CHAPTER II

OF THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

QUESTION I

Of the Meaning of the Exordium, and the Mysteries contained therein

Let then the pastor strive, with all his efforts, to induce, the faithful to keep continually in mind these words, I am the Lord thy God. From them they will learn that they have as a legislator their Creator, by whom they were made and are preserved, and that they may justly say, He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. The earnest and frequent inculcation of these words will serve to render the faithful more willing to observe the law, and abstain from sin. The words that follow, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage, whilst they seem solely to relate to the Jews liberated from the bondage of Egypt, are, if considered in their inward reference to the scheme of universal salvation, far more applicable to Christians, who are liberated by God, not from the bondage of Egypt, but from the region of sin and the power of darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Contemplating the magnitude of this benefit, Jeremiah prophetically exclaimed, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither I cast them out; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them, &c. For our most indulgent Father hath gathered together through his Son, the children that were scattered, that, no longer the servants of sin but of righteousness, we may serve before him in holiness and righteousness all our days.

QUESTION II

In what manner the Faithful ought to be affected by the Beginning of this Decalogue

To every temptation, therefore, the faithful will oppose as a shield these words of the apostle, Shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? We are no longer our own; but his who for us died and rose again. He is the Lord our God, who purchased us for himself with his own blood. How then shall we be any longer capable of sinning against the Lord our God, and crucifying him again? Being made truly free, and in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, let us, as we heretofore yielded our members to serve unrighteousness, henceforward yield them to serve righteousness unto holiness.

THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME

QUESTION III

What is to be observed or avoided, according to this First Commandment

The pastor will teach that, in the Decalogue, the precepts that regard God occupy the first, and those that regard our neighbour, the second place; for the services which we render unto our neighbour, we render him for the sake of God; and then only do we love our neighbour according to the precept of God, when we love him for God’s sake. And these precepts are those that were inscribed on the first table [of the law]. In the next place, he will show that, in the words propounded, is contained a twofold precept; the one mandatory, the other prohibitory. For when it is said, Thou shalt not have strange gods before me, it is the same as to say, Thou shalt worship me the true God: thou shalt not worship strange gods.

QUESTION IV

In what manner Faith, Hope, and Charity are contained in this Precept

In the former is contained a precept of faith, hope, and charity; of faith, for when we say, God, we acknowledge him to be immoveable, immutable, ever the same, faithful, righteous, without any iniquity; and hence, assenting to his oracles, we necessarily yield to him all faith and authority. And who can contemplate his omnipotence, his clemency, his beneficence, and not repose in him all his hopes? But if we contemplate the riches of his goodness and love, lavished on us with so bounteous a hand, how can we but love him? Hence that commencement, hence that conclusion, which God makes use of in Scripture in his precepts and commands: I the Lord.

QUESTION V

What this Precept prohibits is explained

The other part of the precept is comprised in these words: Thou shalt not have strange gods before me; words which the legislator subjoins, not because the idea is not sufficiently implied in the affirmative part of the precept, which says equivalently, Thou shalt worship me the only God; for if he is God, he is the only God; but on account of the blindness of very many, who of old professed to worship the true God, and yet adored a multitude of gods. Of these there were many amongst the Israelites themselves, who, as Elijah reproached them with doing, halted between two sides; and this the Samaritans did, who worshipped the God of Israel, and the gods of the nations.

QUESTION VI

Why this First Commandment is of Superior Importance to the Rest

Having explained these matters, [the pastor] must add, that this is the first and greatest of all the commandments, not only in order, but also in nature, dignity, and excellence. For God is entitled to infinitely greater love and authority from us than are due to master, to monarch. He created us; the same he governs us; he nurtured us in our mother’s womb; brought us into this world; and supplies us with the necessaries of life and sustenance.

QUESTION VII

How this Commandment is mostly Violated

Against this commandment transgress all those who have not faith, hope, and charity, a numerous class of offenders. For amongst them are those who fall into heresy, who believe not what holy Mother Church propounds to be believed; who give credit to dreams, divinations, and other superstitious illusions: those who despair of their own salvation, and trust not in the divine goodness; and also those who rely solely on riches, on bodily health and strength. But these matters have been developed more at large in treatises on morality.

