Natures the Divine and Humane Vnited together in Christ A. Yes there were And that in such wise as to make the same Jesus Christ by the distinction of the Two Natures in the Vnity of the same Person become truly and really at Once both God and Man Q. How was Christ made Man A. He was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and Born of the Uirgin Mary Q. How could Christ be conceived by the Holy Ghost A. Not by the communication of any part of his Own Substance to Him but as that Blessed Spirit set Nature on Work and took away the need of any Human Concurrence to his Production And as having thus prepared a Body for him of the Substance of the Virgin he breathed into it a most Perfect Reasonable Soul Q. Wherefore was it needful for the Holy Ghost to do this A. Both for the Honour and Purity of our Blessed Saviour That so he might come into the World free from all tincture of Sin And also that by the extraordinariness of His Birth He might fulfil the Prophecies which God had before deliver'd concerning it Q. How was Christ born of the Virgin Mary A. The Substance of his Body was derived from that of the Blessed Virgin He grew in her Womb and at the full time of her Delivery she brought him into the World And upon all these Accounts she was as much his Mother as any Other Woman is Mother of the Child that is born by Her Q. Had our Saviour then a Real Body like unto One of Us A. He had both a Real Humane Body Luke xxiv 39 1 Jo. iv 2 3 and Rational Soul Mat. xxvi 28 Luk. xxiii 46 And was in all things like unto Us only without Sin Heb. ii 17 iv 15 Q. Wherefore do you give the Title of Virgin to the Mother of our Lord A. To testify our belief that
Holy Scriptures For First Our Blessed Saviour promised the penitent Thief but a little before his Death that That Day he should be with him in Paradise Luk. xxiii 43 And Secondly As he was Expiring he gave up the Ghost with these Words Father into thy Hands I Commend my Spirit Christ therefore having now finish'd his Passion expired upon the Cross. His Body was laid in the Sepulchre his Spirit Return'd unto God that gave it and together with the Soul of the Penitent Thief was carry'd by the Holy Angels into Paradise where the Souls of the Righteous rest till the Day of the Resurrection And from thence it return'd on the third Day and was again Reunited to its Body as Ours also shall be at the Day of Judgment Q. What is your Opinion of the Limbus Patrum or Prison in which those of the Church of Rome suppose the Souls of Holy Men who dyed before the time of Christ to be shut up And to deliver whom they say our Saviour now went down thither A. As of a meer Fiction for which there is not the least ground in Scripture but much to the contrary and fit to keep Company with their Other Dream of Purgatory since SECT XII Q. WAS Christ to continue always under the Power of Death A. No but the contrary was foretold concerning Him That God would not leave his Soul in Hell nor suffer his Holy One to see Corruption Psal xvi 10 Acts ii 31 Q. How was he deliver'd from the Power of the Grave A. He Rose again the Third Day from the Dead Q. How do you understand these Words A. That upon the Third Day after his Death his Soul and Body which had been separated from One Another were by the mighty Power of God brought together again and vitally United to One Another And so the same Jesus who was dead became again alive or as it is in my Creed Rose again the Third Day from the Dead Q. Did Christ Raise Himself from the Dead A. I before said that he was Raised by the mighty Power of God Nor could any thing less than a Divine Power have done it Eph. i. 19 20. Yet as Christ was God as well as Man so he did also upon that account concur to his Own Resurrection And thus the Scripture tells us Jo. ii 19 Destroy this Temple says Christ to the Jews and in Three Days I will Raise it up Jo. x. 17 18. Therefore doth my Father Love me because I lay down my Life that I may take it up again No Man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have Power to lay it down and I have Power to take it again Which is also by the way another Evident Argument to prove that Christ is God Q. How does it appear that He did thus Rise from the Dead A. By the Testimony of Those who were Eye-witnesses of it And saw Him first cruelly put to Death and afterwards beheld Him Alive again Q. Are the Persons who give testimony hereunto such as may be securely Rely'd upon in a Matter of this Moment A. They are For First we have the Testimony of his most bitter Enemies as well as of his Friends to prove his Death Mar. xv 39 44 45. Mat. xxvii 62 c. Nor will the Sufferings which He underwent permit Us to doubt of it Jo. xix 33 34. And Secondly as for his being Alive after the Jews who set