pictures of the dead, since the first introducers of them intermixed their own pictures with them. But it must be owned that this superstition presently followed upon the setting up of pictures in churches; yet it was never approved, till the second council of Nice, Anno 787, made a decree in favour of it. Serenus, bishop of Marseilles, ordered all images to be defaced, and cast out of all the churches of his diocese; and though Gregory the Great blamed him for this, and defended the use of pictures in churches as innocent, and useful for instruction of the vulgar,' yet he equally condemns the worship and adoration of them. And when the council of Nice had established it, in opposition to the council of Constantinople of three hundred and thirty-eight bishops, held Anno 754, who had before condemned it, the decrees of Nice were rejected by all the western world, the Popes of Rome only excepted. The council of Frankford in Germany, the council of Paris in France, and some other councils in Britain agreed unanimously to condemn them, and for some hundred years after, the worship of images was not received in any of the three foresaid nations. But it is as much beyond my design to pursue this history any further, as it is needless, there being so many excellent discourses on this particular subject, especially those of Mr. Daille, Bp. Stillingfleet,3 and Spanheim, who have omitted nothing on this head that was necessary to answer the cavils of their Romish antagonists, or give satisfaction to a curious reader. SECT. 10.-No Images of God or the Trinity allowed in Churches till after the Second Nicene Council. All I shall add further therefore upon this subject is only two observations, which Petavius himself has made for The first is that the Ancients never allowed any pictures of God, the Father, or of the Trinity to be set up in us. 1 Gregor. lib. ix. ep. 9. Quia sanctorum imagines adorari vetuisses, omninò laudavimus: fregisse verò reprehendimus, &c. vid. lib. vii. ep. 111. Dallæus, de Imaginibus. Stillingfl. Defence of the Discourse of + Spanhem. Historia Imaginum. Lugd. Bati 1686. Idolatry, &c. 8vo. 8 5 Petav. de Incarnat. lib. xv. c. 14. n. 1. their churches. For this he produces the testimonies of Origen, St. Ambrose, and St. Austin, who particularly pronounces it to be an impious thing for any Christian to set up any such image in the church, and much more to do it in his heart. Nay, Pope Gregory II. who was otherwise a great stickler for images, in that very Epistle which he wrote to the Emperor Leo, to defend the worship of them, denies it to be lawful to make any image of the divine nature. And the second council of Nice itself was against it, as is evident from the Epistles of Germanus, bishop of Constantinople, and John, bishop of Thessalonica, which are recited with approbation in the Acts of that council. And Damascen following the doctrine of the same council, says, "it is as great impiety as it is folly, to make any image of the divine nature, which is invisible, incorporeal, incircumscriptible, and not to be figured by the art of man.” And therefore in all ancient history we never meet with any one instance of picturing God, the Father, because it was supposed he never appeared in any visible shape, but only by a voice from heaven. Upon this account Paulinus, where he describes a symbolical representation of the three divine persons, made in the painting of a church, makes a lamb to be the symbol of Christ, and a dove the symbol of the Holy Ghost, but for God, the Father, nothing but a voice from heaven. And this they did in compliance with that text in Deut. iv. 12., "The Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of his words, but saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice." By which we see how much the present Church of Rome has outgone the first patrons even of image-worship itself, by allowing pictures of the Deity commonly in their temples, which the 1 Origen. cont. Cels. lib. vi. Gregor. Ep. 1. 2 Ambros. in Psal. 118. Octonar. 12. 3 Aug. de Fide et Symbolo, c. 7. Tale simulachrum nefas est Christiano in templo collocare, multo magis in corde nefarium est. ad Leon. in Act. 4. Con. Nic. 2. Con. Nic. 2. Παραφροσύνης ἄκρας κι ἀσεβείας τὸ σχηματίζειν τὸ θεῖον, &c. Id. Orat. 1 et 2. de Imagin. passim. 7 Paulin. Ep. 12. ad Sever. p. 150. 5 German. Ep. ad Leon Act. 4. • Damascen. de Fide Orthodox. lib. iv. c. 17. Pleno coruscat Trinitas mysterio; stat Christus agno; vox Patris cœlo tonat; et per columbam Spiritus Sanctus fluit. Ancients reckoned to be impious and absurd, and is acknowledged to be an abuse fit to be corrected by Cassander,' though Petavius after all his concessions and acknowledgments of the novelty of the thing, and its contrariety to ancient custom, endeavours to find out some colour for the present practice. SECT. 11.