THE FALLIBILITY OF THE Roman Church Demonstrated from the manifest Error OF THE 2d NICENE TRENT Councils Which Assert That the Veneration and Honorary Worship of Images is a Tradition Primitive and Apostolical IMPRIMATUR Maii 28. 1687. Guil. Needham LONDON Printed by J. D. for Randal Taylor near Stationers Hall M.DC.LXXXVII The Preface to the Reader TO that which I have said in the close of this Discourse touching the Infallibility of the second Nicene Council and her Authority in proposing Articles of Faith interpreting of Holy Scripture and in declaring what was the Tradition of the Church of Christ I think fit here by way of Preface to add these things 1. That if she hath a just and an assured Title to these Privileges then must she be infallible in the interpretation of these following Scriptures (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Nic. Conc. Can. 15. Let not a Clergy-man from the time present be placed in two Churches this being an Argument of filthy Lucre and alien from the Ecclesiastical Custom For we have heard from our Lord's Mouth That no Man can serve two Masters for he will either hate the one and love the other or he will cleave to the one and despise the other Let therefore every one according to the Apostles Injunction remain in that Calling wherein he was called and place himself in one Church only for those things which are done in Ecclesiastical Affairs for filthy Lucre are alien from God. Now either those words of St. Paul do really command all Clergy-men to abide in that Church in which at first they were placed and those words of Christ do in their true and proper sense forbid them to have two Benefices with Cure or two Churches under their care or they do not so If they do then do the Doctors of the Church of Rome continually practise what is forbid by Christ and as continually neglect what is commanded by St. Paul we also have according to the determination of this Council a full conviction that they are generally addicted to filthy Lucre and are above all other Clergy transgressors of Ecclesiastical Custom If these Texts do not bear the sense here put upon them then hath this Council erred in their interpretation of these Scriptures and if they have so evidently erred in those Interpretations of the Scripture which concern the Manners and Duty of the Christian Clergy why may they not err also in those things which concern their Faith Moreover it being evident and confest that the Command to tell the Church especially concerns Offences against good Manners and that our Lord's Promise is to be with these Guides teaching Men to observe those things he hath commanded surely it must be evident that these Texts are impertinently alledged for the infallibility of General Councils in their interpretations of the Holy Scripture if they do not prove the infallibility of this General Council in their interpretation of these Scriptures 2ly This Council in her second Canon speaketh thus (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Nic. Concil Can. 2. Since when we sing we promise to meditate in the Judgments of the Lord and not forget his words * Psal 119.16 it is most wholsom that all Christians should observe this but especially the Hierarchy And therefore we command that all who are promoted to a Bishoprick should altogether know the Psalter Now I desire to know of the Romish Doctors how they will reconcile the sense here given of the Psalmist 's words with their publick singing in an unknown Tongue For if it be wholsom that all Christians should observe this and it be certain that they cannot do it unless they do entirely know the Psalter 't is also certain that when the Psalter is only sung in Latin all Christians cannot meditate in these Judgments of the Lord how wholsom soever it may be to them so to do Again if the forementioned Privileges did certainly belong unto this Council then must she also be infallible in these following Decisions viz. 1. In that of Canon the 3d which runs thus (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. Can. 3. All Elections made by Princes of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons shall be void according to that Rule which saith If any Bishop by using the secular Powers obtain a Bishoprick let him be deposed and they who do communicate with him let them be excommunicated According to which Canon all the Elections of French and English Bishops must be void and all Christian Princes must be deprived of their just Prerogative in this Affair 2ly In their first Canon they confirm all the (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Canons of the Apostles and of the six Holy and Oecumenical Synods and also of the Topical Councils assembled to make such Determinations and of the Holy Fathers because all these being enlightned by one and the same Spirit decreed things expedient whom therefore they anathematized deposed or separated from Communion we also do anathematize depose and separate from Communion And in particular they frequently Anathematize and condemn among the List of Hereticks (e) Viz. Act. 7. p. 556 588. vid. Act. 3. p. 165 181. Act. 6. p. 421 424. Pope Honorius Now if all these Canons be not to be received either as to Matters of Faith or Manners then hath this Synod dangerously erred in determining that they were all to be received as being made by Men enlightned by the Holy Ghost in their decisions If they be to be thus esteemed to omit at present almost infinite Advantages which this Concession gives to our Cause then was the sixth Council in Trullo assisted by the Holy Ghost to determine thus 1. (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syn. Trull Can. 13. Because we know that in the Roman Church they have made a Canon that they who are to be ordained Priests or Deacons shall promise no more to accompany with their Wives We following the old Canon of Apostolical appointment will have the conjugal society of Holy Men according to the Laws still firm and valid by no means dissolving their conjugal Society with their Wives nor defrauding them of the enjoyment of each other at times convenient If therefore any Person be found worthy to be ordained Subdeacon Deacon or Priest let him by no means be hindred from receiving these Orders because he lives with his lawful Wife nor shall any Man require him to promise that after his Ordination he will abstain from conjugal Duties lest by so doing we become injurious to that Marriage which God ordained and our Lord blessed with his Presence The Voice of the Gospel crying out What God hath joined let no Man put asunder and the Apostle teaching That Marriage is honourable and the Bed undefiled and saying Art thou bound to a Wife seek not to loosed 2. When they determine thus (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. Can. 36. Renewing the Canon made by the General Councils of Constantinople and
