William PerkinsA Golden ChainWorks VI, pp. 76-85 Thou shalt neither worship false gods, nor the true God with false worship. Many things are here forbidden. (1) The representation of God by an image. The representation of God by an image. For it is a lie. “What profiteth the image? For the maker thereof hath made… Read More Ten Sins Forbidden by the 2nd Commandment
It can be known from nature that we must worship God how he pleases rather than how we please (Acts 17:24-29), but we cannot know how God desires to be worshiped unless he reveals it to us through special revelation. Being the root of the second commandment, the Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) itself is discernable from the light of nature as flowing from “that which may be known of God” (Rom. 1:19), while the parts and acts of God’s instituted worship is of divine positive law.… Read More The Second Commandment and the Light of Nature
James Durham A Commentarie Upon the Book of Revelation pp. 6-19 Download as PDF There is much spoken of the Glory of God in this Book [i.e., Revelation]; and no where is the distinction of the Persons of the glorious Godhead more frequently and clearly set forth. Iohn was more full in this than any… Read More The Holy Trinity and Object of Our Worship
“Now, I see here today more people that I am accustomed to having at the sermon. Why is that? It is Christmas day. And who told you this? You poor beasts. That is a fitting euphemism for all of you who have come here today to honor Noel. Did you think you would be honoring… Read More An XMas Day Sermon by John Calvin
Exodus 20:4-6 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a… Read More An Historic Witness Against Images of Christ
Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 2. Whether not only the worship but also the formation and use of religious images in sacred places is prohibited by the second commandment. We affirm against the Lutherans. I. In the preceding question we treated of the worship of images. It remains to inquire further concerning their… Read More Images of Christ Are Unlawful, Even If Not Used For Worship
Samuel Rutherford The Divine Right of Church Government and Excommunication pp. 95–100 Cap. I. Q. 1. Whether or not Human Ceremonies in Gods Worship, can consist with the perfection of God’s Word?[1] These human ceremonies we cannot but reject upon these grounds; Arg. 1. Our first Argument is: Every positive and religious observance, and rite in God’s worship,… Read More All Additions to God’s Worship are Unlawful
Many Evangelicals today see the divisions among Christians, the many denominations, and the sometimes heated rhetoric between brothers, and rightly desire to see unity among Christians. Indeed, many modern Evangelicals even want to see unity between Protestant Christians and Roman Catholics.1 While such a desire may seem well-intentioned on the surface, we need to examine whether… Read More 6 Reasons Protestants and Roman Catholics Can Never Unite
The first commandment teaches who the true God is and that He alone is to be worshiped. The second commandment teaches that God alone prescribes how He wants to be worshiped. To worship God however we would like is the very definition of idolatry. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of… Read More Three Reasons Images of God are Idolatrous
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