-Nor usually Statues or massy Images, but only Paintings and Pictures, and those Symbolical rather than any other. His other acknowledgment of a difference between the practice of the ancient Church, and that of his own at this day, is, that the Ancients did not approve of massy images, or statues of wood, or metal, or stone, but only pictures or paintings to be used in churches. This he proves from the testimonies of Germanus, bishop of Constantinople, and Stephanus Bostrensis, both alleged in the Acts of the second council of Nice; which shows, that massy images or statues were thought to look too much like idols even by that worst of councils. But some plead the authority of Gregory Nazianzen3 for statues in churches, to whom Petavius answers, that he speaks not of statues in temples, but of profane statues in other places; which is a very just and true observation. For it is most certain, from the writings of St. Austin and Optatus," that there were no statues in that age in their churches, or upon their altars, because they reckon both those to be mere heathenish customs: and Cassander observes the same out of the writings of Gregory the Great. He also notes, that till the time of the sixth general-council the images of Christ were not usually in the effigies or figure of a man, but only symbolically represented under the type of a lamb; and so the Holy Ghost was represented under the type or symbol of a dove: but that council forbad' the picturing of Christ any more in the 4 1 Cassand. Consultat. Sect. de Imagin. p. 179. Illud quoque inter abusus ponendum est, quod etiam Divinitati in Trinitatis deformatione simulachrum effingitur. quod veteres absurdum et nefarium judicâssent. 2 German. Ep. ad Thom. Claudiopol. in Act. 4. Con. Nic. 2. Stephan. Bostren. Ibid. Act. 2. 3 Nazian. Ep. 49. tat. lib. 2. Trull. c. 83. 4 Aug. in Psalm. 113. 5 Op7 Con. symbol of a lamb, and ordered it only to be drawn in the effigies of a man. I presume, by this time the worship of images was begun, Anno 692; and it was now thought indecent to pay their devotions to the picture of a lamb, and therefore they would no longer endure it to be seen in the church. I have been the more particular in recounting and explaining these things distinctly, that the reader might have in one short view the rise and progress of that grand superstition, which has so overspread the Church and defaced its worship in the matter of images, which were introduced at first only for historical use, to be lay-men's books, and a sort of ornaments for the church, though, as the event proved, the most dangerous of any other. SECT. 12. Of adorning the Church with Flowers and Branches. There was one way more of adorning churches, which I should not have thought worth mentioning, but for its innocency and natural simplicity; that is, the custom of garnishing and decking them with flowers and branches: which was not done at any certain times for any pretended mystery, but only to make them more decent and fit for a body of men to meet in. St. Austin' takes notice of the custom, speaking of one who carried away with him some flowers from off the altar; and Paulinus in his poetical way refers to it likewise. But St. Jerom does it the greatest honour, to give it a place in his panegyric upon his friend Nepotian, making it a part of his commendable character; "that he took care to have every thing neat and clean about the church, the altar bright, the walls whited, the pavement swept, the gates veiled, the vestry clean, and the vessels 1 Aug. de Civ. Dei. lib. xxii. c. 8. Abscedens aliquid de altari florum, quod occurrit, tulit, &c. 2 Paulin. Natal. 3. Felicis, p. 541. Ferte Deo pueri laudem, pia solvite vota: Spargite flore solum, prætexite limina sertis. 8 Hieron. Ep. 3. Epitaph. Nepotian. Erat sollicitus si niteret altare, si parietes absque fuligine, si pavimenta tersa, si janitor creber in portis, vela semper in ostiis, si sacrarium mundum, si vasa luculenta, et in omnes ceremonias pia sollicitudo disposita.-Basilicas ecclesiæ et martyrum conciliabula diversis floribus, et arborum comis, vitiumque pampinis adumbravit. VOL. II. P shining; and so far did his pious solicitude about these matters extend, that he made flowers, and leaves, and branches of trees contribute to the beauty and ornament of the churches." These were but small things in themselves, St. Jerom says, but a pious mind devoted to Christ is intent upon things great and small, and neglects nothing that may deserve the name of the very meanest office in the Church. And it is plain St. Jerom had a greater value for such sort of natural beauty and comeliness in churches, than for rich ornaments of costly pictures and paintings, and silver, and gold, and precious stones: and therefore, as I observed before,' he rather advised his rich friends to lay out their wealth upon the living temples of God, the backs and bellies of the poor, and commended the rich lady, Paula, for so doing, rather than for hanging up needless and superfluous gifts, as others did, upon the pillars of the temple. And it is no wonder then he should commend Nepotian's frugal care, who had divested himself of all his estate to relieve the poor, and left himself no ability to adorn the Church any other way, but that which was most to St. Jerom's liking and approbation. CHAP. IX. Of the Consecration of Churches. SECT. 1.-What the Ancients meant by the Consecration of Churches. ANCIENTLY when churches were finished and adorned, it was then usual to proceed to a dedication or consecration of them; which was a thing that was sometimes performed with a great deal of pious solemnity, and therefore it will be proper in the next place to make a little inquiry into the nature and circumstances of it. Now I must observe first of all, that by the consecration of a church, the Ancients always mean the devoting or setting it apart peculiarly for 1 See before sect. 5. 2 Hieron. Ep. 27. Epitaph. Paulæ. Nolebat in his lapidibus pecuniam effundere, qui cum terrâ et sæculo transituri sunt: sed in vivis lapidibus, qui volvuntur super terram. |