Chalcedon We decree That the Chair of Constantinople shall enjoy equal privileges with that of Rome and be magnified in Ecclesiastical Matters as that is 3. When they decree thus (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Can. 55. Since we have understood that in the City of Rome they fast on Saturdays in Lent against the Tradition of the Church it seemed good to the Holy Synod that the Canon which saith If any Clergy-man be found fasting on the Lord's Day or any Saturday except one only let him be deposed if any Lay-man let him be excommunicated shall be inviolably observed in the Church of Rome also And 4. When in their first Canon they Anathematize Pope Honorius that is they by God's Spirit were assisted in the first Decree to condemn the Practice and Constitutions of the Church of Rome of that Age and much more the practice of the present Church of Rome as contrary to the Voice of Christ and his Apostles In the Second to decree against the Pope's Supremacy In the Third to charge the Church of Rome with walking contrary to the Tradition of the whole Church besides and give Laws to rectify that Abuse In the Fourth to declare not only that a General Council may be infallible without the Confirmation or even Concurrence of the Pope but also may infallibly condemn him for an Heretick Moreover in this Nicene Council this pleasant Story is twice related viz. That a certain Monk being haunted with the Spirit of Fornication a Spirit too familiar with such Professors of Continency who vehemently urged him to uncleanness The old Man miserably cried out How long will it be e're thou let me alone thou hast been with me even to old Age Then the Devil visibly appearing said Swear to me thou wilt tell no Body what I shall now say to thee and I will tempt thee no more Then the Monk swore by the High God that he would tell no Man what the Devil should say Whereupon Satan spoke thus to him Worship thou no more the Image of the Blessed Virgin with her Son in her Arms and I will no more molest thee The Monk hearing this notwithstanding his Oath goes the next day to Abbot Theodore and tells him all that the Devil said And the Abbot commending him for it farther told him That it was better for him to frequent all the Stews in the City than to deny to worship by that Image the Lord and his Holy Mother And when the Devil comes again and taxeth the Monk with Perjury he tells the Devil that he knew it very well but rests satisfied in this That it was only Perjury against his God and Maker Where note 1. That this ridiculous Tale is so acceptable to that Good Synod that they command it to be read Act the 4th P. 252. p. 381. and Act the 5th they make a repetition of it 2ly That they condemn the Monk 's Oath as being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. p. 253. a wicked Oath and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a false Oath and so not binding and say That it was better to forswear himself than to keep an Oath for the destruction of Images and seem all to be pleased with the decision of Abbot Theodore Now if this be good Divinity then is it better to be perjured and take the Sacred Name of God in vain than not to worship Images yea it is better to commit Fornication and make the Members of Christ the Members of an Harlot than not to adore the Works of Mens hands Nom every Body knows that Perjury and Fornication are Sins against the Law of Nature and that no Law of Nature doth command the Veneration of the Images of Christ or of his Blessed Mother that Christ and his Apostles said expresly Thou shalt not forswear thy self thou shalt not commit Adultery but never said Thou shalt worship Images Who then can want discretion sufficient to discern that this Determination made in the Synod without exception of one Person must be false It would be endless to reckon all the idle Dreams and foolish Stories produced by this Synod in favour of their Images But it is also needless seeing the (i) Illi cum errore suo Scripturas Divinas cohaerere minimè posse senserunt ad Apocryphas quasdam risu dignas naenias pedem verterunt Libr. Carol. l. 3. c. 30. Council of Frankford hath well observed That when these Fathers perceived that their Doctrine by no means would accord with Scripture they turn'd themselves to Apocryphal and Ridiculous Tales And (k) Graeci qui Imagines defendebant Daemonum spectris muliebribus somniis parum verecundè abusi sunt ut in Nicaena Synodo videre licet Comment in 2. ad Tim. p. 155. Espencaeus doth ingenuonsly confess That the Greeks defended Images with the Apparitions of Devils and the Dreams of Women as is to be seen in the Nicene Council 3ly Observe That from the Epistle of Germanus Bishop of Constantinople cited with approbation by this Nicene Synod we learn not only That the People then received the Sacrament in both kinds but also that they received both (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Conc. Nic. 2. Act. 4. p. 314. according to Christ's own Tradition for the commemoration of his Death and of his Resurrection and that they were divinely moved with an insatiable desire of partaking of his Holy Body and Blood which shews that then they held our Lord's Tradition and the Memorial of his Death obliged the common People to receive both Kinds and that their desire of both was a desire inspired by God And then what Inspiration must that be which moved the Councils of Constance Basil and Trent to hinder them of the enjoyment of the Cup and even to forbid them to desire it it is not difficult to determine 4ly Observe That one Reason which the Fathers of this Council give for the Worship of the Image of Christ is this because (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anastas apud Syn. Nic. 2. Act. 4. p. 249. he himself was not sensibly present with us but only present as to his Divinity and that he was not to remain with us (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist Germani Episcopi Constantinop apud Syn. Nic. 2. Act. 4. p. 305. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corporeally They therefore could not believe Transubstantiation or his Corporeal Presence in the Sacrament for having that still kept upon the Altar or in the Pyxis or Ciborium had they believed Christ was corporeally present in it they must have also thought that he remained still corporeally present with his Disciples and his Church on Earth and not denied such a presence with them as they plainly do and must have owned some other presence of our Saviour with us than that of his Deity which yet apparently they do not Moreover they pronounce (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nic. 2. Act. 7. p. 578. Anathema against
emendandae In Pref. p. v. l. 16. Marg. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Body of the Book p. 2. l. 12. Marg. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A DEMONSTRATION That the Church of ROME and her Councils have actually Erred c. CHAP. I. The Fathers of the Nicene and Trent Councils teach That Image-Worship is a Tradition of the Apostles received by all Christians from the beginning § 1. The Councils of Constantinople and Frankford in the same Age say It was the Tradition of the Apostles and the Fathers that Images were not to be worshipped § 2. This last Assertion is proved 1. From express Testimonies of the Fathers saying They had no such Custom or Tradition That Christ and his Doctrine taught them to reject and abandon Images and That they taught all their Converts to contemn them § 3. 2ly That Image-Worship was by them represented as an Heathenish Custom It being say they proper to the Heathens to make and worship them and proper to Christians to renounce the Worship of them § 4. 3ly When Heathens objected this to Christians That they had no Images or Statues yea that they laught at those who had them they own and justify the thing § 5. 4ly They commend the Policy of the Jews for having none and the Wisdom of those Gentiles who had none and held it a mark of their own Excellency that they had them not and that they shut their Eyes when they worshipped that they might not see any sensible Object § 6. 5ly They answer and reject those very Pleas when used by Heathens which afterwards were used by the Nicene Council and the Romish Church in the behalf of Image-worship § 7. 