Crucifixes, Images, and Paintings – An Imaginary Christ

I cannot refrain here from a necessary short digression. This transforming efficacy, from a spiritual view of Christ as proposed in the Gospel, being lost, as to an experience of it, in the minds of men carnal and ignorant of the mystery of believing (as it is at present by many derided, though it be the life of religion), fancy and superstition provided various supplies in the room of it. For they found out crucifixes and images with paintings to represent him in his sufferings and glory. By these things, their carnal affections being excited by their outward senses, they suppose themselves to be affected with him, and to be like him. Yea, some have proceeded so far as, either by arts diabolical, or by other means, to make an appearance of wounds on their hands, and feet, and sides; yea, to be wholly transformed into his image. But that which is produced by an image is but an image. An imaginary Christ will effect nothing in the minds of men but imaginary grace.

Thus religion was lost, and died. When men could not obtain any experience in their minds of the spiritual mysteries of the gospel, nor be sensible of any spiritual change or advantage by them, they substituted some outward duties and observances in their stead; as I shall show, God willing, elsewhere more at large. These produced some kind of effects on their minds and affections, but quite of another nature than those which are the real effects of true evangelical grace. This is openly evident in this substitution of images instead of the representation of Christ and his glory in the gospel.

However, there is a general supposition granted on all hands, namely that there must be a view of Christ and his glory, to cause us to love him, and thereby to make us conformable or like him. But here lies the difference: those of the church of Rome say that this must be done by the beholding of crucifixes, with other images and pictures of him; and that with our bodily eyes: we say it is by our beholding his glory by faith, as revealed in the Gospel, and no otherwise. And, to confess the truth, we have some who, as they reject the use of images, so they despise that spiritual view of the glory of Christ which we inquire after. Such persons on the first occasion will fall on the other side; for anything is better than nothing.

But, as we have a sure word of prophecy to secure us from these abominations, by an express prohibition of such images to all ends whatever; so, to our stability in the profession of the truth, an experience of the efficacy of this spiritual view of Christ transforming our souls into his own likeness, is absolutely necessary. For if an idolater should plead, as they do all, that in the beholding of the image of Christ, or of a crucifix, especially if they are sedulous and constant in it, they find their affections to him greatly excited, increased, and inflamed (as they will be (Isa. 57:5)); and that upon this he endeavours to be like him; what shall we have to oppose that? For it is certain that such images are apt to make impressions on the minds of men; partly from the readiness of the senses and imagination to give them admittance into their thoughts; and partly from the natural inclinations to superstition, their aversion from things spiritual and invisible, with an inclination to things present and visible. Hence among them who are satisfied that they ought not to be adored with any religious veneration, yet some are apt, upon the sight of them, to entertain a thoughtful reverence, as they would do if they were to enter a Pagan temple full of idols; and others are continually making approaches towards their use and veneration, paintings, and altars, and such outward postures of worship as are used in the religious service of them. But that they do sensibly affect the minds of men carnal and superstitious, cannot be denied; and as they suppose, it is with love to Christ himself. However, certain it is in general, and confessed on all hands, that the beholding of Christ is the most blessed means of exciting all our graces, spiritualizing all our affections, and transforming our minds into his likeness. And if we have not another, and that a more excellent way of beholding him, than they have who behold him, as they suppose, in images and crucifixes, they would seem to have the advantage of us; for their minds will really be affected with somewhat, ours with nothing at all. And by the pretence thereof, they inveigle the carnal affections of men ignorant of the power of the gospel, to become their proselytes. For having lived, it may be, a long time without any the least experience of sensible impression on their minds, or a transforming power from the representation of Christ in the gospel, upon their very first religious, devout application to these images, they find their thoughts exercised, their minds affected, and some present change made upon them.

But there was a difference between the person of David and an image with a bolster of goat’s hair, though the one were laid in the room and place of the other; and there is so between Christ and an image, though the one be put into the place of the other. Neither do these things serve to any other end, but to divert the minds of men from faith and love to Christ; giving them some such satisfactions in the room of them, as that their carnal affections do cleave to their idols. And indeed it belongs to the wisdom of faith, or we stand in need of spiritual light, to discern and judge between the working of natural affections towards spiritual objects, on undue motives by undue means with indirect ends, of which all Papal devotion consists, and the spiritual exercise of grace in those affections duly fixed on spiritual objects.

But, as was said, it is a real experience of the efficacy that there is in the spiritual beholding of the glory of Christ by faith, as proposed in the Gospel, to strengthen, increase, and excite all grace to its proper exercise, so changing and transforming the soul gradually into his likeness, which must secure us against all those pretences; and so I return from this digression.

No Christian approves of worshiping idols or disapproves of honoring parents. No brother or sister will accuse you of being legalistic if you’re against stealing or are in favor of telling the truth. But I know many people who object to Sabbath keeping and approve of using the Lord’s Day for work or personal pleasure. We don’t argue about the other nine; why is the fourth commandment a catalyst for more heat than light?

