Becon's Anglican Catechism: Law, Second Commandment (Part Two). This remains a suitable catechism for Reformed Churches in the Anglican way. The underlying thrust is the centrality of the Word of God without distractions of art, images, etc. In American Anglican churches (before the Tractarian heretics arose), there were three tablets allowed: 1) Lord's Prayer, 2) 10 Commandments, 3) Nicene Creed.
http://books.google.com/books?id=-8t6T7EhnXoC&pg=PA75&dq=thomas+becon+catechism&output=text#c_top
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Father. Amen. Let these things suffice for this present concerning the objections of the image-mongers for the maintenance of their idols in churches, and to declare that this precept of not making nor worshipping images appertaineth no less now unto us Christians than it did in times past unto the Jews. But come off, tell me, what is the good pleasure of God in the second commandment?
Son. God, which is the searcher of the heart, and knoweth the corrupt, froward, and wicked nature of man, mindment. and how even from his cradle he is prone, bent, and wholly given unto all that is ungodly, and specially unto new, strange, and counterfeit worshipping of God, invented of his own idle brain, blind zeal, good intent, corrupt judgment, contrary to God's holy ordinance and appointment, which willeth none otherwise to be served, honoured, and worshipped, than he himself hath prescribed in his blessed law; to bridle this evil and corrupt affection of man, and to keep him within the limits of his godly commandments, that he run not a whore-hunting after strange idols, but worship him according to his own appointment, and none otherwise, first of all in this his second commandment—forasmuch as nothing doth so alienate, estrange, and pluck away the heart of man from God and from all godliness, as idols, mawmets, images, and puppets, which be made and set forth before the eyes of the simple and unlearned people, to preach and represent unto them the majesty of God, which by no means can be counterfeit, seeing itself is both infinite and incomprehensible, and cannot be feigned nor set forth, no, not so much as shadowed by the art of man, although never so cunning either of graving or painting, in any corporal substance—chargeth and straitly commandeth his people, even so many as take him for their Lord and God, that they make no graven or carved image, nor the likeness of any tiling that is in heaven above, as the sun, moon, stars, &c.; or in earth beneath, as men, beasts, birds, worms, &c.; or in the waters under the earth, as fishes, and whatsoever liveth in the waters; lest by the making of such things they should go about after the manner of the heathen to counterfeit the majesty of God, and so, by beholding the same, at the last conceive an opinion on godhead and divine power to be in those images, and so fall to the worshipping of them, (as we read of divers nations both in God's and man's histories,) and by this means provoke God unto anger, which is both " a jealous God, and a consuming fire."
Father. Is it not then lawful to make an image of God?
Son. By no means: the image of for it is plainly forbidden of God in this second commandment.
Father. Are there no more scriptures in the holy bible, which bear witness of this thing?
Son. Yes, forsooth, very many.
Father. Recite part of them.
Son. Moses, that most excellent prophet of God, saith: " The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire. The voice of his words ye heard; nevertheless ye saw no image, but heard the voice only. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, namely, the ten verses, and wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at the same time to teach you his ordinances and laws, that ye might do thereafter in the land into the which ye go to possess it. Keep well your souls therefore, (for ye saw no manner of image in the day when the Lord spake unto you out of the fire upon mount Horeb,) that ye destroy not yourselves, and make you any image that is like a man, or woman, or beast upon earth, or feathered fowl under the heaven, or worm upon the ground, or fish in the water under the earth; that thou lift not up thine eyes toward heaven, and see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the whole host of heaven, and be deceived, and worship and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath created to serve all nations under the whole heaven."