6ly These Fathers represent the having Images of Christ and of his Saints for Worship as a thing proper to the vilest Hereticks § 8. AMongst the many Evidences that might be easily produced to shew that the pretended General Councils of the Church of Rome have with great vanity and most apparent falshood defined That they received the Doctrines which they endeavoured to impose upon the Christian World from Primitive and Apostolical Tradition one is The Veneration or honorary Worship of the Images of Christ his Virgin Mother the Martyrs and the Saints departed For the second Nicene Council and the chief Bishops mentioned or residing in it do very frequently but also very falsly say That the Doctrine and Practice there declared and required touching the Adoration of S. Images is Apostolical from the beginning and that which hath been always practised by the Church of Christ § 1. Pope Gregory the Second having like a true infallible Interpreter of Scripture told us That in that Expression of our Lord's (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nic. 2. Con. To. 7. p. 12. Where the Carcass is there will the Eagles be gathered together by the Carcass was to be understood Christ and by the Eagles Religious Men and Lovers of him He adds That (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 13. these Religious Men flew like Eagles to Jerusalem and having seen our Lord and James his Brother and Stephen the first Martyr they painted them as they had seen them And that Men no sooner beheld them but leaving the Worship of the Devil they fell immediately to worship these Images not indeed with Latria but with Relative Worship Pope Hadrian saith That (c) Sicut à primordio traditionem à sanctis Patribus susceperunt Act. 2. p. 103. Hoc enim traditum est à sanctis Apostolis p. 110. p. 99. In universo mundo ubi Christianitas est ipsae S. Imagines ab omnibus fidelibus honorantur p. 106. all Orthodox and Christian Emperors all Priests and religious Servants of God and the whole company of Christians observed the veneration of Images and Pictures for memory of pious compunction and even till then worshipped them as they received a Tradition from the beginning from the Holy Fathers to do That the special Honour Adoration and Veneration of them was delivered by the Holy Apostles And that throughout the whole VVorld where-ever Christianity was planted these venerable Images were honoured by all the Faithful Tharasius Patriarch of Constantinople declares That this of the Venerable Images was (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 5. p. 348 388. the Tradition of the whole Catholick Church of God from the beginning Gregory Bishop of Possene cites for it a Synod of the Aposties met at (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 1. p. 64. Antioch commanding Christians no longer to err about Idols but instead of them to paint the Image of Christ God and Man. And Leo Bishop of Rhodes adds That the Holy and Venerable Images were to be in the Church (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. according to the Custom delivered of old Times from the Apostles And at the conclusion of many of their Actions the Fathers (g) Act. 2. p. 132 133 136 152 153. 3. p. 188. Act. 4. p. 328. 5. 389. 7. 576. generally affirm That they embraced and practised the worship of Images 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Tradition of the Holy Apostles and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (h) Act. 2. p. 145. as they delivered to them who from the beginning were eye-witnesses of the VVord Yea the whole Synod doth frequently assert they were taught thus to judge of the (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 4. p. 321. Adoration of Images by the Holy Fathers and by their Doctrine delivered by God. That their Tradition concerning it was (k) Act. 7. p. 553. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divine Tradition of the Catholick Church And that in defining and asserting it (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 556. they followed the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers taught them by God and the Tradition of the Catholick Church and knew this was the Doctrine of that Holy Spirit which dwelt in her That they (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibid. item p. 588. followed in observing this Tradition St. Paul and the whole Apostolical College and that thus the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers was confirmed thus the Tradition of the Catholick Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from one end of the Christian VVorld to the other held and practised That this was (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 581. the Doctrine received from the first Founders of the Christian Faith and their Divine Successors And lastly they do often with full Voice (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 7. p. 576. Act. 8. p. 592. cry out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this is the Faith of the Apostles this is the Faith of the Fathers this is the Faith of the Orthodox this is that Faith which establisheth the VVorld And suitable to this is the Language of the Trent Council which commands all Bishops and others whose Office it is to
all Persons who do not profess that our Lord was circumscribed as to his Humanity and therefore they pronounced this Anathema on all who held That his Humanity was present in the Sacrament by way of Transubstantiation since 't is agreed on all hands that his Body is not there circumscribed or present after the manner of a Body And so much for the Observations which concern the things delivered in the second Nicene Council What follows from the Doctrine here established against the Tenets of the Romish Church and the Assertions of the Guide of Controversies is as followeth 1. Hence it is evident That in Judges subordinate dissenting R. H. Disc 2. c. 3. §. 23. p. 100. there is no Universal Practice obliging us to adhere to the Superior or in those of the same order and dignity to the Major part For neither could Christians be obliged to adhere to this false decision of the Pope and second Nicene Council nor did the Councils of Frankford Paris or the German French or British Churches think themselves obliged so to do 2. Here also it is evident in the judgment of these Councils and Churches R. H. Disc 1. c. 3. That the subordinate Clergy may be a Guide to Christians when opposing the Superior for so these Councils and Churches thought themselves when they opposed the Pope of Rome and the Decrees of the second Nicene Council and so undoubtedly they were provided the Decisions of that Council approved by the the Pope be false 3. Here also is demonstrated the fulness of that Assertion of R. H. That Christians ought to submit to the Decisions of such Church Guides declaring the Sense of the Fathers Disc 2. c. 2. §. 19. the sense which was imposed on them by the Nicene Synod being notoriously false and by the forementioned Councils and Churches declared so to be 4. R. H. Disc 3. c. 2. §. 13. Hence it follows That if acceptance of a considerable part of Church-Governors absent from any Council is that and only that which renders it equivalent to a General Council The second Nicene Council for 500 Years after their sitting could not be General seeing the greatest part of the Western Church-Governors were absent from it and for 500 Years did not accept of its Decrees but reject condemn and abhor them and how it should become after so long a Period what for so many Years it was not I am yet to learn. 5. Disc 3. c. 3. §. 