These are some of the questions the Rev. Bruce Ray considers in his book, Celebrating the Sabbath: Finding Rest in a Restless World. Ray laments the low view of the fourth commandment in churches today. Churches today cater to the busy lifestyles of churchgoers by creating more services on more days for shorter periods of time. Ray uses the term “McSabbath” to describe the state of the Lord’s Day in most churches in America.

Ray gives a clear description of how Christians dread the Sabbath rather than delighting in it. He shows from scripture how we are to understand the Lord’s Day. God is sovereign over time and gives us a day of rest because we need it—it is for our good. The Lord is in control and sovereign over our work. We do not need to work seven days to get everything done, but rather we are to rely and trust on the Lord, who is sovereign over rest and commands us to rest. It is God’s appointed holiday. We are to refrain from work and we are to worship Him and be refreshed.

Very quickly Ray goes to the Bible and shows the origins of the Sabbath at creation. Just as working for six days of the week and procreation are creation ordinances, so also is the Sabbath Day. Ray traces the Sabbath blessing from seed form in Genesis to full blossom in the New Testament. Ray rightly points out that Exodus 20 is not the beginning of the Sabbath observance but rather a command to continue, which is made clear by the fourth commandment’s first word, “Remember.” The Lord made the day holy at creation, and it is always holy. Treating it in any other way is profaning it.

Only Christians can celebrate the Lord’s Day. Only Christians can understand the Lord’s Day. Those who do unnecessary work are denying the sovereignty of God.

Ray moves on to the New Testament to explain what he calls the Resurrection Sabbath, a transformation of the Creation and Exodus Sabbath. New creation came through Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection. Ray expounds on the normality of transformation from Old Covenant/Old Testament to New Covenant/New Testament. Old Covenant circumcision was transformed into New Covenant baptism, Old Covenant Passover was transformed into New Covenant Lord’s Supper, and Old Covenant Sabbath is transformed into New Covenant Lord’s Day.

Ray concludes his biblical analysis of the Lord’s Day with the Final Sabbath. The Final Sabbath is that which we look forward to in heaven, the Eternal Sabbath. We taste it every Sunday on earth if we keep the Sabbath holy, but the fullness is yet to come: “As creator [God] blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. As Redeemer, He appointed it to be a sign of the covenant of grace. The Sabbath is now, and always has been, the Lord’s Day.”

Ray is careful to address the two major issues facing the keeping of the Lord’s Day, lawlessness and legalism. The Sabbath was intended to be a day of gladness and not of gloom. Ray shows the entrance of legalism into Sabbath Day observance with the captivity in Babylon and Assyria. Just like the purifying of the temple, Jesus purified the Sabbath Day during His earthly ministry. Ray is clear to the show the continuity of the Old Testament with Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in the New Testament. The Pharisees had taken the blessed Lord’s Day and made it a great burden. Ray’s commentary on this topic is among the most helpful parts of the book.

Ray expands on lawlessness and legalism by showing how Christians who participate in lawlessness on the Lord’s Day are not in conflict with the fourth commandment per se but are in conflict with the authority of Jesus Christ. He poses the question, is Jesus Christ Lord or not? If He is Lord of the Sabbath, then He defines its intention. Ray argues that men reject the Lord’s day of rest because they reject the Lord of the day. They bring stress and disease on themselves and eventually physical death.

In the concluding chapters, Ray shows how God wants His day to be kept. First, it should be kept “holily,” that is, we should keep it the way God intended and not necessarily the way we do. We don’t need the 1,500 rules the Pharisees had; we just need to understand and obey God’s Word. Part of this keeping holy the day requires gathering with God’s people for corporate worship. Second, we must keep it happily. In order to do so, we must be keeping it holy. How happy it is to forget about our worldly cares and employments and to be refreshed in the Lord. Third, Ray argues that we ought to keep it honestly. We ought to be striving to keep it better, not looking for loopholes to escape its requirements. Finally, Ray shows how we are commanded to keep the day humbly. We must put God’s Word above the imaginations of our hearts.

Bruce Ray does a fine job in this book arguing for the keeping of the Lord’s Day: the importance of keeping it, the blessing wrapped up in it, and the many dangers of profaning it. In the mega-church, individualistic society we live in today where many, including professing Christians, do what is right in their own eyes on the Lord’s Day, we need to remember the Lord’s Day and keep it holy. This is not an option, nor is it a burden; rather, it is a refreshment for the glory of the Lord and our own spiritual good.

Celebrating the Sabbath: Finding Rest in a Restless World can be found at online Christian bookstores for $7.49.