QUESTION VIII

The Honour customarily rendered to the Saints by the Church is not prohibited by this Commandment

But in the exposition of this precept the faithful are also to be accurately taught, that to this law are by no means repugnant the veneration and invocation of the holy angels, and of the blessed souls who enjoy the glory of heaven, nor the honour which the Catholic Church has also ever paid to the bodies and ashes of the saints. If a king wore to prohibit by proclamation any person from assuming the regal character, or accepting the honours due to the royal person, who would be so insane as at once to conclude, that the king was unwilling that respect should be paid to his magistrates? For although, following the example of the holy men recorded in the Old Testament, Christians are said to adore the angels, they render them not that honour which they give unto God: and if we read that angels sometimes refused to be worshipped by men, the worship which they refused to accept was the supreme honour due to God alone.

QUESTION IX

In what manner Angels may he worshipped by Men, is shown from Scripture

For the Holy Spirit who says, Honour and glory unto the only God, commands us also to honour our parents and elders, and the holy men who worshipped one God only are also said in the sacred Scriptures to have adored, that is, to have suppliantly venerated, kings. If then kings, by whose agency God governs the world, are treated with so high an honour, shall we not give to the angelic spirits an honour greater in proportion as these blessed minds exceed kings in dignity; [to those angelic spirits] whom God has been pleased to constitute his ministers; whose services he makes use of, not only in the government of his Church, but also of the rest of the universe; by whose aid, although we see them not, we are daily delivered from the greatest dangers both of soul and body? Add to this the charity with which they love us, through which, as Scripture informs us, they pour out their prayers for those countries, over which they are placed by Providence, and for those too, no doubt, whose guardians they are, for they present our prayers and tears before the throne of God. Hence our Lord has taught us in the gospel not to scandalize the little ones, because in heaven their angels do always behold the face of his Father which is in heaven.

QUESTION X

That the Angels are to be invoked is proved from Scripture

Their intercession, therefore, we must invoke, because they always behold God, and receive from him the most willing advocacy of our salvation. To this their invocation the sacred Scriptures bear testimony. Thus Jacob entreats, nay compels, the angel with whom he had wrestled, to bless him, declaring that he would not let him go until he had received his blessing; nor did he implore the blessing of the angel only whom he saw, but also of him whom he saw not: The angel, says he, which redeemed me from all evils, bless the lads.

QUESTION XI

To honour the Saints and Reliques does not detract from the Honour due to God

From these premises we are also justified in concluding, that to honour the saints who have fallen asleep in the Lord, to invoke their intercession, and to venerate their sacred reliques and ashes, so far from diminishing, rather serves very much to increase the glory of God, in proportion as the Hope of men is thus excited and strengthened, and they themselves aroused to the imitation of the holy. This is a doctrine which is also supported by the authority of the second Council of Nice, the Council of Gangra, and that of Trent, and by the authority of the holy Fathers.

QUESTION XII

By what Arguments the Invocation of Saints is to be confirmed

In order, however, that the pastor may be the better prepared to refute those who impugn this truth, he will particularly consult St. Jerome against Vigilantius, and Damascene; and, what is of primary importance, to their reasoning is added the practice derived from the apostles, and always retained and preserved in the Church of God. Of this, who would require a stronger or clearer proof than that which is supplied by the admirable praises given in Scripture to the saints; for we have extant divine praises of particular saints; and if the holy Scriptures celebrate their praises, why should not we pay them singular honour? Another claim, however, which [the saints] have to be honoured and invoked is, that they earnestly importune God for our salvation, and obtain of him for us by their merit and favour many blessings; for if there is joy in heaven for one sinner that doth penance, will not the citizens of heaven aid also penitent sinners by their prayers? Will they not, when asked, implore the pardon of our sins, and conciliate for us the favour of God?

QUESTION XIII

It is shown that this Invocation of the Saints does not proceed from any Diffidence in the Divine Aid, or from Weakness of Faith

But should it be said, as is said by some, that their patronage is unnecessary, because God hears our prayers without an interpreter, this language of impious men is easily met by the observation of St. Augustine, that there are many things, which God does not grant without the intervention of a mediator and intercessor; an observation, the justness of which is confirmed by the illustrious examples of Abimelech, and the friends of Job, whose sins were pardoned but through the prayers of Abraham and of Job. Should it also be alleged, that to invoke the intercession and patronage of the saints results from want or weakness of faith, what answer will they give to the example of the centurion, who, although his faith was highly eulogized by our Lord himself, yet sent to the Saviour the elders of the Jews, to intercede with him to cure his sick servant.

