Experience, historie, and divinitie Divided into five books. Written by Richard Carpenter, vicar of Poling, a small and obscure village by the sea-side, neere to Arundel in Sussex. Who being, first a scholar of Eaton Colledge, and afterwards, a student in Cambridge, forsooke the Vniversity, and immediatly travelled, in his raw, green, and ignorant yeares, beyond the seas; ... and is now at last, by the speciall favour of God, reconciled to the faire Church of Christ in England? Printed by order from the House of Commons.

CHAP. 2.

I Will not have to doe with Controversie, but as it lyes in my way. For, if I turn my stile altogether, from the sweet and peace∣able comforts of the Spirit, to the noise, and loud alarums of Controversie, I am a fish took out of the water. And therefore, I professe, if they write a thousand times, and I answer as often; I will never stirre a foot,

from this very spirituall way of writing: let them object a disability on my side, or what they please. The command of Christ, to my soule; is, Goe and preach; and every thing that comes from mee, while I am I; shall be, if it be holy, an act of obedience to that command. But, I lose time. This I∣mage-worship, performed with much bending of the knee, and body; is a learned kinde of Idolatry. Nicephorus, entitled by them, Scriptor Catholicus, the Catholike Writer, confesseth, it was a custome intro∣duced first, in imitation of the Pagan Idola∣tors. But who can give a law of religious worship, which took not beginning from Christ, or his Apostles? God forbiddeth all worship of this ugly stamp, in those holy words of the law: Thou shalt not bow downe thy selfe to them, nor serve them. We see, that the prohibition imposeth a tye upon the outward gesture. And their answer will not hold together; that we are onely com∣manded, not to make, or bow downe to an Image, which wee make as well our God, as our Image; and bow to, as to our God: because God in his law, immediatly addeth: For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Jealousie in us, is a superfluity of love, and being mingled with feare, and suspition; feareth every shadow, and appearance of

neglect, and suspecteth every likenesse of evill. And therefore, howsoever they change the phrase, and plead, that the worship dwelleth not in the Image, but lodging as it were, at the signe of the Image, goeth on her journey to God, and to the Saint: Yet God, being still a jealous God; his jealousie will be very fearefull, and suspitious of all worship, which is not directed the next way to him: for, though his love be cleane from all defect; acting with us, now his part is the jealous Lover. And what a puz∣ling is here, of ignorant peoples brains, with these ordinations, and terminations? And this holy parcell of holy Scripture, Josephus the Jew with us, maketh a part of the se∣cond Commandement. But, with what threats, and promises, God keeps us to the keeping of this Commandement? Visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And shewing mercy unto thou∣sands of them that love me, and keepe my com∣mandements. The iniquity of the Fathers, shall be punished in the children, if they be also children of their sinnes, and idolatrous practises: but hee will shew mercy unto thousands, whose Fathers abhorred such odi∣ous wayes, yea though their children are not inheritors of all their Fathers vertues;

because hee is more prone to mercy. And as farre as thousands exceed in number, the third and fourth generation; so farre will his mercy be more active, and operative, then his Justice. And this odd kinde of worship, is exceedingly scandalous to all the heathenish world of unbeleevers; and especially to the Jews; who yet ake both in body and soule, and know they doe so, partly for their Fathers old sins of Idolatry. There standeth a great woodden Image of the Crucifix, in St. Pauls Church in Rome. But why doe I say, it standeth? Alas, it can∣not stand. Out of which, they teach, that Christ talked with St. Brigit. And the Cur∣taine being drawne, the people fall downe before it, and sigh, and knock their breasts: and then, the little beads drop. I have seene an Image of the Sun, through the mouth of which, in the old time, the devill spake to the people. But while I am reasonable, I shall not beleeve, that God would ever speak out of an Image, and tempt some to Idolatry; and confirme others in it. And, it doth not suit with his greatnesse, to come so neere the devill in his wayes; who long deceived the world, by a counterfeit way of speech in Oracles; and who practised to speak in Images, almost from the beginning of the world. Indeed, the great Doctors of

the Church, commonly call the devil, Gods Ape; because hee much labours to be like him, that he may passe for him, and deceive with more Authority: But no good man hath ever said in expresse termes, that God doth imitate the devill: for, when wee imitate another, wee learne something of him. And they will not deny, if they be not brasse all over, but, as well their Priests, tutored by the devill, as the old Priests, in imitation of the devill, have spoke to the people from the mouths of Images. And the dressing of Images in silks, and velvets, what is it, but the baby-sport of children? onely, the little childe hath more wit, then to worship his idle Baby. I have seene an old worme-eaten Image of the virgin Ma∣ry in Rome, carried with all earthly pomp and triumph in Procession; to which, the people kneeled, where it came, with as humble submission, as they could have done to God himselfe, if hee had there appeared, with all his Court of Angels, in his Glory: And before this Image, I, because I was somewhat dexterous in observing the State of their Service; was admitted, even to the saying of Masse. Shall man, the living Image of God, worship the senselesse Image of a man or woman, being a more ignoble crea∣ture then himselfe? As the perfections of all

things joyne hands in God, with an infinite accesse of excellence: So the perfections of all things but God, scattered in them, em∣brace one another in man; in a finite, and bounded manner. Man hath being with a stone; is, lives, and encreases with a plant; is, lives, encreases, and is sensible with a beast; is, lives, understands, and is spirituall on the surer side, with an Angell. It is a strange saying, but as true as truth: An An∣gell is more perfect then a man; but a man is enriched with more perfections then an Angell; and comes more nigh to his Maker this way, then an Angel. David saith of him, Thou hast made him a little lower then the Angels. The Angel indeed, is more com∣pleatly perfect, as being of a finer substance, and borne with large naturall knowledge, and without the troublesome connexion of a body. But man is stored with a fairer number of perfections; albeit those perfe∣ctions, which the Angel hath, spread far∣ther in fairenesse, then these of man. Shall this faire creature, the noble work of God, worship the meane work of man, an Image? which is but ashes in the likenesse of an Image: and which, the Popish Doctors confesse, if a Papist or other person, be driven with extremity of colde, hee may burne, to relieve his body. Goe now man, and wor∣ship

him, who, when thy body falleth to the poore condition of a stone, or block, or of the Image, that men would perswade thee to worship; and stirreth onely as it is moved by a living power; and shall be left, not a man, but the Image of a man; the Image of God being departed with, and in the soule: shall acknowledge his owne Image, if not defaced with the worship of Images, or other sinnes; and call thy soule, and his Image, home to his rest.

Notes

• Exo. 20 5.
• Ver. 6.
• Psal 8. 5.