Again: " Take heed unto yourselves, that ye forget not the covenant of the Lord your God, and that ye make no images of any manner of fashion, as the Lord thy God hath commanded. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire and a jealous God. If when ye have begotten children, and childer's children, and have dwelt in the land, ye mar yourselves, and make you images of any manner of fashion, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke him, I call heaven and earth to record over you this day, that ye shall shortly perish from the land into the which ye go over Jordan to possess it. Ye shall not dwell long therein, but shall utterly be destroyed." Also in another place: " Ye shall not turn yourselves unto images, and ye shall make you no gods of metal; for I am the Lord your God." Item: " Thus shall ye do with those nations unto whom the Lord your God shall send you: ye shall overthrow their altars, break down their pillars, cut down their groves, and burn their images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. Thee hath the Lord thy God chosen, that thou shouldest be his own peculiar people from among nations that are upon earth." Again: " These are the ordinances and laws which ye shall keep, that ye do thereafter in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers hath given thee to possess, as long as yo live upon earth. Destroy all the places wherein the heathen, whom ye shall conquer, have served their gods, whether it be upon high mountains, upon hills, or among green trees. And overthrow their altars, and break down their pillars, and bum their groves with fire, and hew down the images of their gods, and bring the names of them to nought out of the same place." Once again he
saith: " Cursed be he that maketh any carved image, or molten idol an abomination unto the Lord, a work of the hands of the craftsman), and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen."
The prophet Esay also saith: " To whom will ye liken God ? or what similitude will ye set up unto him ? Shall the carver make him a carved image ? and shall the goldsmith cover him with gold, or cast him into a form of silver plates ? &c. Know ye not this? heard ye never of it? hath it not been preached unto you since the beginning? have ye not been informed of this since the foundation of the earth was laid, that he (God) sitteth upon the circle of the world, and all the inliabiters of the world are, in comparison of him, but as grasshoppers," &c. ?
God himself saith by the aforesaid prophet: " To whom now will ye liken me ? and whom shall I be like, saith the Holy One. Again: " Whom will ye make me like in fashion or image, that I may be like him? which take out silver and gold out of your purses and weigh it, and hire a goldsmith to make a god of it, that men may kneel down and worship it. Yet must he be taken on men's shoulders, and borne, and set in his place, that he may stand and not move. Alas, that men should cry unto him which giveth no answer, and delivereth not the man that calleth upon him from his trouble! Consider this well, and be ashamed. Go into your own selves."
The prophet Esay saith once again: " All carvers of images are but vain, and their labour lost. They must bear record themselves that, seeing they can neither see nor understand, they shall be confounded. Who should now make a god, or fashion an idol that is profitable for nothing ? Behold, all the fellowship of them must be brought to confusion. Let all the work-masters come and stand together from among men: they must be abashed and confounded one with another. The smith taketh iron, and tempereth it with hot coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and maketh it with all the strength of his arms: yea, sometime he is faint for very hunger, and so thirsty that he hath no more power. The carpenter (or image-carver) taketh the timber and spreadeth forth his line: he maketh it with some colour: he planeth it: he ruleth it, and squareth it, and maketh it after the image of a man, and according to the beauty of a man, that it may stand in a temple. Moreover, he goeth out to hew down cedar-trees: he bringeth home elms and oaks and other timber of the wood, or else the fir-trees which he planted himself, and such as the rain hath swelled, which wood scrveth for men to burn. Of this he taketh and warmeth himself withal: he maketh a fire of it to bake bread, and afterward maketh a god thereof .to honour it, and an idol to kneel before it. One piece he bumeth in the fire: with another he roasteth flesh, that he may eat roast his bellyful: with the third he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha! I am well warmed, I have been at the fire. And of the residue he maketh him a god, and an idol for himself. He kneeleth before it, he worshippeth it, he prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my God. Yet men neither consider nor understand, because their eyes are stopped that they cannot see, and their hearts that they cannot perceive. They ponder not in their minds (for they have neither knowledge nor understanding) to think thus: I have brent one piece in the fire; I have baked bread with the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh withal, and eaten it: shall I now of the residue make an abominable idol, and fall down before a rotten piece of wood ? Thus he doth but lose his labour, and his heart, which is deceived, doth turn him aside, so that none of them can have a free conscience to think: May not I err ? Consider this, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have made thee, that thou mightest serve mo. O Israel, forget me not. As for thine offences, I drive them away like the clouds, and thy sins as the mist. Turn thee again unto me; and I will deliver thee." The prophet Jeremy saith also: " They hew down a tree in the wood with the hands of the workman, and fashion it with the axe: they cover it over with gold or silver: they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not. It standeth as stiff as the palm-tree: it can neither speak nor go, but must be borne. Bo not ye afraid of such; for they can do neither good nor evil. But there is none like unto thee, O Lord: thou art great; and great is the name of thy power." God himsel saith by the prophet Osee: " Of their silver they make them molten images, like the idols of the heathen; and yet all is nothing but the work of the craftsman, &c. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that early passeth away, and like as dust that the wind taketh away from the floor, and as smoke that goeth out of the chimney. I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, that thou shouldest know no God but me only, and that thou shouldest have no Saviour but only me."
