SAINT-WORSHIP, IMAGE-WORSHIP, RELIC-WORSHIP, CROSS-WORSHIP.
I SHALL next examine the doctrine and practice of Saint-worship,
Image-worship, Relic-worship, and Cross-worship.
I. In exhibiting the tenets of the Romish Church and Clergy on these
several points, I shall successively give: the decision of the council of
Trent; the comments of some of the most approved Latin Doctors; and the
actual practice of the Romanists themselves as the best explanation of
their received tenets.
1. Let us first hear the decision of the Council of Trent.
_All Bishops_, _and others who discharge the duty of teaching_, _must
diligently instruct the faithful_, _concerning the intercession and
invocation of the Saints_, _the honouring of Relics_, _and the legitimate
use of Images_.
_For this purpose_, _they must teach them_: _that the Saints_, _reigning
with Christ_, _offer up their prayers to God for men_; _and that it is
good and useful_, _suppliantly to invoke them_, _and to flee to their
prayers and assistance for the purpose of obtaining benefits from God
through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord who is our only Redeemer and
Saviour_.
_Furthermore_, _they must teach them_: _that those_, _who deny that the
Saints in heaven ought to be invoked_, _or who assert either that they do
not pray for men or that the invoking of them to pray for us is idolatry
or that it is contrary to God’s word and adverse __to the honour of Jesus
Christ the only mediator between God and man or that it is foolish by
voice or in mind to supplicate those who reign in heaven_, _think
impiously_.
_They must also teach them_: _that the holy bodies of the Saints and
Martyrs and others living with Christ are to be venerated by the
faithful_, _through which many benefits are afforded from God to men_;
_so that the affirmers_, _that veneration and honour are not due to the
Relics of the Saints_, _or that these and other sacred monuments are
uselessly honoured by the faithful_, _or that it is vain to celebrate the
memories of the Saints for the purpose of obtaining their assistance_,
_are wholly to be condemned_, _as the Church long since condemned and
still condemns them_.
_Likewise_, _they must teach them_: _that the Images of Christ and of the
Virgin Mother of God and of the other Saints are especially to be had and
retained in Churches_, _and that due honour and veneration are to be paid
to them_; _not that any divinity or virtue_, _on account of which they
ought to be worshipped_, _is believed to be inherent in them_; _or that
any thing is to be sought from them_; _or that trust is to be placed in
Images_, _as was formerly done by the Gentiles_, _who placed their hope
in Idols_; _but because the honour_, _which is paid to them_, _is
referred to the originals which they represent_; _so that_, _through the
Images which we kiss and before which we uncover our heads and bow down
prostrate_, _we adore Christ and venerate the Saints whose similitude
they bear_. {45}
2. Let us next, upon the doctrinal and practical system of the
professedly unchangeable Church of Rome, hear the comments of some of the
most approved Latin Doctors both before and after the Council of Trent.
(1.) From Thomas Aquinas, who was not only a mighty Schoolman but also a
canonised Saint of the Roman Church, we may clearly hope to derive the
very best and most accurate instruction as to the _real_ tenets of his
Communion. Now this writer, through the medium of a syllogism
professedly framed upon an _authorised_ Prayer in the Breviary,
establishes the DUTY of worshipping the cross with the self-same
adoration as that which is paid to the Deity.
_We offer the supreme adoration of Latria to that Being_, _in whom we
place our hope of salvation_. _But we place our hope of salvation in the
cross of Christ_: _for the Church sings_; _Hail_, _O cross_, _our only
hope in this time of passion_, _increase righteousness to the pious_,
_and grant pardon to the guilty_. THEREFORE _the cross of Christ is to
be adored with the supreme adoration of Latria_. {46a}
(2.) Much wholesome instruction, in regard to the legitimate use of
Images, may also be derived from the expositorial comment of James
Naclantus Bishop of Clugium.