16. Hence it must follow That if according to R. H. all Persons dissenting from and opposing a known definition of the Church in Matters of-Faith be Hereticks Then must that of the second Nicene Council be no Definition of the Church in Matters of Faith or all the forementioned Councils and Churches that so long dissented from and opposed it must have been Hereticks during that whole time and consequently the Pope himself and all that Communicated with them for five Centuries must be unchurched also 6. Hence we Demonstratively learn That Councils by the Church of Rome reputed general may confidently pronounce Anathema's put their Decrees into their Creeds and call Men Hereticks who disown them as did the second Nicene Council when yet it is extreamly evident that their Decrees are false their Anathema's wicked and unjust and they whom they stile Hereticks may be Good and Orthodox professors of Christianity 7. Disc 3. c. 10. p. 314. Hence it appears how absurdly R. H. and other Romanists assert That none can be sufficient Judges of the Misarguings of Councils unless it be some following Councils of the same Authority and that private Men can by no better way learn what is Tradition but from the Church speaking by her Councils and that Apostolical Tradition cannot be known but by the Judgment of the present Church for sure our Reason was given us for little purpose if it cannot serve us to discover that this Nicene Council hath argued amiss and delivered that as Apostolical Tradition which was far from being truly such 8. Hence also we may learn the vanity of the Objections framed against the use of Reason in judging of the Truth or Falshood of Things defined by such Councils viz. That it is great pride for private Persons to oppose their Judgments to the Definition of a General Council to think they can see clearly what so many Persons could not see With many other things of a like Nature urged with much Rhetorick but with more weakness by the Roman Catholicks for in such Cases as these are the private Person doth not rely upon his private Judgment but on his Judgment concurring with the Judgment of all Learned Protestants in this and former Ages and of the whole Church of Christ for Six Centuries and with the major part of the Western Church for so many more and with the Confessions of many learned Persons of the Church of Rome And what absurdity it is to prefer the Judgment of so many joyn'd with the clearest evidence of Scripture what pride to follow the Evidence produced here let any reasonable Person judge Lastly Because some Persons take the liberty to say The Church of Rome and her Councils do not require Men to venerate to worship or bow down to Images let them know that their Trent Council hath decreed Sess 5. eis debitum honorem venerationem impartiendam esse that due honour and veneration is to be imparted to them according to the Definition of the second Nicene Council And that the Fathers of that Council generally say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (p) Act. 2. p. 130 132 133 135. Act. 3. p. 183 189 192. I worship and adore the Sacred Images and anathematize those who do not so confess or practise In the 7th Session they declare We should (q) P. 555. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 salute and give them honorary Worship In the same Session they declare That it is without doubt acceptable and well-pleasing to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship and salute the Images of Christ the Blessed Virgin of Angels and all Saints Adding That if any one doubt or be wavering touching the Worship of Holy Images (r) Act. 7. P. 584. vid. Act. 4. p. 248. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Holy Synod assisted by the Holy Ghost doth Anathematize him The (s) Part. 3. Ch. 2. §. 24. Roman Catechism enjoins the Parish Priest to declare That Images of Saints are placed in the Church ut colantur that they may be worshipped and they have forced those who held the contrary to renounce it as Heresy When therefore any English or French Papists tell us That they do not venerate or bow down to Images or that the Church of Rome doth not enjoin them so to do they either know not what their Church doth teach or wilfully prevaricate all Roman Catholicks being obliged by these Councils and taught by this Catechism to pay this Veneration and Worship to them Mendae sic
instruct the People to teach them diligently That the Images of Christ the Mother of God and other Saints are especially to be had and retained in Temples and that due Honour and Veneration is to be given to them because the Honour tendred to them is referr'd to the Prototype so that by the Images which they kiss before which they uncover their Heads and prostrate themselves they worship Christ and venerate the Saints whose Similitudes they are And this say they is done (p) Jâ—xta Catholicae Apostolicae Ecclesiae usum à primaevis Christianae Religionis temporibus receptum Sanctorumque Patrum consensionem Sess 25. according to the custom of the Catholick and Apostolick Church received from the first Age of the Christian Faith and the consent of the Holy Fathers § 2. On the other hand the Council of Constantinople consisting of 338 Bishops assembled in the Year 754 declares That (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nic. 2. p. 452. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 508. this evil invention of Images neither hath its being from the Tradition of Christ or his Apostles nor of the Holy Fathers And having forbidden all Christians to worship any or to place an Image in the Church or in their private Houses they conclude unanimously thus (r) Ibid. p. 532. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this is the Faith of the Apostles this is the Faith of the Fathers this is the Faith of the Orthodox The Council of Frankford consisting of 300 Bishops assembled by Charles the Great out of Italy Germany and France A. D. 794. declares That the (s) Quia ut hoc facerent ab Apostolis sibi traditum mentiebantur Lib. Carol. l. 2. c. 25 27. second Nicene Council had offended in two things 1. in decreeing that Images should be worshipped And 2. in saying falsly that this was delivered to them from the Apostles They add That (t) Relictis priscorum patrum traditionibus qui imagines non colere sanxerunt novas conari insolitas Ecclesiae consuetudines inferre Praesat in lib. 1. leaving the Traditions of the Ancient Fathers who decreed That Images should not be worshipped they endeavoured to bring into the Church new and unusual Customs That they endeavoured to bring into Christian Religion the new Adoration of Images (u) Absque Sanctorum Patrum doctrina consacerdotum per diversas mundi partes consensu L. 4. c. 21. without the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers and the consent of their fellow Priests throughout the World. That this of Image-Worship was (w) Praefat. p. 10. impudentissima traditio a most impudent Tradition And that this pretended Tradition was (x) Neque in Evangeliorum tonitruis neque in Apostolorum dogmatibus vel quorumlibet Orthodoxorum Patrum doctrinis uspiam reperimus insertam L. 4. c. 13. neither to be found in the Oracles of the Prophets nor in the Writings of the Gospels nor in the Doctrines of the Apostles nor in the Relations of the former Holy Synods nor in the Doctrines of the Orthodox Fathers That it was instituted by them nullo Antiquitatis documento vel exemplo without all Instruction or Example from Antiquity A Synod held at Paris under Ludovicus Pius and Lotharius Anno Dom. 824 saith That the (y) Contra Authoritatem divinam sanctorum Patrum dicta P. 23. second Nicene Council declared for Image-worship against the Divine Authority and the Sayings of the Holy Fathers And that (z) Ed. Pith. p. 25 26. they determined against the Worship of them according to Divine Authority and juxta sententias sanctorum Patrum according to the Judgments of the Holy Fathers Agobardus Bishop of Lions having declared against all Image-worship saith (a) L. de Imag. §. 