a Guard upon his Sepulchre on purpose to prevent his being Stollen away and the Pretence of his Resurrection which they were afraid his Disciples had design'd to Raise thereupon yet could not deny but that in despight of all their Care He was Gone out of the Sepulchre and what was become of Him they could not tell Mat. xxvii 62 c. xxviii 11 c. Q. But what positive Witness have you of his being Alive after his Crucifixion A. We have the Witness of his * Apostles of his * Disciples of above * Five hundred Persons who saw him and conversed with him and many of which died for the Testimony which they gave unto it None ever went back from it We have besides this the Witness * of Angels The Witness * of a Persecutor by this very Assurance converted into an Apostle And lastly the Witness * of God Himself who without all dispute enabled the first Preachers of this very Article to work wonderful Miracles in Confirmation of it and thereby as effectually as could be desired Gave his Own Evidence to the truth of it Q. Why do you add the Circumstance of the Time of his Resurrection that He Rose the Third Day A. To shew that he Rose according to the Types and Prophecies that had gone before concerning Him and upon the very Day that He himself had foretold he would Rise Jon. i. 17 ii 10 compare Mat. xii 38 Mat. xvi 21 Jo. ii 19 20. Q. How does it appear that it was the Third Day on which he Rose A. He Suffer'd on the Sixth Day being Our Friday between Nine and Twelve a Clock in the Morning He Rose on the First commonly called Our Sunday Morning after and so was Dead part of Friday all Saturday and part of Sunday For the Jews computed the Day from the Evening and so Saturday Night Six a Clock the First Day of the Week according to them began Q. Was there any thing Remarkable in the Day on which he Rose A. It was the Day on which God had before designed he should Rise And therefore on this Day the Sheaf of the First-fruits by which their Harvest was to be consecrated was lifted up before God among the Jews Lev. xxiii 10 to signify that Christ our First-fruits should on this Day be Raised up by God from the Dead and so become a Surety to Us of our future Resurrection See Rom. xi 16 1 Cor. xv 20 23. Q. What is the special Importance of this Article to Us A. It is very great Inasmuch as First It does beyond contradiction confirm the Divine Authority of our Blessed Lord Rom. i. 4 and the Truth of our Religion Rom. viii 33 34. And in the next Place does Assure Us that the Price of our Redemption was fully paid by Him Rom. iv 25 and is a Pledg to Us that as Christ was raised from the Dead so shall our mortal Bodies be quickned also by the same Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in Vs. Rom. vi 5 9. viii 11 SECT XIII Q. HOW did our Blessed Lord dispose of Himself after that he was Risen from the Dead A. He continued upon the Earth Forty Days with his Disciples both to Confirm them in their Belief of his Resurrection Jo. xx 19 25 27. Act. i. 3 and to Instruct them more fully in all those things which they were afterwards to preach to the World Acts i. 3 And then at the End of them He Ascended into Heaven
forgotten by Them And therefore it was highly necessary that the LORD should in the very first Place caution his People against this Folly and Idolatry Q. How many ways may a Man have Others for their Gods besides the LORD A. By as many ways as we are capable of shewing that We have Him for our God Namely First by Thinking of them as God and Secondly by Worshipping of them as Such Q. Is it possible for any Man who knows and worships the LORD to have any Other God besides him A. So this Commandment evidently Supposes and so indeed it may easily enough be There being nothing so Unreasonable which an immoderate Superstition is not capable of leading sometimes even Wise-men into And therefore not only God here gives this Caution to the Jews but St. Paul in like manner forewarns even the Christians to whom he preached to flee from Idolatry 1 Cor. x. 14 and not to keep Company with a Brother that is a Christian who was Guilty of it 1 Cor. v. 11 Q. How can this be seeing He who knows and believes aright of God must know and believe that there neither is nor can be any God besides Him A. Would Men always Act consistently to their Own Knowledge and Profession it would then indeed be Impossible for those who had a Right Notion of God to have any Other God besides Him But as in Other Cases Men may know very well what their Duty is and yet Act contrary to it so it is certain that they not only may but have done in the Case before Us. In short Whosoever gives Divine Honour to any Being does thereby profess that Being to be God as much as He who swears Allegiance to any Person does by such his Action