As I may at the last cease to gather the testimonies of the old testament, which both forbid and condemn the making of such images, as pluck the minds of men from the living God unto dumb mawmets, I would wish all men diligently to read and remember the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth chapters of the book of Wisdom, and the sixth chapter of the prophet Baruch; which lively paint and set forth in their true colours theso images, idols, and mawmets, which many have in so great admiration, with all the vanities and abominations of them.
Father. Doth not also the new testament judge of images even as the old?
Son. Yes, verily. The Holy Ghost varieth not in his doctrine. Paul and Barnabas said unto the people: " "We preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vanities (they speak of images and of image-service) unto the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein." St Peter likewise said to the congregation of God : " My judgment is, that we trouble not them which from among the gentiles are turned to God, but that we write unto them, that they abstain themselves from the filthiness of images." St John saith : " Babes, keep yourselves from images."
Father. But come off, my dear child, tell me, is it not lawful for the Christians in no condition to have images?
Son. There be some that so think, of whose judgment worthily be resembled to the Turks, which, as they
had. Take this commandment of God so straitly, that they can by no means suffer any image to be made, no, not in profane and civil things.
Fatther. If in politic and worldly matters, why not also in divine and holy things ?
Son. In the one is no peril; in the other, great danger, as we have learned too much by experience.
Father. Did not God command Moses, after that he had given this law concerning images, to make the brasen serpent, and to set it up in the wilderness for the people of Israel to behold ?
Son. I grant. Notwithstanding, that was but a figurative image, serving for the time, prefiguring Christ, as we may see in the gospel, and therefore is now utterly abolished: as all figures, clouds, and shadows of the old testament vanished, when Christ, which is the very truth and light, came. Yea, long before the coming of Christ, that noble and godly king Ezechias, when he saw the»Kings x«u. people abuse this image, kneel unto it, honour it, and burn incense unto it, he threw it down and utterly destroyed it, although set up at the commandment of God: which thing he would never have done, if he had known that commandment of setting up the brasen serpent to be moral (for every moral law is the certain, undoubted, un- 4*9 changeable, and everlasting will of God); but being well assured that it was but a ceremonial law, serving for the time, and a figure or shadow of a better thing to come, when he saw it abused, so that by that means the glory of God was obscured, yea, and that honour given to an image which alone is due to the living God, he plucked it down, burnt it, and utterly destroyed it. For this is diligently to be noted, that no particular commandment takcth away the virtue of a general or universal law, as this law of images is in the book of God.
Father. Thou boldest then, that although it be tolerable, yea, and lawful in politic and worldly things, to have images, yet in matters appertaining unto godliness and religion it is neither tolerable nor lawful.
Son. Not only I, but the holy fathers also of the primitive church were of that opinion, as we have heretofore heard: " God is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth." Now, saith Lactantius, " God is never truly worshipped in that place where an image is"*: which thing made that holy bishop St Epiphanius, when he saw an image in the church, to take it away, and to cut it in pieces, affirming, that it is contrary to the authority of God's word to have images in the church of Christ8: which thing also made many noble princes and holy bishops to give commandment, that all images of God, of Christ, of angels, and of saints, should be taken out of churches, and burnt openly, and from henceforth that no images should be made and brought into such places as christian men use to resort unto for to pray unto their Lord God: if any did presume to do the contrary, he should suffer such punishments as was appointed bv the law for such and so grievous offenders4.