_We must not only confess_, _that the faithful in the Church worship
before an Image_; _as some over-squeamish souls might peradventure
express themselves_: _but we must furthermore confess_, _without the
slightest scruple of conscience_, _that_ THEY ADORE THE VERY IMAGE
ITSELF; _for_, _in sooth_, _they venerate it with the identical worship
wherewith they venerate its prototype_. _Hence_, IF THEY ADORE THE
PROTOTYPE WITH THAT DIVINE WORSHIP WHICH IS RENDERED TO GOD AND WHICH
TECHNICALLY BEARS THE NAME OF LATRIA, THEY ADORE ALSO THE IMAGE WITH THE
SAME LATRIA OR SUPREME DIVINE WORSHIP: _and_, _if they adore the
prototype with Dulia or Hyperdulia_, _they are bound also to adore the
Image with the self-same species of inferior worship_. {46b}
(3.) In exactly the same expository strain proceeds Gabriel Biel, in his
Lectures upon the Canon of the Mass.
_If there shall be Images of Christ_, THEY ARE ADORED WITH THE SAME
SPECIES OF ADORATION AS CHRIST HIMSELF, THAT IS, WITH THE SUPREME
ADORATION CALLED LATRIA: _if_, _of the most blessed Virgin_; _with the
worship of Hyperdulia_. {47a}
(4.) The commentary of Peter de Medrano will throw yet additional light
on the subject.
_We must say_: _that_, _to our Lady the Mother of God_, _there has been
granted the remarkable privilege of being physically and really present
in some of her statues or images_.—_Hence we must piously believe_:
_that_, _in some celebrated statues or images of herself_, _she is
inherent and present_, _personally_, _physically_, _and really_;—_in
order that_, _in them_, _she may receive_, _from faithful worshippers_,
_her due adoration_. {47b}
(5.) Yet still further light breaks in upon us from the statements of
Aringhi, penned and published at Rome under the very nose of the
sovereign Pontiff.
_This Image_, _translated from the city of Edessa_, _is at once preserved
as a bulwark against mad Image-breakers_, _and is set forth to be taken
up and_ ADORED _by the faithful_. {47c}
_Within these few years_, _under every Pope successively_, _some or other
of our sacred Images_, _especially of the more ancient_, _have made
themselves illustrious_, _and have acquired_ A PECULIAR WORSHIP AND
VENERATION, _by the exhibition of fresh miracles_; _as it is notorious to
all_, _who dwell in this city_. {47d}
3. Let us finally attend to the actual liturgical practice of the
Romanists themselves, as the best explanation of the tenets received and
inculcated by their Clergy: for, clearly, as men are taught to believe
and to act, so will their authorised public prayers be constructed.
(1.) Hail, O cross, our only hope in this time of passion: increase
righteousness to the pious, and grant pardon to the guilty. {48a}
(2.) Holy Mary, succour the miserable, assist the pusillanimous, comfort
the mournful. {48b}
(3.) O singular Virgin, mild among all, make us, being delivered from
our sins, mild and chaste. Grant us purity of life; prepare for us a
safe journey: that, seeing Jesus, we may always jointly rejoice. {48c}
(4.) Mary, mother of grace, mother of mercy, do thou protect us from the
enemy, and receive us in the hour of death. Unloose their bonds to the
guilty: give light to the blind: drive away our evils: demand all good
things. Shew thyself to be a mother. Let him, who for us endured to be
thy son, receive our prayers through thee. {48d}
(5.) O George, illustrious martyr, praise and glory become thee.—We
beseech thee, in our inmost heart, that, with all the faithful, we may be
joined to the citizens of heaven, being washed from our impurities. {48e}
(6.) O martyr Christopher, for the honour of the Saviour, make us in
mind worthy of the honour of the Deity. According to the promise of
Christ, for what thou askest thou obtainest, grant unto thy sorrowful
people the gifts, which in dying thou besoughtest. {48f}
(7.) O ye eleven thousand glorious girls, lilies of virginity, roses of
martyrdom, defend me in life by granting me your assistance: and shew
yourselves in death, by bringing the last comfort. {48g}
(8.) O holy Mary; our sovereign queen, as God the Father, by his
omnipotence, has made thee most powerful; so assist us, at the hour of
death, by defending us against all power that is contrary to thine.