30. p. 263. This is sincere Religion is Mos Catholicus haec Antiqua Patrum Traditio this is the Catholick Custom this is the Ancient Tradition of the Fathers as is easily proved even out of the Book of Sacraments which the Roman Church useth And again (b) Nullus Antiquorum Catholicorum unquam eas colendas vel adorandas fore existimavit P. 265. None of the Ancient Catholicks did ever think that Images were to be worshipped or adored Hincmarus Arch bishop of Rhemes informs us That (c) Secundum Scripturarum tramitem traditionémque Majorum Opusc 55. cap. 20. this Nicene Synod was condemned and evacuated by a General Synod call'd by the Emperor Charles the Great according to the way of the Scripture and the Tradition of the Ancients (d) De Gestis Franc. Lib. 5. cap. 28. Aimoinus also complains of them That they had decreed touching the Adoration of Images alitèr quà m Orthodoxi Patres antea definierunt otherwise than the Orthodox Fathers had before defined In that Synod saith (e) In èa Synodo confirmatum st Imagines adorari debere quod omnino Ecclesia Dei execratur Annal. Part. 1. ad An. 791. Roger Hoveden it was confirmed that Images should be adored which the Church of God doth wholly execrate Now in this Matter let the Truth lie where you please 't is sure no little Prejudice against receiving any thing as a Tradition upon the evidence of a few single Fathers in Matters of meer Speculation as some Traditionary Doctrines of the Church of Rome most surely are that in a thing of this Nature which must be either daily practised or omitted by the Church whole Councils of 300 Bishops at the least in the same Age maintain such contradictory Assertions one saying frequently and expresly That this was the Doctrine of the Apostles and all the Ancient Fathers the others as expresly That it never was the Doctrine of either of them One That this was the practice of all faithful Christians the other That they never found it practised by any of the Orthodox Professors But though such contradictory Assertions in another Case might cause a wary Person to suspend his assent to either of them yet I am confident that whosoever is unprejudiced must in this case give in his Verdict against the Doctrine and Assertions of the Trent and of the second Nicene Council § 3. For notwithstanding all the confident Assertions of these Councils the Testimonies of the Ancient Fathers are so full and clear against that Honour and Veneration of Images which by these Councils is imposed upon all Christians with an Anathema to them who do assert or even think the contrary that he who doth impartially read them and doth not conclude that the whole Church of Christ did for 500 Years and more condemn this practice and in plain terms or by just consequence assert they had no such Tradition cannot sustain much loss if he quite want the use of Reason For 1. the Fathers do expresly say The Church of Christ hath no such Custom or Tradition (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud 2 Nic. Concil Act. 6. p. 492. We Christians saith Theodotus have no Tradition to form the Images of Saints
Dei execratur Hoved. Ibid. Dunelm ad A. 792. Nicene Synod were many things contained which were inconvenient and contrary to the true Faith and that in the said Council was established a Decree That Images should be worshipped which thing the Church of God wholly abhors And here let it be noted that in these Writers we find not the least hint of a Distinction between due and undue worship of an Holy Image or betwixt Worship which the Church of Christ allows and which the Church abhors but Imagines adorari debere that Images should be worshipped is declared to be the Doctrine which God's Church abhor'd In the 14th Century Robert Holcot Professor in Oxford most plainly asserts That (o) Ideo aliter potest dict quod nulla adoratio debetur Imagini nec licet aliquam imaginem adorare Quia autem propter Imaginem Christi excitamur ad adorandum Christum coram Imagine adorationem nostram facimus Christo ergo dicitur large loquendo N. B. quod Imaginem adoramus In Ecclus Lect. 158. c. 13. Vide Reliqua no Adoration is to be given to any Image nor is it lawful for any Man to worship Images And Matthew of Westminster condemning the Decree of the second Nicene Council as Hoveden had done before him Ad A. D. 793. In the 15th Century (p) Omnino prohibentur fieri ad hunc viz. finem ut adorentur colantur unde sequitur neque adores neque colas ea ad adorandum igitur colendum prohibentur Imagines fieri Sequitur non adorabis neque coles inter quae sic distingue non adorabis sc veneratione Corporis ut inclinando eis vel genu-flectendo neque coles sc affectione mentis Comp. Theol. in Explic. 1. praecepti Tom. 2. p. 25. Gerson Chancellor of Paris saith We do not worship Images and that they are forbidden to be worshipped that the second Command forbids us to bow the Body or the Knee to them or to worship them with the Affection of the Mind And (q) Quod vero Christiana Religio Imagines sustinet in Ecclesia Oratoriis non permittit eo fine ut adorentur ipsae sed ut fidelium mentes per earum inspectiones excitentur ad reverentiam honorem exhibendum his quorum sunt Imagines in quorum cognitionem recordativam ducunt Et hic modus dicendi videtur esse Rob. Holcot super illud sapientiae infelices sunt mihi videtur dicendum quod neque adoro Imaginem Christi quia lignum nec quia Imago sed adoro Christum coram Imagine Christi quia scilicet Imago Christi excitat me ad amandum Christum hic modus loquendi originem videtur trahere ex dicto quodam B. Gregorii Sereno Episcopo c. Et quidem quia eos adorare vetuisses omnino laudamus fregisse vero reprehendimus c. In Can. Miss Lect. 49. F. 127. Gabriel Biel an Oxonian Doctor teacheth That then some of their Doctors held that any Image is not to be worshipped either for it self as it is Wood or Stone nor yet consider'd as a Sign or Image And that the Christian Faith permits them to be reserved in the Church not that they may be worshipped but that the Minds of Men may be excited to give reverence to them whose Images they are and that this they said according to P. Gregory In the 16th Century (r) Imagines in Ecclesia ideo tolerantur ut admoneant non ut colantur alioquin omnino excusari possunt minime In Act. Apost cap. 7. p. 94. Ferus a Learned Preacher at Mentz saith That Images are tolerated in the Church that they may admonish not that they may be worshipped for otherwise they can admit of no excuse Yea a Council held at (s) Can. 14. Mentz A. D. 1549 during the Session of the Trent Council speaks thus Let our Pastors accurately teach the People that Images are not propounded to be worshipped or adored but that by them we may be brought to the remembrance of those things which we ought profitably to call to mind CHAP. V. Against this pretended Tradition of the second Nicene Council it is farther argued 1. Because the Jews though zealous for the observance of the Law of Moses and generally believing that it forbad the having and much more the bowing to an Image did never for the five first Centuries condemn the Christians for this practice as afterwards when Images began to be received into Churches and adored they always did § 1. 2ly Because the Apostles and succeeding Fathers who answer all the other Scruples of the Jews against the Christian Faith speak not one word in Answer to this great Objection that it allowed of Image-worship in opposition to the second Commandment § 2. 3ly Because the Evidence of Truth hath forced many Learned Writers of the Romish Church to confess That the Primitive Church had no Images or did not adore them § 3. From this Discourse these four things are inferr'd 1. That the Councils received by the Church of Rome as general are not infallible Interpreters of Scripture or infallible Guides in Matters of Faith. § 4. 