Father. If it be not lawful to make images for religion sake, then is it not lawful it i» norther for us to honour and worship them, as the custom was, and yet is, in the pope's church.
Son. No, verily. For as God in this commandment saith, " Thou shalt make thee no graven image," &c.; so likewise saith he, " Neither shalt thou bow down before them, the.m.'p nor worship them.
Father. Here then are we forbidden in the way of religion not only to make images, but also to worship them.
Son. Truth it is.
Father. Declare unto me by other scriptures also, that it is not lawful to worship images.
Son. God saith by his servant Moses: " I am the Lord your God: ye shall make you no idols, nor image in your land, to bow yourselves thereto. For I am the Lord vonr God." Moses also saith : "Beware, that thou make no covenant with the indwellers of the land, that thou comest into, lest they be the cause of thy ruin in the midst of it; but their altars shalt thou overthrow, and break down their gods, and root out their groves. For thou shalt have none other God, (for the Lord is called Jealous, because he is a jealous God;) lest, if thou make any agreement with the indwcllers of the land, when they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, they call thee, and thou eat of their sacrifice, and lest thou take their daughters unto thy sons to wives, and the same go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons to go a whoring after their gods also." Again: " Beware, that your heart be not deceived, that ye go aside and serve other gods, and worship them; and then the wrath of the Lord wax hot upon you, and he shut up the heaven that there come no rain, and the earth give not her increase, and ye perish shortly from the good land which the Lord hath given you." Item: " If there rise up a prophet or dreamer among you, and give thee a token or wonder, and that token or wonder, which he spake of, come to pass, and then say, Let us go after other gods (whom thou knowest not), and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of such a prophet or dreamer. For the Lord your God proveth you, to wit, whether ye love him with all your heart and with all your soul. For ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hearken unto his voice, and serve him, and cleave unto him. As for that prophet or dreamer, he shall die; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God."
The psalmograph also saith : " Confounded be all they that worship carved images, and they that delight in vain gods." The wise man saith: " The honouring of abominable images is the cause, the beginning, and the end of all evil." God himself saith by the prophet Esay: " I am the Lord, this is my name. I will give my glory to none other, nor my honour to graven images." Hereto pertaineth the saying of St Paul: " Be not worshippers of images." " For no worshippers of images shall inherit the kingdom of God :" yea, as St John saith : " They shall have their part in that lake that burnetb. with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Besides these sentences of the holy scripture, which utterly condemn the honouring and worshipping of images, we have manifest examples in the word of God of certain holy men, which did rather choose to suffer death, than they would serve, honour, or worship images. What a number of prophets and godly men did that most wicked woman, queen Jesebel, kill and murder, because they would not bow their knee to that foul idol, Baal! Read we not also in the book of Daniel the prophet, that three young men did rather choose to be put into a fiery furnace, and there to be burnt unto ashes, than they would once fall down before the golden image at the commandment of king Nabuchodonosor ? Was not this their answer to the king, "0 Nabuchodonosor, we ought not to consent unto thee in this matter. For why? our God whom we serve is able to keep us from the hot burning oven, 0 king, and can right well deliver us out of thy hands. And though he will not, yet shalt thou know, 0 king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor do reverence to the image which thou hast set up." Read we not again that Daniel was commanded of the king to worship a certain image at Babylon called Bel ? But Daniel answered and said, " I may not worship things that are made with hands, but the living God, which made heaven and earth, and hath power upon all flesh."
What shall I speak of all the holy martyrs which were in the primitive church, and many years after, that suffered most bitter torments, yea, and very death, because they would not bow down before images, and honour them ?
Image-service is such and so great abomination not only before God, but also in the sight of all good men, that we read of certain noble princes, which could by no means abide such wickedness to be used in their kingdoms, and therefore utterly destroyed all those idols, images, puppets, and mawmets, that plucked away the people's hearts from the honour of the living God unto image-service. Read we not, that king Ezechias put away the high places, and brake down the pillars, and rooted out the groves, and brake the brasen serpent, which Moses had made ? " For unto that time had the children of Israel burnt incense unto it." Read we not also, that king Josias destroyed and utterly took away the images and idols, and all the abominations which were seen in the land of Juda and at Jerusalem ; and that he commanded all the vessels to be taken out of the temple, which were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven, and that he burnt them without Jerusalem in the valley of Cedron, and caused the dust of them to be carried unto Bethel ? Again, that he did break down the altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and caused the dust of them to be cast into the brook of Cedron ; and the altar at Bethel, and the high place that Jeroboam made, which both he destroyed and made them unto dust, and burnt up the grove, &c. ?