QUESTION XIV

The Doctrine concerning One Mediator, Christ, does not take away the Invocation of Saints

Granting, we must confess, that there is but one mediator, Christ the Lord, who alone, forsooth, has reconciled us to his heavenly Father by his blood, and who, having obtained eternal redemption, and entered once into the sanctuary, ceases not to make intercession for us; it can by no means thence follow, that it is unlawful to have recourse to the intercession of the saints. For if, because we have one mediator, Christ Jesus, it were unlawful to make use of the intercession of the saints, the apostle would never have ventured to recommend himself with so much earnestness to the prayers of his brethren on earth, whereas the prayers of the living should derogate from the glory and dignity of the mediator Christ, not less than the intercession of the saints in heaven.

QUESTION XV

The Virtue of Reliques and their great Power and Efficacy proved

But whose incredulity is so obstinate as not to yield to the evidence in support of the honour and invocation we offer to the saints, afforded by the wonders wrought at their tombs? The blind, the lame handed, and the paralyzed are restored to their former state, the dead raised to life, and demons are expelled from the bodies of men! facts, which St. Ambrose and Augustine, most unexceptionable witnesses, declare in their writings not to have heard, as many did, not to have read, as did very many very grave authorities, but to have seen. But why multiply proofs on this head? If the clothes, the kerchiefs, the shadow of the saints, before they departed this life, banished disease and restored vigour, who will venture to deny that God works the same wondrous works by the sacred ashes, the bones, and other relics of the saints? This was declared by the dead body accidentally let down into the grave of Elisha, and which, on touching the body of the prophet, was instantly restored to life.

QUESTION XVI

The following Words do not form another Commandment, but are a Continuation of the Previous One

What follows: Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth; thou shalt not adore them nor serve them; some, supposing these words to constitute a distinct precept, reduced the ninth and tenth commandments into one; but St. Augustine, dividing the two last, was of opinion, that these words belong to the first commandment: and this division, because in general use in the Church, we willingly follow. A very just argument in its favour, however, is the propriety of annexing to the first the rewards or punishments attached to [the observance or violation of] each of the commandments.

QUESTION XVII

This Precept does not prohibit the Use of Images in Churches

Nor let any one suppose that this commandment utterly prohibits the arts of painting, modelling, or sculpture; for in the Scriptures we are informed that God himself commanded images of cherubim, and also of the brazen serpent, to be made; and the conclusion, therefore, at which we must arrive, is that images were prohibited only in such wise as they might be the means of detracting from the true worship of God to inanimate objects, as though they were to be adored as gods.

QUESTION XVIII

In what ways the Divine Being may chiefly be violated through Worship offered to Images

But as regards this commandment, the majesty of God is grievously offended chiefly in a twofold manner; the one, if idols and images be worshipped as God, or believing that in them there is any divinity or virtue on account of which they are to be worshipped, or that anything is to be asked of them; or that, confidence is to be reposed in the images as was of old done by the Gentiles, who placed their hope in idols, and whose idolatry the Scriptures universally reprehend; the other, by attempting to form a representation of the Deity, as though he were visible to corporeal eyes, or could be represented by painting or statuary. For who, saith Damascene, can represent God, invisible, as he is, incorporeal, uncircumscribed by limits, and incapable of being described under any figure or form? This subject the pastor will find treated more at large in the second Council of Nice. Admirably, therefore, has the apostle said, that the Gentiles changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things; for the likenesses of all these things, although the work of their own hands, they worshipped as gods. Hence, the Israelites, who exclaimed before the molten calf: These are thy Gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, are called idolaters, because they changed their glory into the similitude of a calf that eateth grass.

QUESTION XIX

Of the Meaning of the Latter Portion of this Precept

The Lord God, then, having forbidden the worship of strange gods, with a view to the utter removal of idolatry, prohibited the formation of an image of the Deity from brass or any other material, as Isaiah declares when he asks: To whom then have ye likened God, or what image will ye make for him? That such is the meaning of [this part of] the precept is proved, not only from the writings of the holy Fathers, who, as is expounded in the seventh [general] council, give to it this interpretation; but likewise from these words of Deuteronomy, by which Moses sought to withdraw the Israelites from idolatry: Ye saw, says he, no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb, out of the midst of the fire. These words were spoken by this wisest of legislators, lest, led by any sort of error, they should make an image of the Deity, and transfer the honour due to God to a created thing.

QUESTION XX

To represent any of the Persons of the Trinity does not violate this Precept

Let no one, however, think that to represent any person of the most holy Trinity by certain forms, under which, as we read in the Old and New Testaments, they deigned to appear, is to be deemed contrary to religion and the law of God; for no one is so ignorant as to believe that such forms are express images of the Deity; forms, as the pastor will teach, which only serve to express some attributes or actions ascribed to God. Thus, when, from Daniel, the ancient of days is painted, seated on a throne, and before him the books opened, the eternity and the infinite wisdom of God is signified, by which he sees, with a view to judge, all the thoughts and deeds of men.