2ly That the second Nicene Coucil hath imposed that on Christians as a Tradition of the Church of Christ which was not so and therefore was deceived and did deceive in Matter of Tradition § 5. 3ly That Roman Catholicks do vainly boast of the Consent of Fathers on their side § 6. 4ly That the Doctrine of the Church of England is much safer in this particular than that of Rome § 7. MOreover that Image-worship was no Doctrine delivered to the Church of Christ either by Writing or Tradition from the Apostles that it was not practised in the first Ages of the Church will be apparent from the deportment of the Jews towards the Christians and the consideration of what they thought of the erection of an Image in the place of Worship and of the adoration of them § 1. And (1.) Act. 21.20 we know that even the believing Jews were zealous for the strict observance of the Law of Moses and were much offended at St. Paul because they apprehended he had taught the Jews to forsake the Law of Moses and not to circumcise their Children or walk after the Customs of their Fathers We also are informed by (a) Tum poene omnes Christum Deum sub Legis observatione credebant Sulp. l. 2. c. 45. Euseb Chron. Eusebius and Sulpitius that this Zeal continued among the Jewish Christians for a considerable time after the death of the Apostles viz. till the destruction of the City by Hadrian For till that time the Bishops of Jerusalem were of the Circumcision and almost all who believed in Christ did yet observe the Law. The Sect of the (b) Ep. ad August August contr Faust l. 19. c. 18. Orig. contr Cels l. 2. p. 56. l. 5. p. 272. Ebionites and Nazarens continued till the days of Jerom they were dispersed
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 200. The Old Testament had Cherubims shadowing the Mercy Seat let us have Images of Christ and of his Holy Mother shadowing the Altar for because the Old Testament had such Things the New received them This say the (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. Synod is the truth This say the Princes is the Command of God. But why did they not conclude also for another Ark and Mercy-Seat another Tabernacle a Golden Censer and a Pot of Manna seeing it was but saying as in the case of Images they do because the Old Testament had these things let us Christians have them too and it infallibly must be so And tell me now Can any one who reads these powerful Demonstrations from and excellent Expositions of the Holy Scripture doubt of the Truth of that which is so oft asserted by this Synod That (n) Act. 3. p. 157. Act. 7. p. 580 581 585. they were certainly assisted by the Holy Ghost But to be serious If all or any of these places have any strength to prove that Images should be set up in Churches or adored by Christians why do not any of their Writers use them to that end if they do not Why may not they be taxed with weakness who use such Proofs as none but the most undiscerning Persons could produce and which their best Friends are ashamed of § Inference 2. 5. 2. Hence it is evident that the second Nicene Council grosly was mistaken in that Determination and Assertion so frequently repeated in that Council That Image-worship had been delivered to them by the continual Suffrage and Approbation of the whole Church of Christ and was the Tradition of the whole Church Catholick even from the Times of the Apostles And consequently that this Council hath been actually deceived in Matter of Tradition as well as in her Interpretations of the Holy Scripture For whereas it is frequently there said That this was the constant Doctrine and Tradition of the Holy Fathers of the Catholick Church the opposition is not greater betwixt Light and Darkness than betwixt the Assertions of the Fathers and the Determinations of the Council For 1. The Fathers of that Council do pronounce Anathema (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 1. p. 57.4 p. 317.5 p. 389.7 p. 576.8 p. 592. against all Persons who take such places of the Holy Scripture which are spoken against Idols as spoken against Holy Images i.e. who say the second Commandment forbids the Worship not of Idols only but of Holy Images And so they do pronounce Anathema against Justin Martyr St. Clemens of Alexandria Origen Tertullian St. Cyprian St. Austin Theodoret Fulgentius Agobardus the Councils of Constantinople Frankford and Paris 2ly The Fathers of the same Council pronounce Anathema (p) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 1. p. 57. against all Persons who say That the erection of Images is the Invention of the Devil and not the Tradition of the Catholick Church and so they do pronounce Anathema against Clemens of Alexandria St. Ambrose Theodotus Amphilochiùs St. Jerom and St. Chrysostom Agobardus Hincmarus and the three foremention'd Councils who all declare That this was no Tradition of the Catholick Church And against Clemens of Alexandria Tertullian Lactantius Eusebius Theodotus Anoyranus and the whole Council of Constantinople who say expresly That Image-making or Image-worship was the Invention of the Devil 3ly These Fathers do pronounce Anathema (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 4. p. 317.5 389.7 p. 576. to all who violate break or dishonour S. Images which Epiphanius Serenus and all the Fathers of Constantinople did and upon all that knowingly communicate with them who contumeliously speak of them or dishonour them Now seeing all the Christians of the 4th Century did certainly communicate with Epiphanius of the 6th Century with Serenus since all the Fathers mentioned in my second Chapter do in their sense dishonour Images they in effect pronounce Anathema against them all 4ly They pronounce Anathema (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 4. p. 317.5 p. 389. against all Persons who detract from or who speak evil of their S. Images Now since the Fathers have declared concerning Images in general That they are worse than Mice and Worms that they are the Invention of the Devil with many other things of a like nature mentioned Chapter the second they must be all obnoxious to this Anathema 5ly They pronounce Anathema (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 4. p. 212. against all who do not call them Holy and Sacred Images that is against St. Clemens of Alexandria Origen Lactantius Eusebius and others who have declared That they cannot be Sacred and that they are Men of impotent Spirits and lame Minds who so esteem them 6ly They denounce Anathema (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 1. p. 61.7 p. 584. against all those who do not worship Images or who doubt of or who are disaffected to the worship of them Now this Anathema if what is here produced cannot be refuted must certainly be pronounced against the Blessed Apostles and all the Christians of the five first Centuries Lastly Whereas Origen declares That the first thing which Christians taught their Converts was the contempt of all Images the Fathers of this Synod pronounce Anathema (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 1. p. 61. to all who do not diligently teach all Christian People to adore the Images of all Good Men from the beginning of the World. § 6. 3ly Hence also may be seen how vainly and unjustly Roman Catholicks do boast of the consent of Fathers on their side and say That they expound the Scriptures according to that Sense which they received from the Ancients it being evident from what hath been discoursed that in their Exposition of these words Thou shalt not make to thy self the Similitude of any Thing in Heaven or Earth c. Thou shalt not bow down to them they do embrace a Sense which no Father for the first six Centuries did ever put upon them and do reject that Sense they generally did impose upon these words § 7. 