Read we not, moreover, that the wicked king Manasses, because that he walked after the abominations of the heathen, builded the high places, which his father Ezechias had broken down, set up altars, made grevous1, worshipped all the host of heaven, caused carved images and idols to be made and set up in the house of the Lord, shed much innocent blood, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, was taken of the host of the king of the Assirians, bound with chains, and so led away prisoner unto Babylon ? Which Manasses being in trouble, after that he had humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord his God, his prayer was heard, and the Lord " brought him again to Jerusalem, even to his kingdom; so that Manasses knew that the Lord is God. Afterward put he away the strange gods and idols out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars which he had builded upon the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city, &c."
What shall I speak of Constantine the Great, of Leo III., of Valens and Theodoeius, of Philip, of Constantine, &c, most noble and worthy emperors, and of Sabanus, king of the Bulgarians", with divers other godly princes, which all banished idols, images, or mawmets out of their dominions, and would by no means suffer them to be remaining in those places, where christian men resort and come together to pray; lest the people should fall from the honour of the one and alone true living God, and be allured unto the vain worshipping of most vain images, and so heap the wrath and vengeance of God npon them, which as all sins, so likewise the sin and abomination of image-service, most highly doth detest and abhor?
What shall I here rehearse the most godly and virtuous acts of the reverend and holy bishops, Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus3, and Sirenus, bishop of Massilia*, and such like, which by no means could abide either images or image-service in their diocese ?
I pass over the most holy and christian councils, Agathense, Tolitane, Elibertine8, tic, which decreed that all pictures or images should be had out of the churches, and that nothing that is honoured or worshipped should be painted on the church-walls.
(Various footnotes deleted. See originals at the URL above.)
As respects the council of Arles, the canons, as printed by Labbe, do not seem to contain any thing to the point. Durandus, however, says: Concilium Agathen. de consec. distin. 3. cap. placuit, inhibet pictures in ecclesiis fieri, et quod colitur et adoratur in parietibus depingi.—Gul. Durand. Rat. Div. Offic. Venet. 1609. Lib. i. cap. iii. 4. fol. 9. 2. But as these words are almost identical with the canon of Elvira, quoted above, Durandus was perhaps in error.]
All these things heretofore rehearsed do evidently declare, what is to be thought both of images made for religion sake, and also of the worshipping and honouring of the same.
Fattier. Now, my good child, forasmuch as in this second commandment of God we are not only forbidden to make images, but also to bow down to them, and to worship them; tell me what is meant or understand by the bowing down unto an image.
Son. To bow down to, or before an image, which in Greek is wpoaKuveTv, and in the Latin adorare, is reverently with the body to fall down before it, to kneel unto it, to set it in a place where we use to worship God, to garnish it with costly array and precious jewels, to kiss it, to put off our cap unto it, and to shew any gesture of reverence outwardly unto it. All these things doth God forbid to be given to images in this his second commandment.
Father. Yet all these things are done to images in the pope's churches.
Son. Truth it is. For in divers popish books we read on this manner: " To all them that say this prayer following before the image of the crucifix, pitifully beholding the same, and devoutly kneeling upon their knees, are granted as many days of pardon, by divers popes of Rome, as be gravel stones in the sea, or grasses on the earth'." Moreover, who knoweth not this to be a custom in the synagogues of the pope both on Good Friday, as they call it, and on Easter-day in the morning, to creep unto the cross, to kneel unto it, to kiss it, to offer gifts unto it, &c, while the priests and the clerks sing on this manner, Crucem tuam adoramus, Domine, "We worship thy cross, O Lord;" which is plain and manifest idolatry, and a work directly against the commandment of God ?
