sonne, that he shall not follow me. Deut. 7.
Moses was not deceyu••d or seduced by Iethroes daughter, nor Booz by Ruth, beyng a woman of Moab. And yet for all that, the generall law was to be obserued, Thou shalt ioine no mariage with them. And so likewise, Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen image, &c.
Deut. 4. God geueth a speciall charge to auoyde ima∣ges. Beware (saith he) that thou forget not the couenaunt of the Lord thy God which he made with thee, & so make to thy selfe any grauen image of any thing which the lord hath forbidden thee, for the Lord thy God is a consumyng fire, and a iealous God.
If thou haue children and nephews, and doe dwell in the land, and beyng deceiued, do make to your selues any grauen image, doyng euill before the Lord your God and prouoke him to anger, I do this day call heauen and earth to witnesse, that you shall quickly perish out of the lande which ye shall possesse, ye shall not dwell in it any longer tyme, but the Lord will destroy you & scatter you amongst all nations, &c.
Note what solemne obtestation God vseth, and what grieuous punishments he threateneth to the breakers of the second commaundement.
In the tabernacle and temple of God, no image was by God appointed openly to be set, nor by practise after∣wards vsed or permitted, so long as religion was purely obserued: so that the vse and execution of the lawe, is a good interpreter of the true meaning of the same.
If by vertue of the second commaundement Images were not lawfull in the temple of the Iewes, then by the same commaundement they are not lawfull in the Chur∣ches of the Christians. For beyng a morall commaunde∣ment and not ceremoniall (for by consent of writers, only a part of the precept of obseruyng the Saboth, is ceremo∣niall) it is a perpetuall commandement, and byndeth vs as well as the Iewes.
The Iewes by no meanes would consent to Herode, Pilate, or Petronius, that Images should bee placed in the temple at Hierusalem, but rather offred themselues to the death, then to assent vnto it. Who besides that they are commended by Iosephus for obseruyng the meanyng of the law, would not haue endangered themselues so farre, if they had thought images had bene indifferent in the tē∣ple of God: For as S. Paule sayth: 2. Cor. 6. Quid tem∣plo Dei cum simulachris, &c. Ioseph. Antiq. libr. 17. cap. 8, lib. 18. cap. 5. & 15.
Gods Scripture doth in no place commend the vse of Images, but in a great number of places doth disallowe and condemne them.
They are called in the booke of Wisedome, the trap & snare of the feete of the ignorant.
It is sayd the inuention of them was the beginnyng of spirituall fornication. And that they were not from the beginnyng, neither shall they continue to the end.
In the xv. chap. of the same booke it is sayd, Vmbra pi∣ctura labor sine fructu, &c. And againe, they are worthy of death both that put their trust in them, & that make them, and that loue them, and that worship them.
The Psalmes and prophets are full of like sentences, and how can we then prayse the thing which Gods spirit doth alwayes disprayse.
Furthermore, an Image made by a father (as appea∣reth in the same booke) for the memoriall of his sonne de∣parted was the first inuention of images, and occasion of Idolatry. Sap. 14.
How much more then shall an image made in the me∣mory of Christ, and set vp in the place of religion occasion the same offence. Euseb. Eccles. histor. lib. 7. cap. 18. Images haue their beginning frō the heathen, & of no good ground therfore they cannot be profitable to Christians. Where∣unto Athanasius agreeth, writing of Images agaynst the Gentils. Athanas. con. gentes, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. That is to say: The inuention of Images came of no good but of euill and what so euer hath an euill beginning can neuer in any thing be iudged good seing it is wholly nought.
S. Iohn sayth, my little children beware of Images, but so set them in Churches which are places dedicated to the seruice and inuocation of God, and that ouer the Lor∣des table, being the highest & most honorable place where most daunger of abuse both is and euer hath bene, is not to beware of them nor to flee from them, but rather to embrace and receiue them. Tertullian expounding the same wordes, writeth thus. Lib. de corona militis. Filioli custodite vos ab idolis, non iam ab idolatria quasi ab. officio, sed ab idolis. i. ab ipsa effigie eorum. That is to say. Little Children keepe your selues from the shape it selfe, or forme of them.