QUESTION XXI

The same Doctrine holds good with regard to Angels

Angels, too, are represented under a human form, and winged, to give us to understand how benevolent they are towards the human race, and how ready to execute the embassies of God to man; for they are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation.

QUESTION XXII

Of the Form of a Dove, which represents the Holy Ghost

What proper attributes of the Holy Ghost are signified by the forms of a dove, and of tongues of fire, under which, as we read in the Gospel, and in the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Ghost appeared, is too well known to require lengthened exposition.

QUESTION XXIII

The Saints, and also Christ, ought to be pictured and honoured

But to depict and honour the images of Christ our Lord, of his most holy and most pure mother, and of all the other saints, seeing that they, having been clothed with human nature, appeared in human form, is not only not forbidden by this commandment, but has always been esteemed a holy practice, and a most certain indication of a grateful mind. This statement derives confirmation from the monuments of the apostolic age, the general councils of the Church, and the writings of so many most holy and learned Fathers, who are of one accord upon the subject.

QUESTION XXIV

What is the Legitimate Use of Images in the Church

But the pastor will not content himself with merely showing the lawfulness of the use of images in churches, and of paying them honour and respect, since this honour and respect are referred to their prototypes; but be will also show that, up to the present time, this practice has been attended with the greatest advantage to the faithful; as may be seen in the work of Damascene on images, and in the seventh council, which is the second of Nice. But because the enemy of the human race, by his wiles and deceits, seeks to pervert every the most holy institution, should the faithful happen at all to offend in this respect, the pastor, in pursuance of the decree of the Council of Trent, will use every exertion in his power to correct such an abuse, and when occasion presents itself, will explain the decree itself to the people. He will also instruct the unlearned, and those who are ignorant of the purpose of images, that they are intended to instruct in the history of the Old and New Testaments, and to recall to remembrance the events which they record; that thus excited by the recollection of heavenly things, we may be the more intensely inflamed to adore and love God himself. He will also point out that the images of the saints are placed in the churches to be honoured, and also that, admonished by example, we may conform ourselves to their lives and virtues.

I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.

QUESTION XXV

This Appendix does not belong to the First Precept only

In the concluding clause of this commandment, two things occur which demand diligent exposition. The first is, that, although on account of the enormous guilt of sinning against the first commandment, and the propensity of man towards so offending, the punishment is here appropriately proposed, yet it is a common appendage to all the commandments; for every law, by holding out rewards and punishments, induces men to observe its ordinances. Hence the frequent and numerous promises of God, recorded in Scripture. To omit those almost innumerable testimonies which we meet with in the Old Testament, we read in the Gospel: If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments; and elsewhere: He that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; and also: Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire; and: Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be guilty of the judgment; and in another place: If ye will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your sins.

QUESTION XXVI

Whether the Punishment here held out to Transgressors is held out alike to the Carnal and the Perfect

The other observation is, that this appendix is to be proposed in a far different manner to spiritual and to carnal men; for to the perfect, who are led by the spirit of God, and who yield to him with a willing and cheerful obedience, it is in some wise glad tidings, and a strong proof of the divine good-will towards them; recognizing as they do therein the care of their most loving God, who, now by rewards, now by punishments, almost compels his creatures to worship and reverence him. They acknowledge his infinite benevolence towards them, in vouchsafing to issue his commands to them, and to avail himself of their service to the glory of his divine name; and not only do they acknowledge this, but also cherish a great hope that, when [God] commands what he pleases, he will also give strength, by which they may be enabled to obey his law. But to the carnal, who are not yet liberated from the spirit of servitude, and abstain from sin more through the fear of punishment than the love of virtue, [this sanction of the divine law, which] forms the appendix, is burdensome and severe. They are, therefore, to be supported by pious exhortations, and to be led, as it were, by the hand, to the path pointed out by the law. These things the pastor will keep in view, as often as he shall have occasion to explain any of the commandments.

