Com. 2. or before them, fwearing by them, or before them, carrying them about with us because of fome religious influence they are fuppofed to have, fetting them up for reverence to be giver. to them, fetting up lights about them, facrificing, burning incenfe to them, &c. or fomething of that kind, ufed sometime in God's fervice, or in the fervice of idols.

4. Confider, That what is faid of images may be said of all creatures and things to which divine honour, or religious worship in the fervice of God is attributed; for, if the one fail, all will by this commandment be overturned: fuch as, 1. Worshipping of angels or faints by Janela, or the virgin Mary by uwepdela, as mediators and helps in our ferving the true God. 2. All adoration of the reliques of martyrs, fuch as their bones, duft, clothes, &c. efpecially the adoration of the very croís (as they fay) whereon Chrift fuffered, which hath by Papists a divine facrifice offered to it, and a divine worship given it in the highest degree. 3. The adoration of fuch things as are used in worship, as temples, altars, bread in the facrament, Agnus Dei, maffes, &c, 4. The images of God, Chrift, faints, angels, yea, of the cross, which are said to be worshipped with refpect to the true God, and not as derogatory to his fervice.

For further clearing of this purpose, we shall speak to a queftion which here neceffarily occurreth, namely, Whether thefe things mentioned, being worshipped by any fort of religious fervice, whether directly or indirectly, for themselves, or for fuch things to which they relate, or which they fignify, even when men pretend the worship is not given to them, but ultimately referred to the bonour of the true God; whether, I fay, worßipping them fo, be not idolatry, and a breach of this commandment?

In anfwering this queftion, 1. We shall clear that there may be and is idolatry committed with images, and means of God's fervice,everr in fuch worship, wherein the images which men worship are not accounted gods, but only representations of God; and altho' these means of worship, which they worship, are made ufe of in ferving the true God. 2. We fhall clear, that all fuch fervice, as being idolatry, is forbidden by this command, however it be diftinguished, if it be performed as religious fervice; tho' fome fervice be more grofs, and other fome more fubtil and refined.

Firft, then, That there is fuch a kind of idolatry in worShipping of images, when men reft not on the images, but

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direct their worship to the God reprefented by them; we may clear it divers ways.

And, 1ft, From the heathens, who tho' fome did, yet all of them did not account their images their gods, but only fome representation of them: And, I. We may gather this from Rom. 1. 22, 23. where it is faid of them, (1.) That they knew God; and yet, (2.) That they turned the glory of that incorruptible God into the fimilitude of beafts, and men, corruptible creatures. Their fault is not that they accounted these representations or images which they made, gods; but that they declined in their worship, in the worshipping of the true God by fuch images.

2. It may alfo appear by the frequent changes of their images, while they retained their former gods; and by their multiplying images of one fort, and divers forts,to one and the fame god; and by their giving all these images one name. And when it is faid, that Solomon and other kings fet up images to Afbtaroth, Baal, &c. it cannot be thought they fuppofed these images to be the very gods themselves which they worshipped, but that they were only fet up for their honour, 2 Kings 23. 13. And when Manasses made chariots to the fun, he fuppo fed them not to be the fun, 2 Kings 23.11. Yea, was not this commonly acknowledged, that Jupiter was in heaven? as appeareth, Acts 19. 39. and that that image came down from him, but was not he, nor yet the feigned goddess Diana.

3. It may appear by the heathens own confeffion, and the fhifts they used, when they were charged with the worshipping the works of their hands; as, I. They ufed to fay, They worshipped but the Numen, or god which was in them, and which invifibly after their dedication of them (and not before) dwelt in them; yea, fome of them would fay, They neither worshipped that image, nor any devil, but by a bodily fign they beheld what they fhould worship. 3. When Chriftians further urged them, That what was fignified by their images, was not the true God, but a creature; as by Neptune, the fea; by Vulcan, the fire, &c. they replied, It was not thofe bodies which they worshipped, but the gods which governed them. So Auguftine, Pfal. 113. nobis 115. Concerning the idols of the Gentiles, and Auguftine de Civit. Dei, lib. 7. cap. 5. where. he fheweth that Varro giveth that reafon, why the gods were rather pourtrayed in man's picture (tho' they were invifible), Becaufe, faith he, man's foul is a fpirit, and cometh nearest

them

Com. 2. them; and the body is the veffel of the foul, and therefore is ufed to reprefent it. See Chryfoft. 1. Eph. Hom. 1S. Andrews on 2d command, Auguft. in Pfal. 96. nobis 97.

And it may alfo, 4. appear from this, That the heathen gods for the most part (even thofe of them that were most commonly worshipped) were fome famous men, after death supposed to be deified, to whom they made ftatues and images; and yet ftill the honour was intended to thofe to whom they appointed the images, tho' they fuppofed that their gods in an efpecial manner dwelt in thefe images, and answered from them. In the 2d place, This may be made to appear from the command, Deut. 12. 31. where the Lord forbiddeth, not only the worshipping of idols, but of himself by images; Thou halt not do fo to the Lord thy God; that is, Thou shalt not worship me by images, as the heathen do their gods: and therefore this is not only poffible, but is also, and that most certainly, a grievous guilt, even tho' they pretended it was not idols, but God they worshipped; yet it was not fo, they worshipped not him, but the idol.