4ly Hence I infer That the Religion of the Church of England is in this particular much safer than is that of Rome For if Image-worship be not forbid in this Commandment nevertheless we only do neglect that practice which their best Writers deem (x) Illud ante constituendum Imagines ex carum per se genere esse quae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nominantur hoc est quae ad salutem omninò necessaria non sunt nec ad substantiam ipsam religionis attinent sed in potestate sunt Ecclesiae ut ea vel adhibeat vel ableget pro eo atque satius esse decreverit Petav. Theol. dogm To. 5. l. 15. cap. 13. §. 1. Ea est hujusce miserrimae dissensionis materia sine qua sicut multis videtur salva per fidem spem charitatem incunctanter in hoc seculo in futuro salvari potest Ecclesia quorum sensus sententia talis est quid fidei spei charitati obesse potuisset si Imago nulla toto orbe terrarum picta vel ficta fuisset Epist Eugenii P. 2 Act. Synod Paris P. 130 134. indifferent which no Jew ever did perform to any Patriach or Prophet nor any Christian for 600 Years to any Apostle Saint or Martyr and which no Scripture hath commanded and so we only do neglect to do that which neither Example of the Ancients nor any Precept doth commend to our practice Whereas if Image-worship should be here forbid to us Christians which to speak modestly seems highly probable the Church of Rome must practise and enjoin that Worship which provokes God to jealousy exhort and force her Members to perform that Worship from which God doth exhort them to abstain least they corrupt themselves She must enjoin that Action upon pain of her Displeasure and of the Wrath of God which he commands us to avoid because he is a jealous God she must imprison and cut off by Excommunication and by the Sword Christ's Servants because they will not by doing that which God so frequently and so directly hath forbid incur the hazard of his Wrath who saith Deut. 4.25 26. If ye corrupt your selves and make a graven Image of the likeness of any thing I call Heaven and Earth to Witness this day that you shall soon utterly perish And it is easy to determine which we ought most to fear the Wrath of God or Man. FINIS
mutatum quicquam nec additum Ibid. had the Thing been true the Separation of the Donatists would have been just that this use of Images would have been a pollution of Divine Service and a thing alien from the Custom of the Church and which the Eyes of Christians could not have beheld without horror Clearly condemning by this Answer the practice of the Church of Rome and justifying the separation of Protestants from her Communion had it been only made on this account You have already seen from the Testimony of Nilus That in the East they admitted nothing in the Sanctuary but the Cross and in particular no Image In the West likewise the placing of an Image on the Altar was forbidden in the 9th 10th and 11th Centuries Regino cites a Constitution of a Council held at Rhemes in which it is commanded (t) Nihilque super eo ponatur nisi capsae cum Sanctorum Reliquiis quatuor Evangelia De disc Eccles l. 1. cap. 60. That nothing shall be placed upon the Altar but a Chest containing the Reliques of the Saints and the four Evangelists And this Constitution seemeth to forbid the placing Images upon the Altar saith Baluzius upon that Canon And this saith he seems also to have been the Sentence of the French Council held at Tours A. D. 567. And therefore in the old form of Synodal Admonitions which was read in Churches by the Deacon after the Gospel one Admonition is this (u) Nihil ponatur nisi capsae reliquiae aut fortè 4 Evangelia aut pyxis cum corpore Domini Adm. Antiq apud Baluz ib. p. 603. That nothing shall be placed on the Altar but the Chests and Reliques or perhaps the four Gospels or the Pyx with the Body of the Lord for the viaticum of the Sick. But in the two new Forms of Admonition published by Baluzius the last of which is used at present in the Romish Church the Admonition runs in these words (w) Et desuper nihil ponatur nisi reliquiae ac res Sacrae pro Sacrificio opportunae Adm. Nov. p. 607 611. Let nothing be placed upon the Altar but Reliques and things Sacred and fit for the Sacrifice The Introduction of Images upon the Altar making it necessary to make this Alteration in their Admonition Even in like manner as the defalcation of the Cup in the 14th and 15th Centuries made it necessary to change the old form of Admonition in which they warned all the Faithful (x) Omnes fideles ad Communionem Corporis Sanguinis Domini accedere admonete Adm. Antiq. p. 605. to come to the Communion of the Body and the Blood of Christ on Christmass Easter and Whit-sunday into that now extant in the New and only inviting them (y) Omnes fideles ad communionem Corporis Domini Nostri invitate Admon Nov. p. 609. Admonete p. 613. to come to the Communion of the Body of Christ By which and by an hundred Instances of a like Nature we may learn how impossible it is for them who have made that the present practice of their Church which was forbidden by and was detestable to their Fore-fathers to innovate in any Matter or alter the received Customs of the Church and what a goodly Argument is brought from the present Customs Traditions Doctrines of the People of that Church to provethey always held the same Doctrines and practised the same Religious Rites § 5. Moreover when Images began to be admitted into Churches and by some Superstitious People to be adored the Fathers of the Church both by their Words and Actions shewed their dislike and their abhorrence of it It was the custom of some Christians to pay some outward civil Worship unto the Images of their Christian Emperors till they themselves forbad it This Jerom taking notice of doth plainly in his Comment on the Prophet Daniel condemn and reprehend saying (z) Cultores Dei eam adorare non debent ergo Judices Principes seculi qui Imperatorum Statuas adorant Imagines hoc se facere intelligunt quod tres pueri facere nolentes placuerunt Deo Et notanda proprietas Deos coli Imaginem adorari dicunt quod utrumque servis Dei non convenit In Dan. 3. p. 256. Whether we call it a Statue or a Golden Image the Worshippers of God ought not to adore it let the Judges and Princes of the Age who adore the Statues and Images of the Emperors understand that they do that which the three Children refusing to do pleased God. And here the propriety of the Words is to be noted they say That Gods are to be worshipped the Image to be adored neither of which is to be done by any Servant of God. When the Manichees upon occasion ministred by some rude and superstitious People had charged some Christian Churches with Image-worship St. Austin writing of the Manners of the Catholick Church against them directly severs the Case of those rude Persons from the approved practice of the Catholicks (a) Nolite mihi colligere professores nominis Christiani nec professiōis suae vim aut scientes aut exhibentes nolite consectari turbas Imperitorum qui vel in ipsa vera Religione superstitiosi sunt De Morib Eccl. Cath. c. 34. Do not saith he mention to me such Professors of the Name of Christ as either know not or keep not the Force of their Profession nor the companies of rude Men which either in the true Religion it self are superstitious or so given to their Lusts as that they have forgotten what they promised to God. Then as an instance of those superstitious Persons he adds That (b) Novi multos esse Sepulchrorum Picturarum adoratores Ibid. Nunc vos illud admoneo ut aliquando Ecclesiae Catholicae maledicere desinatis vituperando mores hominum quos ipsa condemnat quos quotidie tanquam mafilios corrigere studet Ibid. he himself did know many who were worshippers of Tombs and Pictures but how vain how hurtful how sacrilegious these Men are I have purposed to shew in another Treatise Now this do I admonish you Manichaeans that you cease to speak evil of the Catholick Church by upbraiding it with the Manners of those Men whom she her self condemneth and seeketh every day to correct as naughty Children These things St. Austin speaks of those who were Professors of the Name of Christ and Children of the Church they therefore cannot be supposed worshippers of Heathen Idols such heathenish Persons being never own'd as Christians by the Church of Christ but still rejected as her Enemies and publickly condemned by many of her Canons and Decrees Nor doth St. Austin say these Persons worshipped Pictures with Divine Worship or that they esteem them as Gods Had he conceived this to have been their Crime he would not have said That in the True Religion they were superstitious but rather that they were meer heathenish Idolaters the (c)