_Hail_, _Mary_! O holy Mary, our sovereign queen, as God the Son has
endowed thee with so much knowledge and charity that it enlightens all
heaven; so, in the hour of death, illustrate and strengthen our souls
with the knowledge of the true faith, that they may not be perverted by
error or pernicious ignorance. _Hail_, _Mary_! O holy Virgin, our
sovereign queen, as the Holy Ghost has plentifully poured forth into thee
the love of God; so instil into us, at the hour of death, the sweetness
of divine love, that all bitterness at that time may become acceptable
and pleasant to us. _Hail_, _Mary_! {49a}
(9.) Hail Mary, lady and mistress of the world, to whom all power has
been given both in heaven and in earth! {49b}
II. After this ample statement of the doctrine and practice of the Roman
Church, it will be useful for us to observe, both _negatively_ what the
Bible _does not_ say, and _positively_ what the Bible _does_ say, on the
subject now before us.
1. In the first place, then, so far as respects the _negative_ part of
the question, the Bible is TOTALLY SILENT, as to the Trent-inculcated
duty, of invoking Saints, venerating Relics, and kissing and uncovering
the head and falling prostrate before Images either in nitches or upon
crucifixes.
It NO WHERE recognises or recommends any such practices and notions: as
those, of invoking dead Saints, to aid us by their prayers, or to grant
us purity of life, or to unloose the bands of the guilty, or to make us
mild and chaste, or to defend us in life, or to assist us in the hour of
death; of celebrating their memories, for the avowed purpose of obtaining
their help and protection; of much benefit being derived, from God to man
by the veneration of Relics; of worshipping Christ and venerating the
Saints, through the medium of worship and veneration paid relatively to
Images; of beseeching the cross, a mere dumb piece of wood even if any of
its remains should now be actually in existence, to increase
righteousness to the pious and to grant pardon to the guilty.
From beginning to end, NOT A SYLLABLE of sanction or approbation, in
regard to any such phantasies can we discover in the Holy Scriptures.
Hence, even to say the very least of the matter, the doctrine, avowedly
taught and liturgically introduced by the Church of Rome, has not the
slightest support or warrant from the Written Word of God. Whatever be
the ground, upon which it rests: at all events, it clearly rests _not_
upon the Bible.
3. But this is not all. For, in the second place, so far as respects
the _positive_ part of the question, Holy Scripture is full and express
AGAINST any worship or invocation of the creature, however disguised or
modified or palliated by the closely harmonizing distinctions and
definitions of Paganism and Popery: inasmuch as the Pagans, though
slanderously misrepresented by the doctors of the Council of Trent, did
in truth defend their Idol-worship against the primitive Christians, on
the self-same plea and principle of _relative adoration_, as the said
doctors themselves and their followers the Romish Clergy defend their
Image-worship against us Reformed Catholics. {50}
(1.) _Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image_, _or any likeness
of any thing that is in heaven_. _above or that is in the earth beneath
or that is in the water under the earth_. _Thou shalt not bow down
thyself unto them_, _nor serve them_: _for I_, _the Lord thy God_, _am a
jealous God_, _visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me_, _and shewing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments_.
{51a}
(2.) _Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image_, _an
abomination unto the Lord_, _the work of the hands of the craftsman_.
{51b}
(3.) _They_, _that make a graven image_, _are all of them vanity_; _and
their delectable things shall not profit_: _and they are their own
witnesses_; _they see not_, _nor know_; _that they may be ashamed_. {51c}
(4.) _None considereth in his heart_, _neither is there knowledge nor
understanding to say_: _I have burned part of it in the fire_; _yea also
I have baked bread upon the coals thereof_; _I have roasted flesh_, _and
eaten it_: _and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination_; _shall
I fall down to the stock of a tree_? {51d}
(5.) _What profiteth the graven image_, _that the maker thereof hath
graven it_: _the molten image_, _and a teacher of lies_, _that the maker
of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols_? _Woe unto him that
saith to the wood_; _Awake_: _to the dumb stone_; _Arise_, _it shall
teach_. _Behold_, _it is laid over with gold and silver_; _and there is
no breath at all in the midst of it_. {51e}
(6.) _Then said Jesus unto him_: _Get thee hence_, _Satan_: _for it is
written_; _Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God_, _and him only shalt thou
serve_. {51f}
(7.) _Let no man beguile you of your reward_, _in a voluntary humility
and worshipping of angels_, _intruding __into those things which he hath
not seen_, _vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind_. {52a}
(8.) _When I had heard and seen_, _I fell down to worship before the
feet of the angel which shewed me these things_. _Then saith he unto
me_: _See thou do it not_; _for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy
brethren the prophets and of them which keep the sayings of this book_.