Images in the Churche either serue to edify or to de∣stroy, if they edifye, then is there one kinde of ••••ification which the scriptures neither teach nor commaūd, but al∣wayes dissalow: if they destroy, they are not to be vs••d for in the church of God all thinges ought to be done to edify. 1. Cor. 14.
The commaundement of God is, thou shalt not laye a stumbling blocke or stone before the blinde: and cursed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 he that maketh the blinde wander in his way.
The simple & vnlearned people who haue bene so long vnder blinde guides, are blind in matters of religion and inclined to error and idolatry. Therfore to set images be∣fore them to stumble at▪ (Nam laquaei pedibus insipientium sunt) that is, They bee snares and ••rappes for the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the ignoraunt, or to lead them out of the true waye is not onely agaynst the commandement of God but deserueth also the malediction and curse of God. Sap. 14.
The vse of images is to the learned & confirmed in know¦lege neither necessary nor profitable. To the superstitious a confirmation in error. To the simple & weak an occasiō of fall and very offensiue and wounding of theyr consci∣ences: And therfore very daungerous. For S. Paul sayth 1. Cor. 9. offending the brethren and woūding their weake consciences, they sinne agaynst Christe. And Math. 18. Woe be to him by whom offense or occasion of falling cō∣meth, it were better that a milstone were tyed about hys necke and he cast into the sea then to offend one of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 ones that beleeue in Christ. And where obiection may bee made that such offence may be taken away by sincere doc∣trine and preaching, it is to be aunswered that that is not sufficient as hereafter more at large shall appeare.
And though it should be admitted as true, yet shoulde it followe that sincere doctrine and preaching shoulde al∣wayes and in all places continue as well as Images: & so that whersoeuer an Image to offend were erected there should also of reason a godly and sincere preacher be con∣tinually mayntayned: for it is reason that the remedye 〈◊〉〈◊〉 as large as the offence, the medicine as generall as the poison, but that is not possible in the realme of England that Images should be generally allowed, as reason and experience may teach.
As good magistrates which intēd to banish al whore∣dome, doe driue away all naughty persons, specially out of such places as be suspected: euen so Images being Me∣retrices. id est. Whores for that the worshipping of them is called in the prophetes fornication, and adultery ought to be banished and especially out of churches which is ye most suspected place, and where the spirituall fornication hath bene most omitted.
It is not expedient to allowe and admitte the thinge which is hurtfull to the greatest number, but in all Chur∣ches and common wealths the ignoraunt and weake are the greatest number to whome Images are hurtfull and not profitable.
And where it is commonly alledged that Images in Churches do stirre vp the minde to deuotion, it may be aunswered that contrariwise they doe rather distracte the minde from prayer, hearing of Gods word & other godly meditations, as we read that in the Counsell Chamber of the Lacedemonians no picture or Image was suffered, least in consultation of wayghty matters of the common weale, their mindes by the sight of the outward Image might be occasioned to be withdrawne or to wander from the matter.
The experience of this present time doth declare that those partes of the realme whiche thinke and are perswa∣ded that God is not offended by doing outward reuerēce to an image, do most desire the restitution of Images, and haue bene most dilligent to set them vp agayne▪ Restituti∣on therfore of them by common authoritie shall confirme them more in theyr error to the daunger of theyr soules, then euer they were before, for as one man writeth.
Nihil magis est certum, quam quod ex dub••o factum est cer∣tum, that is to say nothing is more certayne or sure, then that which of doubtfull is made certayne.
The profit of Images is vncertayne, the perill by ex∣perience of all ages and states of the Churche (as afore) is most certayne.
The benefite to be taken of them (if ther be any) is ve∣ry smale: the daunger in seeyng of them which is the dan∣ger of Idolatry is the greatest of all other. Nowe to allowe a moste certayne perill for an vncer∣tayne profite, and the greatest daunger for the smallest benefite, in matters of fayth and Religion is a temp∣ting of God and a grie∣uous offence.