3dly, We fhall clear it yet further, That the true God may be worshipped (by idolaters) as they pretend; and yet, in God's account, their worship is nothing but idolatry committed with their images.

We fhall give four inftances of this. The first is from Exod. 32. where it is clear, 1. That the image they fet up, was not itself acknowledged to be God, but as fomething to reprefent the true God: For, (1.) It cannot be thought their minds were fo foon darkned, as altogether to forget what God had done, and to imagine that the thing which was new made with hands, was God, tho' they be charged with forgetting God, because they were practical forgetters of him, and their fin did fpeak it out indeed. (2.) The image is called Jehovah, that brought them out of Egypt, which was a mercy paft before the calf had a being: and therefore the reafon why they gave it this name, muft certainly be, because they aimed by it to reprefent Jehovah. (3.) It is not likely that now they would have worshipped the gods of Egypt, or that they would have attributed their delivery from Egypt to them, feeing thefe gods were alfo plagued: alfo, that Aaron fhould do fo, is incredible, who yet joined with them in this tranfgreffion. (4.) Befide, can it be thought, that fo foon they thought it to be God, and yet fo eafily afterwards pafled from it? Certain

ly

ly the words, That it may go before us, that is, not to Egypt, but Canaan, whither God called them; do clearly imply, that they looked on it only as a reprefentation of Jehovah.

2. It is clear that they facrificed burnt-offerings and peaceofferings before this image; and this was the fame fervice which was due to the Lord, and fo it was proclaimed, Exod. 32. 5. and therefore it was to the Lord, and not to the image (for itself) that they facrificed.

3. It is clear that they are charged for turning out of the way, and that because of their making a molten image; which feemeth to infer, that their guilt was rather in the manner of worship, and making of that image for worship, than in quitting God altogether; and thus they grofly failed in the manner of worshipping him, by occafion of Mofes his abfence; for now they want that fign of God's prefence, which formerly they had, and have not fuch a visible commerce (as it were) with God: it is that they complain of, and this want of a vifible fign (and not of God fimply) do they intend to make up by this image.

may

4. This be further confirmed from As 7. 40, 41, 42. where it is faid, that because of this fin they were given up to grofs idolatry; which could not be, had this been idolatry of the groffeft fort.

The fecond inftance is from Judg. 17. where you will find that that idol, which Micah made, is not by him or his mother accounted God, but is made ufe of by them, as they think, for furthering them in God's fervice; as appeareth, 1. From this, that it getteth not the name of any strange god. 2. That he feeketh a Levite for a prieft to it, and promifeth to himself God's bleffing from that; not that the idol would blefs him, but Jehovah, v. 13. 3. That it is faid, The priest asked counsel of Jehovah for the Danites, Judg. 18. 6.

The third inftance is that of Jeroboam, who did fin, and made Ifrael to fin, by the calves he fet up at Dan and Bethel, That they were not intended to be worshipped as idols, for themselves, but as means whereby they might be helped to worship the true God, may appear, 1. From Jeroboam's motive, which was not to divert the people from the true God, at leaft, as he fuppofed, or to make them alter their God, but to alter their manner of worship, and to divert them from going up to Jerufalem to worship, from which his fear of the revolt to Rehoboam arofe. Hence the calves are not pro

Com. 2. vided to prevent worshipping of God, but are put in place of their going up to Jerufalem; as the colour of reason, pretended by him for this alteration, fheweth: And fo, one Tervice is put for another, without changing their God. And all the reproots that his fins meet with from the prophets run at this, that he altered the manner of God's worship, in putting up new figns in new places, and appointing new facri fices and priefts. 2. It appeareth from this, that, as it was diftinct from that way of ferving God, which was in Judab; fo was it from the way of the heathens, yea, from the way ufed by fuch idolatrous kings as Ahab, who are faid to do worfe, because they did fet up ftrange gods (which the calves are not called) and Baalim; and Febu, when he destroyed the falfe gods, yet he retain'd this manner of worship. And there were no cause to discriminate Feroboam's fin from Ahab's, or to look upon it as any thing leffer, if all the diffe rence had been only in the change of worshipping the image of one idol into the worshipping of the image of another: but the difference was in this, that the one worshipped the true God in these images, the other idols indeed. 3. Hence there was ftill fome knowledge of God in that land, and prophets fometimes fent them by the Lord: yea, when they were led captive, and others fent into their place, it is faid, 2 Kings 17. 26, &c. They learned the manner of the God of the land, that is the true God, tho' they corrupted themselves with ferving their idols alfo: And thus the Samaritans continued worshipping they knew not what, tho' they pretended to worship the true God, John 4. 22.

The fourth inftance is, That corrupt practice used sometimes in Judah, of fetting up high places and groves; when yet they did not thereby intend to ferve idols, but the true God: and yet they are reproved for this, as a grofs corrupting of the worship of God.

And it would feem clear fometimes in Judah, and often in Ifrael, even when they are charged with idolatry,that yet the knowledge of the true God was not obliterate among them, nor they fo brutish in their worship as other nations about them: We take it then for a clear truth, that they often did worship the true God by images, when they did not worship the images directly.

The fecond thing may be easily cleared and made out, to wit, That all worshipping of God by images, tho' the wor