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 6. p. â—17 second Nicene Council having told us That never any Christian Man did give Latria to an Image Nor can it reasonably be conceiv'd that many who profess'd the Name of Christ should be such Sots as to believe an Image made by their own hands could be the Great Creator of the World the Maker of the very Man that made it and of that very Metal which composed it Moreover St. Austin here requires the Manichees Not to upbraid the Church of Christ with the practice of these naughty Children whom he calls worshippers of Pictures they being only a rude multitude of superstitious People of such as either did not know or did not answer their Profession such as the Church condemned and still endeavoured to correct Had then St. Austin and all good Christians of his Age been themselves worshippers of Pictures had he believed that the Doctrine and Tradition of the Church of Christ required all good Christians to give them honorary Worship would he so generally without distinction or exception have condemned all Worshippers of Pictures as superstitious rude and ignorant of what Christianity required Would he so fully have declared That the Church of Christ condemned and did endeavour to correct them for it Would he have charged the Manichees with great injustice for imputing Picture-worship to the Church of Christ and not have given some of those Limitations and Distinctions with which the second Nicene Council and the Romish Doctors do so much abound to put a difference betwixt the avowed and constant practice of the Church and what both he and she condemned in these Worshippers of Pictures St. Austin therefore must be a very dolt or else must here demonstrate the Church of Christ did in his Time conceive all Picture-worship to be superstitious and opposite to the Profession of Christianity and that which she condemned and did endeavour to correct in those that practised it § 6. And as those Fathers so expresly declared against the Doctrine of the second Nicene Council before they had decreed it so afterwards from the 8th to the 15th Century it was expresly contradicted and rejected by the most Eminent Persons of the Western Church In the same Century it was condemned by the Council of Frankford consisting of three hundred Bishops A. D. 794. as hath been shew'd already It was condemned in the same Century not only by Albinus or Alcuinus Tutor to Charles the Great and Scholar of Venerable Bede who wrote a Book against the second Nicene Council and that Assertion of it (d) Contra quod scripsit Albinus Epistolam ex Authoritate Divinarum Scripturarum mirabiliter dictatam ilamque in persona Episcoporum Principum nostrorum Regi Francorum attulit Hoved Ann. part 1. F. 232. B. That Images ought to be adored confuting it from Holy Scripture but also by the Princes and Bishops of the Church of England in whose Name that Book was sent to Charles the Great It was condemned in the 9th Century by the Council held at Paris A. D. 824. It was in the same Century declared to be (e) Pseudo-Synodus l. contr Hincmar Laudan c. 20. Chron. ad A. 792. ad An. 794. falsly called a Synod because it decreed for Image-worship by Hincmarus Rhemensis by Ado Viennensis and by Regino Abbas Prumiensis It was condemned also by Agobardus Bishop of Lyons who was made Bishop by the consent of the whole Clergy of that Nation for in his Book yet extant against this Image-worship he declares amongst many other things already cited from him thus (f) Nemo se fallar quicunque aliquam Picturam vel fusilem five ductilem adorat Statuam non exhibet cultum Deo non honorat Angelos vel Homines Sanctos sed simulacra veneratur Sect. 31. Let no Man deceive let no Man seduce or circumvent himself Whosoever adores any Picture any molten or graven Statue he doth not worship God or honour Angels or Holy Men but he venerates Idols And yet (g) Ego crediderim Agobardum scripsisse quod omnes tum in Gallia ut etiam à Sirmundo observatum est sentiehant Bal. Not. in Agob p. 88. Baluzius and Sirmondâ—s do ingenuously confess that Agobardus hath writ only that which the whole Church of France did then acknowledg Papirius Massonus who abridged him saith (h) Graecorum Errores de Imaginibus Picturis manifestissimè detegens negat eas adorari quam sententiam omnes Catholici probamus c. Praefat. That he did manifestly detect the Errors of the Greeks i.e. the Nicene Coâ—ncil coâ—cerning Images and Pictures denying that they were to be adored which Doctrine all we Catholicks approve and follow the Testimony of Gregory the Great corcerning them which as you have seen was this That Images were neither to be broken nor yet adored (i) Ecclesiae Gallicanae Germanicae in hac sententia constantissime aliquot seculis perdurarunt Cap. de Imag p. 173. The German and French Churches saith Cassander after the Council held at Frankford most constantly continued for some Ages in that Sentence which they first received from the Church of Rome viz. That Images were neither to be broken nor yet to be worshipped If for some Ages they must assuredly continue in it till the 11th Century and that they did so is evident from the Chronicle of Hermannus Contractus who stiles the second Nicene Council a false Synod on the forementioned account Chron. ad A. D. 794. That the Germans continued of the same mind in the 12th Century is evident from the plain words of (k) Quippe apud Alemannos Armenios S. Imaginum adoratio aeque interdicta est L. 2. de Imp. Aug. Angel. p. 199. In qua Synodo de Imaginibus adorandis aliter quam Orthodoxi Patres antea diffinierant statuerunt Nicetas Coniates who saith That then among the Almains and Armenians the worship of Holy Images was equally forbid That the French Church was still of the same mind is evident from the Continuator of (l) De Gestis Francorum l. 5. c. 28. Aimoinus who plainly saith That the Fathers of the Nicene Synod otherwise decreed concerning Image-worship than the Orthodox Doctors had before defined And from the Collection of Decrees made by Ivo Bishop of Chartres who declares the Judgment of the Council of Eliberis to be this That (m) Picturas in Ecclesia non esse adorandas Decret Part. 3. c. 40 41. Pictures ought not to be worshipped but that they only ought to be Memorials of what is worshipped and cites the Passage of Pope Gregory to that effect In the same Century Simon Dunelmensis an Oxonian Doctor and Roger Hoveden their Professor both assert That in the second (n) In quo proh dolor multa inconvenientia verae Fidei coÌ„traria reperiebantur maxime quod pene omnium Orientalium Doctorum unanimi assertione confirmatum fuerit Imagines adorari debere quod omnino Ecclesia