Recognize that Person for his Prince Now such an Honour Religious Prayer and Invocation without all controversy are Yet these the Church of Rome does publickly and solemnly Pay to Others besides the LORD and by so doing shews to all the World that She has Other Gods besides Him Q. What do you then suppose to be the full import of this Second Part of the present Commandment A. That we should neither Believe in Account of or Worship any Other as God besides the LORD Whether it be by Forsaking Him and Falling off altogether to Idolatry or by Giving the Honour of God to Any Other Being together with Him SECT XXIII Q. WHAT is the Second Commandment A. Thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image c. Q. How does this Commandment differ from the Foregoing A. The Design of the First Commandment was to determine and set us Right in the Object of our Religious Worship and to prevent Us from giving Divine Honour to any besides the true God The Design of this is to direct Us in the Manner of worshipping Him that so we may not only serve the true God but may serve him after such a Manner as he Requires and is most sitting for Us to do Q. What is the full Import of this Commandment A. It is this First * That we must not make any Image of God at all be our Design what it will in making of it Nor Secondly * That of any Other Being with an Intention to pay any Honour or Worship to it Q. Do you think it utterly Unlawful to make any Image at all of God A. It is certainly Unlawful and is in many Places of Scripture expresly forbidden as being highly dishonourable to the Infinite Nature and Majesty of God and of Great danger and harm to Us. See Deut. iv 15 Isai. xl 18 xlii 8 Rom. i. 23 Q. What think you of the Image of Christ may that be made without offending against this Commandment A. Christ being Man as well as God his Body may certainly be aptly enough Represented by an Image nor would it be any Sin so to do provided that No Use were made of any such Image in any part of our Religious Worship But to Represent God the Father in a Graven Image to paint the Holy Trinity and that in so profane a manner as it has often been done in the Church of Rome is certainly a Great Sin and a Great Scandal and directly contrary to the Intention of this Commandment Q. Do you then look upon all Vse of Images in God's Service to be Vnlawful A. I do account it contrary to the Prohibition of this Commandment and by consequence Vnlawful And therefore when Aaron first and afterwards Jeroboam made Use of them for this purpose we find how highly God was pleased to Resent it and with what detestation it is condemn'd in the Holy Scriptures Exod. xxxii 1 Kings xii 30 xiii 34 Psal. cvi 20 Q. What say you to the Practice of the Church of Rome in this particular A. That it is Scandalous and Intolerable There having never been greater Idolatry committed among the Heathen in the business of Image-Worship than has been committed in that Church and is by Publick Authority still practised by it especially in the Ceremony of their Good-Friday Cross-Worship Q. Do you think they are so foolish as to Worship the Cross or is it Idolatry to worship Christ in presence of the Cross A. If we may either believe their Own Words or judge by their Actions they Adore the Cross as well as Christ and Both alike and with the same Worship As for the new pretence of worshipping Christ in Presence of the Cross it is a meer delusion contrived only to cheat ignorant People And carries just as much sense in it as if you should ask whether it were lawful to say your Prayers in Presence of a Post or to write a Letter in the Presence of a Candlestick the Nonsense of which there is no One so dull as not to discover Q. What is the Positive Duty Required of Us in this Commandment A. To worship God after a manner suitable to his Divine Nature and Excellencies God is a Spirit and whoso will Worship Him aright must do it in Spirit and in Truth Jo. iv 24 Rom. xii 1 Comp. Mat. xv 8 9. Q. How has God enforced these Commandments A. He has done it after a very singular Manner By declaring 1st That He is a jealous God Acts xvii 29 and will not suffer His Glory to be given to Another neither his Praise to Graven Images Isai. xlii 8 But 2dly Will Visit this Sin not only upon Those who commit it but on their Posterity also to the Third and Fourth Generation As on the Other side 3dly To those who are Careful to Worship Him as they ought to do He will shew abundant Mercy in this present Time and in the World to come Give them Life Everlasting Q. Can it consist with the Justice of God to Punish One for the Sin of Another A. No certainly nor does God here threaten any such thing But God who is the great LORD of the whole World may so punish a Man for his Sins