St Ambrose writeth on this manner: " Helene found a title or superscription, but she worshipped the king, and not the tree; for this is an heathenish error, and the vanity of the ungodly; but she worshipped him that did hang on the tree, written in the title, &c."* With what conscience then can the papists compel, as they do, the simple Christians to worship the cross, contrary to the doctrine both of the holy scriptures and of the ancient godly writers ? This kind of worshipping required the devil at Christ's hand; but he answered: " Avoid, Satan. For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve." This worship refused Simon Peter to be given unto him of Cornelius the centurion. " Stand up," saith he, " I am a man also." This worship also refused the angel, when John fell down at his feet, and said unto John: " See that thou do it not. For I am thy fellow-servant, and one of thy brethren, and of them that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship thou God." If the apostle of Christ and the angel of God refused to be worshipped with falling down before them, and with kneeling unto them, is it reason that this worship, I mean, kneeling and bowing of the body, should be given to dumb idols and vain images? " Confounded and put to utter confusion and shame mought all they be," saith the psalmograph, " which worship," that is to say, kneel down before, " graven images," or do any outward reverence unto them.
Father. We are not only commanded of God in this his second commandment, that we should not bow down before any image, but also that we should not worship nor honour them. What is meant by worshipping or honouring of images ?
Son. As by bowing down before an image is understand all outward reverence, which with our body we give unto it, whether it be by setting it in that place where we come together to honour God, as in churches, chapels, oratories, &c, or by kneeling unto it, or putting off our cap unto it, or garnishing it, or kissing it, &c; so likewise by worshipping an image is meant to pray unto it, to offer gifts and sacrifices unto it, to go on pilgrimage unto it, to seek health, help, and salvation at it, to flee unto it in our necessities, to put our faith, hope, and confidence in it, and to maku it, as I may so speak, a very God; which is plain idolatry and image-service.
Father. These things also are done at this present day in the kingdom of the pope.
Son. It is the more to be lamented. All good and godly men ought to study, unto the uttermost of their power, to banish these so great and grievous pestilences from the bounds of Christendom, that all the worship, honour, glory, and praise may be given to God alone, as he himself saith by the prophet: " I am the Lord: this is my name. I will give my glory to none other, nor my honour to graven images." In the Acts of the Apostles we read, that when the men of Lystra, with Jupiter's priest, brought oxen and garlands, and would have done sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, because of the miracle that Paul wrought among them, in healing a man which was impotent of his feet, and a cripple even from his mother's womb, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, " The gods are become like unto men, and are come down unto us ; calling Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mcrcurius, because he was the preacher;" the apostles rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying and saying: " Ye men, why do ye this ? We are mortal men also like unto you, and preach unto you the gospel, that ye should turn from these vain things unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that therein is." If the apostles of Christ refused to be honoured, to have gifts and sacrifices offered unto them, &c, is it then seemly that such honour should be given to dumb images, idols, and mawmets? Neither outward worship nor inward honour ought to be given unto such vanities. " Blessed is that man," saith the psalmograph, " whose hope, affiance, and trust is in the name of the Lord, and that hath not regarded these vanities and foolish fond fantasies." These image-mongers may justly be resembled to the priests of Baal, which called on the name of Baal from the morning unto the noon-day, and yet were not heard. So likewise these new Baalites and idolaters, though they cry never so much upon these idols and images, yet shall they never be heard. " For they have ears and hear not, &c. They that make them are like unto them, and so are all such as put their trust in them. But let Israel trust in the Lord; for he is their succour and defence."
Father. Hitherto have we heard what the good will and pleasure of God is in this his second commandment, concerning images. Go forth now, and declare unto me that which followeth in this precept.
Son. The words that follow are these:
" For I the Lord thy God am a strong and a jealous God, punishing the wickedness of the parents in the children, until the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shew mercy until thousands, unto those that love me and keep my commandments."
Father. Why doth the Lord our God call himself "a strong God"?