In order to prove the biblical precedent for catechizing, Alexander sets out a series of Scriptural injunctions for believers to teach their children the words and ways of the Lord diligently. He wrote:

The pious patriarch would spend much time in dealing out to his listening children the lessons which he had learned in his youth from his predecessors, and those which he had been taught by his own experience. These instructions were properly of the nature of catechizing, which may be defined to be ” the familiar communication of knowledge, orally.” As long as this duty was faithfully performed by parents, the darkness of ignorance and idolatry were prevented, but as soon as it fell into neglect, error and vice must have been the consequence. Of Abraham, God certifies, ” I know that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment,” Gen. xviii. 1.9. And God, by Moses, insisted more upon no duty than this, of domestic instruction in the truths of religion. ” And the words which I command thee shall be in thy heart, and thou shah teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up,” Again, ” Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach thy sons, and thy son’s sons.” Deut. iv. 9, 10. vi. 7. To these precepts the Psalmist refers, when he says, ” He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law ip Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children : that the generations to come might know them, even the children which should be form, who should arise and declare them to their children,” and an apostolical appellation, is that given by Paul, viz. ” Christ crucified.”

Alexander then explains the etymological origin of the word “catechize.” While this may seem to some to be irrelevant, the very origin of the word suggests the nature of what is being promoted. Alexander noted that the Greek form of the word means “to instruct with the voice.” The word is found in six or seven places in the New Testament, and is commonly translated “instruct.” Alexander concedes that the word has come to mean, in English, “to instruct by means of questions and answers.” This is a distinctive means of “catechizing.” The main purpose of catechizing is to adequately communicate content.”

One may raise the objection that God has ordained preaching and not catechizing as the means by which Divine truth is to be communicated. It is in anticipation of this objection that Alexander wrote, “Preaching supposes and requires some preparatory knowledge in the hearers, to render it useful in communicating religious knowledge. Elementary principles must be acquired in some other way; and this was more especially the case before the invention of printing, when books were very scarce and few persons were able to read. It seems that the apostles and first teachers of the Christian religion, were much occupied in giving religious instruction from house to house; and we know from undoubted authorities, that in the earliest times of the primitive church, all who applied for admission into the church…were carefully instructed by catechizing; that is, by a course of familiar teaching, viva voce.” These are important facts to which we must pay careful attention. As pastors and teachers of the church, or fathers and heads of families, we must consider what is the best way to insure that the people of God are learning and retaining the words and doctrines of God.

Another objection that is often raised against the argument that catechizing is necessary has to do with the relationship of doctrine of Scripture. Many will, no doubt, insist that all their children need to do is learn the Bible, and that the doctrines contained in our Reformed Confessions and catechisms are human inventions that should not be given equal place in their lives. Alexander approaches this common notion by asserting that “there is, moreover, an unspeakable benefit from the possession of correct doctrinal information, when the mind falls under serious impressions of religion; for then the truths that have been early inculcated, and long forgotten, will revive in the memory, and serve to guard the anxious mind from those enthusiastic errors into which ignorant persons are so prone to fall when they are deeply excercised on the subject of salvation.” In short, Alexander is contending for catechetical instruction as a means of perseverance in the faith in the midst of a world that is anti-Christian in its thought and instruction. Everyone is being instructed, the question is, “In what form of doctrine are you ebeing instructed.” When our children meet with various worldly philosophies and doctrines of demons, will the doctrinal instruction they received in the home and church serve as a defense against the world, the flesh and the Devil?

One of the most helpful sections of this small pamphlet is the list of expositions that have been written on the Westminster Larger and Shorter catechisms. Alexander noted:

Most parents then stand in need of some helps to enable them to explain the meaning of the Catechism; and such helps have been amply provided, and should be in the hands of every Presbyterian family.  We have works of this description by Vincent, Flavel, Thompson, and others of former days; and more recently an excellent exposition of the Shorter Catechism by the Rev. Belfrage of Scotland ; and still more recently we have a set of Lectures on the Shorter Catechism from the pen of the venerable Doctor Green , in two volumes, which we sincerely wish might be found in every family in our church, as a work of sound theology, written in a correct and perspicuous style.  And while we are recommending expositions of this excellent little compend, we would not omit to mention with high approbation, the Rev. Matthew Henry’s Scriptural Catechism , in which all the questions are derived from those in the Shorter Catechism, and the answers throughout are in the very words of Scripture.  This in our opinion is an admirable work, and ought to be reprinted and widely circulated.  We are also free to recommend Fisher’s Catechism, as a valuable doctrinal work, which has been much used in Scotland, and by many Presbyterians in this country. The Key to the Shorter Catechism, we also approve, and from the testimony of those who have tried it, we are led to believe, it may be made very useful in aiding children to understand the meaning of words and phrases used in the Catechism.

There are many other useful arguments and examples set out in this work. Thankfully Naphtali Press has published a copy of it online. You can find it here. This is one of the most careful treatments of a practice that desperately needs to be revived in our day!

Christ the Center episode 56