_Worship God_. {52b}
(9.) _When the people saw what Paul had done_, _they lifted up their
voices_, _saying in the speech of Lycaonia_: _The gods are come down to
us in the likeness of men_. _And they called Barnabas Jupiter_; _and
Paul Mercurius_, _because he was the chief speaker_. _Then the priest of
Jupiter_, _which was before their city_, _brought oxen and garlands unto
the gates_, _and would have done sacrifice with the people_. _When the
apostles Barnabas and Paul heard_, _they rent their clothes_, _and ran in
among the people_, _crying out and saying_: _Sirs_, _why do ye these
things_? _We also are men of like passions with you_; _and preach unto
you_, _that ye should turn away from these vanities unto the living God_.
{52c}
III. We may now profitably hear the testimony of the early
ecclesiastical writers.
1. The Epistle of the Church of Smyrna, relative to the martyrdom of
Polycarp, was written about the middle of the second century.
Nicetas was urged by the envious and the wicked to intercede with the
governor, that the remains of Polycarp should not be delivered for
sepulture: lest, leaving him that was crucified, the Christians, it was
suggested, should begin to worship this person. These things they said,
at the instigation of the Jews: because they were ignorant; that neither
can we ever forsake Christ who suffered for the salvation of the saved
throughout the whole world, nor that we can ever worship any other. For
him, being the Son of God, we adore: but the martyrs, as disciples and
imitators of the Lord, we worthily love on account of their special
affection to their own King and Master. {53a}
2. Clement of Alexandria flourished in the second century.
(1.) Images, wrought by mean artizans, are produced from worthless
materials. Therefore they themselves must be worthless and profane.
{53b}
(2.) An image, truly, is mere dead matter, fashioned by the hand of the
artizan. But, with us Christians, there is no sensible representation
formed out of sensible matter. God, the alone true God, is our
intellectual image. {53c}
3. Minucius Felix lived in the third century.
(1.) Why have the Christians no altars, no temples, no known images?
{53d}
(2.) We neither worship crosses, nor wish for them. {53e}
4. Origen lived in the third century.
(1.) Celsus remarks, that we have neither altars nor images nor
temples.—We ought not to dedicate images constructed by the ingenuity of
artizans. {53f}
(2) We deem those the most ignorant: who are not ashamed, to address
lifeless things, to petition the weak for health, to ask life from the
dead, to pray for health from the needy. And, though some may allege,
that these images are not gods but only their symbols and
representations: yet even such persons, fancying that imitations of the
Deity can be made by the hands of some mean artizan, are not a whit less
ignorant and slavish and uninstructed. From this sottish stupidity, the
very lowest and least informed of us Christians are exempt. {53g}
5. The Council of Elvira sat at the beginning of the fourth century.
It hath seemed good to us, that pictures ought not to be admitted into a
church: lest that should be painted upon walls which is worshipped and
adored. {54a}
6. Athanasius flourished in the fourth century.
We are truly worshippers of God: because we invocate no one of the
creatures nor any mere man, but the Son who is by nature from God and
true God. {54b}
7. Augustine lived in the fourth and fifth centuries.
(1.) Let not our point of religion be the worship of dead men. For
though they lived piously; still they are not to be accounted of, as
requiring from us any such honours: but they rather wish us to worship
him, through whose illumination they rejoice that we should be partners
of their merit. They are to be honoured, therefore, on account of
imitation; not to be prayed to on account of religion. {54c}
(2.) I have known that many are adorers of sepulchres and of
pictures:—but the Church herself condemns them, and as bad children
studies to correct them. {54d}
8. Epiphanius flourished in the fourth-century.
Let Mary be held in honour: but let the Father and the Son and the Holy
Ghost be worshipped. As for Mary, let no one worship her. {54e}
IV. Once more, let the honest inquirer freely judge and determine for
himself, whether the doctrine and practice of the Roman Church and
Clergy, relative to Saints and Images and Relics and Crosses, be
supported either by Holy Scripture or by Primitive Antiquity.