Son. To declare whv the Lord that his divine majesty is so great, infinite, immeasurable, and incomprehensible, so wrong God. excellent and far passing the reach and compass of man's wit or reason, that it can by no means be expressed or set forth by any similitude, likeness, or image, that man can devise. For seeing that heaven and earth, and all that ever is contained in them, cannot represent God, much less are vile and vain images able to do this, which are made with man's hand, and have neither life nor moving, nor any thing at all that is like our most strong and mighty God, as both Esay and Baruch do right well testify. He is also called a strong God, to declare that he is of sufficient might and power to help and to defend all those that put their trust in him, with whatsoever kind of adversity they be assailed; and that, as he is able, so likewise he will alway be present with his saving health unto all such as unfeignedly cleave unto him, refusing utterly all false gods, idols, images, mawmets, puppets, &c, and seeking their health and salvation both of body and of soul at his merciful hand only and alone.
Father. But why doth he call himself " a jealous God" ?
Son. To declare that he by no means can abide that that glory which is due from us to him alone should be ifcalota given to any creature, although never so excellent, either in heaven or in earth, much Go
Father. What is it to run a whore-hunting from God ?
Son. To forsake the Lord is to follow creatures; to pluck our faith and love from God, and to give it unto strange gods; to seek health and salvation, remission of sins and everlasting life, at the hand of any, either in heaven or in earth, saving only at the hand of the Lord our God, which alone is the author, beginner, and finisher of our salvation. And to pluck us away from this whore-hunting and spiritual whoredom, which is nothing else than idolatry or image-service, he doth not only call himself a jealous God, but he also addeth, that he will punish the wickedness of the parents " in the children, until the third and fourth generation of them that hate him."
Father. What wickedness is that which God will so extremely punish ?
Son. Every sin is wickedness. God will by no means suffer the transgression and breaking of his holy commandments unpunished: as it is written: " Wo be unto them that sin, and keep not my commandments, saith the Lord; for I will not spare them." Again: " Cursed is every one which abideth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, that he may do them." And albeit all kind of sins do greatly offend tho majesty of God, so that he will leave none of them unpunished; yet this sin of idolatry or image-service do most highly displease him: neither will he by any means suffer the transgression and breaking of this second commandment, which forbiddeth idolatry and image-service, to escape without punishment, as divers histories of the holy scripture do manifestly declare. And therefore it is here to be noted by the way, that God calleth the idolaters, image-servants, or worshippers of strange gods, his enemies and such as hate him. Is it to bo thought that such can escape unpunished? It is not therefore without a cause, that God, tendering our health and salvation, in this his second commandment forbiddeth both the making and worshipping of images. If we will avoid the worshipping of images, let us cease to make them, and place them in our temples, chapels, oratories, &c.; and so shall we easily escape from the danger of idolatry or image-service, which is so grievous an offence, and so wicked and abominable sin before the Lord our God, that he threateneth to punish it in tho children of the idolatrous fathers, until the third and fourth generation.
Father. This seemeth to me very lamentable, that God should punish the wickedness of the parents in their children's children.
Son. This on this wise is to be understand. If the children of the parents, which were wicked idolaters, commit that same idolatry which their fathers have committed, and continue in the same wickedness wherein their forefathers have lived, then will God not only punish the parents which have so offended, but also their children, yea, and their children's children, which commit the like offence, yea, and that so much the more grievously, because they be the idolatrous children of idolatrous fathers, and have more pleasure to walk in the wicked steps of their most wicked fathers, than to give ear to the righteous laws of the most righteous God.
Father. But what if the parents bo wicked and the children godly, as it sometime rhanceth, and as we also find in the holy scriptures, shall the children notwithstanding be plagued and punished for their fathers' offences ?