QUESTION XXVII

Meditations suggested by the word “Mighty”

To both carnal and spiritual are, however, in particular to be applied two stimulants, as it were, contained in this appendix, and excellently calculated to incite men to obedience to the law. The one is, that God is called the mighty, an appellation, the force of which requires to be more diligently expounded to the faithful, as the flesh, unappalled by the terrors of the divine menaces, frequently indulges in delusive expectations of escaping, in a variety of ways, the wrath of God and his threatened judgments; but, when impressed with the certain conviction that God is the mighty, it exclaims with the great David: Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? [The flesh] also, sometimes distrusting the promises of God, magnifies the power of the enemy to such a degree, as to believe itself unable to withstand him; whilst on the contrary, a firm and unshaken faith, vacillating in nothing, whilst it relies confidently on the divine strength and power, animates and confirms man, for he exclaims: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

QUESTION XXVIII

What is meant by God being “Jealous”

The second stimulant is the divine jealousy. For men sometimes think that God takes no concern in human affairs, even as to whether we observe or contemn, his law, an error which is the source of great disorder in life. But when we believe that God is a jealous God, reflection on this point easily keeps us within duty.

QUESTION XXIX

What Manner of Jealousy may be attributed to God

The jealousy attributed to God does not, however, imply any agitation of mind, but that divine love and charity by which God will suffer no soul to violate with impunity her fidelity to him, and which destroys all those who are disloyal to him. The jealousy of God, therefore, is his most calm and impartial justice, by which the soul, that is corrupted by false opinions and depraved passions, is repudiated as an adulteress; and in this jealousy of God, evincing as it does his supreme and incredible goodness towards us, we recognize a source of the sweetest and most delightful pleasure. For there is no love more ardent among men, no bond of union stronger or closer, than what exists between married persons. God, therefore, when, frequently comparing himself to a spouse or husband, he calls himself a jealous God, demonstrates the excess of his love towards us. The pastor, therefore, will here teach, that so desirous should men be of the worship and honour of God, as to be said with propriety to be jealous of, rather than to love, God, after the example of him who says of himself: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts; or rather, let them imitate Christ himself, who has said: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.

QUESTION XXX

What is the Purport of the Threat here set forth

The menaces of God’s judgments must also be explained, that he will not suffer sinners to remain unpunished, but will either chastise them as a parent, or punish them sharply and severely as a judge; which, on another occasion, is thus expressed by Moses: Thou shall know that the Lord thy God is a mighty and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations; and repaying forthwith them that hate him. Again, ye cannot, saith Joshua, serve the Lord; for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your transgressions and sins. If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn, and do you hurt, and destroy you.

QUESTION XXXI

How God visits the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children, unto the Third and Fourth Generation

The people are to be taught, that the punishments here threatened await the third and fourth generation of the impious and the wicked; not that the descendants are always visited with the chastisements due to the delinquency of their ancestors, but that, although they and their descendants may go unpunished, their posterity shall not all escape the wrath and vengeance of God. This king Josiah experienced, for although God had spared him on account of his singular piety, and allowed him to be borne in peace to the tomb of his fathers, that he might not see the evils of the times to come, that were to befall Judah and Jerusalem by reason of the wickedness of his grandfather Manasseh; yet, after his decease, the divine vengeance so overtook his posterity, that it spared not even the children of Josiah.

QUESTION XXXII

How these Words agree with the Words of Ezekiel

The words of this commandment may perhaps seem to be at variance with the sentence pronounced by the prophet: The soul that sinneth shall die; but the authority of St. Gregory, borne out by the consentient testimony of all the other ancient Fathers, satisfactorily shows [that there is no real contradiction]: Whoever, says he, imitates the iniquity of a wicked father, is also bound by his sin; but he who does not follow the iniquity of the father, is not at all burdened with his sin. Hence it comes to pass that the wicked son of a wicked father, who dreads not to superadd his own malice to the vices of his father, by which he knows the wrath of God to have been already excited, is burdened not only with the sin that he himself has added, but also with that of his father. And if is just that he who dreads not to follow in the footsteps of a wicked father, before the eyes of a rigorous judge, should be subjected in the present life to the punishment provoked even by the crimes of his wicked parent. That the goodness and mercy of God far exceed his justice is another observation which the pastor will not fail to make: God is angry unto the third and fourth generation; but he bestows his mercy on thousands.

QUESTION XXXIII

Who, as Transgressors of the Divine Laws, may be considered to hate God

The words, of them that hate me, display the grievousness of sin; for what more wicked and detestable than to hate the supreme goodness, the supreme truth? This, however, is the case with all sinners; for as he that hath the commandments of God, and keepeth them, loveth God; so he that despiseth his law, and keepeth not his commandments, is justly said to hate God.

QUESTION XXXIV

What is the Meaning of “and do mercy unto them that love me”

The concluding words; And them that love me, point out the manner and motive of observing the law; for it is necessary that those, who observe the law of God, should be influenced in its observance by the same charity and love which they bear towards God; a principle, which will be hereafter applied to each of the other commandments.