Son. God forbid. For it is written: " The soul that sinneth shall die. If a man be godly, and do the thing that is equal and right (he eateth not upon the hills: he lifteth not his eyes up to the idols of Israel: he defileth not his neighbour's wife: he meddleth with no menstruous woman: he grieveth nobody: he giveth his debtor his pledge again: he taketh none other man's good by violence: he parteth his meat with the hungry: he clotheth tho naked: he lendeth nothing upon usury: he taketh nothing over: he writhed1 with his hand from doing wrong: he handleth faithfully betwixt man and man: he walketh in ray commandments, and keepeth my laws, and performeth them faithfully); this is a righteous man: he shall surely live, saith the Lord God. If he now beget a son that is a murderer and a shedder of blood; if he do one of these things (though he do not all); he eateth upon the hills; he defileth his neighbour's wife; he grieveth the poor and needy; he robbeth and spoileth; he giveth not the debtor his pledge again; he lifteth up his eyes unto idols, and meddleth with abominable things; he lendeth upon usury, and taketh moreover; shall this man live? he shall not live. Seeing he hath done all these abominations, he shall die: his blood shall be upon him. Now if this man beget a son also, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and feareth, neither doth such like; namely, he eateth not upon the mountains; he lifteth not his eyes up to the idols of Israel; he defileth not his neighbour's wife; he vexeth no man ; he keepeth no man's pledge; he neither spoileth nor robbeth any man; he dealeth his meat with the hungry; he clotheth the naked; he oppresseth not the poor; he receiveth no usury, nor any thing over; he keepeth my laws, and walketh in my commandments; this man shall not die in his father's sin, but shall live without fail. As for his father, because he oppressed and spoiled his brother, and did wickedly among his people, he is dead in his own sin. And yet say ye: Wherefore then should not this son bear his father's sin? Therefore, because the son hath done equity and right, hath kept all my commandments and done them; therefore shall he live in deed. The soul that sinneth shall die. The son shall not bear the father's offences, neither shall the father bear the son's offence. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself; and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself also."
Of these words, which I have borrowed out of the prophet Ezechiel, is it plain and evident, that, although the parents be wicked and idolatrous, yet if their children be not polluted and defiled with the same wickedness and idolatry, but lovers of God, studious of his holy word, and diligent walkers in his laws and commandments; they shall be free from those plagues and punishments which their wicked and ungodly fathers have most justly deserved, and be no partakers of God's displeasure, indignation, and venceance in this behalf. Therefore, where it is said that God will punish the wickedness of parents "in the children, until the third and fourth generation," it is to be understand of those children which, having wicked fathers, follow the steps of their fathers, committing the same wickedness which they tofore have committed, without repentance or amendment of life. The other, which are free from the wickedness of their parents, are also free from the curses and plagues of God, and be in the number of those which are mentioned in the end of this second commandment.
Father. What is that?
Son. "And shew mercy until thousands, unto those that love me and keep my commandments."
Father. What learnest thou of these words ?
Son. Verily, that as God is righteous and severe in punishing the wicked doers, which transgress his commandments, so likewise is he merciful, gentle, and liberal to all such as love him, and study to frame their lives according to his holy word; as the apostle saith : " Unto them that are contentious, and not obedient to the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall come indignation and wrath, trouble and anguish, upon all the souls of men that do evil, of thct Jew first, and also of the Greek. But unto all them that do good (shall come) praise and honour and peace, unto the Jew first, and also the Greek. For there is no respect of persons before God."
Father. What is meant by this, that God, in plaguing the wickedness of the parents in the children, will only extend his punishment until the third and fourth generation, yea, and that none otherwise, except they follow the wickedness of their fathers, as we heard tofore; but in shewing mercy unto those that love him and keep his commandments, he saith, that he will extend and stretch forth his merciful kindness and mercy of kind mercy until thousands, that is to say, infinite generations?
Son. This declareth than the unto us, that the mercy of God is greater than his anger, and that he is more bent to loving-kindness than to severe justice. And with this agrecth the saying of that blessed virgin Mary: " His mercy," saith she, " endureth throughout all generations upon them that fear him." The psalmograph also saith: " The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, long-suffering, and of great goodness. He will not alway be chiding, neither will he keep his anger for ever. He will not deal with us after our sins, nor reward us according to our wickedness. For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth ; so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him. Look how wide the cast is from the west; so far will he set our sins from us. Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children, even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him, &c. The merciful goodness of the Lord endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him, and his righteousness upon their childer's children; even such as keep his covenant, and think upon his commandments to do them."
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