But in a larger use of the word image is contained also any representation of one thing by another.So an earthly sovereign may be called the image of God,and an inferior magistrate the image of an earthly sovereign.And many times in the idolatry of the Gentiles there was little regard to the similitude of their material idol to the idol in their fancy,and yet it was called the image of it.For a stone unhewn has been set up for Neptune,and diverse other shapes far different from the shapes they conceived of their gods.And at this day we see many images of the Virgin Mary,and other saints,unlike one another,and without correspondence to any one man's fancy;and yet serve well enough for the purpose they were erected for,which was no more but by the names only to represent the persons mentioned in the history;to which every man applieth a mental image of his own making,or none at all.And thus an image,in the largest sense,is either the resemblance or the representation of some thing visible;or both together,as it happeneth for the most part.
But the name of idol is extended yet further in Scripture,to signify also the sun,or a star,or any other creature,visible or invisible,when they are worshipped for gods.
Having shown what is worship,and what an image,I will now put them together,and examine what that idolatry is which is forbidden in the second Commandment,and other places of the Scripture.
To worship an image is voluntarily to do those external acts which are signs of honouring either the matter of the image (which is wood,stone,metal,or some other visible creature),or the phantasm of the brain for the resemblance or representation whereof the matter was formed and figured,or both together as one animate body composed of the matter and the phantasm,as of a body and soul.
To be uncovered,before a man of power and authority,or before the throne of a prince,or in such other places as he ordaineth to that purpose in his absence,is to worship that man or prince with civil worship;as being a sign,not of honouring the stool or place,but the person,and is not idolatry.But if he that doth it should suppose the soul of the prince to be in the stool,or should present a petition to the stool,it were divine worship,and idolatry.
To pray to a king for such things as he is able to do for us,though we prostrate ourselves before him,is but civil worship,because we acknowledge no other power in him but human:but voluntarily to pray unto him for fair weather,or for anything which God only can do for us,is divine worship,and idolatry.On the other side,if a king compel a man to it by the terror of death,or other great corporal punishment,it is not idolatry;for the worship which the sovereign commandeth to be done unto himself by the terror of his laws is not a sign that he that obeyeth him does inwardly honour him as a god,but that he is desirous to save himself from death,or from a miserable life:and that which is not a sign of internal honour is no worship,and therefore no idolatry.Neither can it be said that he that does it scandalizeth or layeth any stumbling block before his brother:because how wise or learned soever he be that worshippeth in that manner,another man cannot from thence argue that he approveth it,but that he doth it for fear;and that it is not his act,but the act of his sovereign.
To worship God in some peculiar place,or turning a man's face towards an image or determinate place,is not to worship or honour the place or image,but to acknowledge it holy;that is to say,to acknowledge the image or the place to be set apart from common use,for that is the meaning of the word holy;which implies no new quality in the place or image,but only a new relation by appropriation to God,and therefore is not idolatry;no more than it was idolatry to worship God before the brazen serpent;or for the Jews,when they were out of their own country,to turn their faces,when they prayed,toward the temple of Jerusalem;or for Moses to put off his shoes when he was before the flaming bush,the ground appertaining to Mount Sinai,which place God had chosen to appear in,and to give His laws to the people of Israel,and was therefore holy ground,not by inherent sanctity,but by separation to God's use;or for Christians to worship in the churches which are once solemnly dedicated to God for that purpose by the authority of the king or other true representant of the Church.But to worship God as inanimating or inhabiting such image or place;that is to say,an infinite substance in a finite place,is idolatry:for such finite gods are but idols of the brain,nothing real,and are commonly called in the Scripture by the names of vanity,and lies,and nothing.Also to worship God,not as inanimating,or present in the place or image,but to the end to be put in mind of Him,or of some works of His,in case the place or image be dedicated or set up by private authority,and not by the authority of them that are our sovereign pastors,is idolatry.For the Commandment is,"Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image."God commanded Moses to set up the brazen serpent;he did not make it to himself;it was not therefore against the Commandment.But the making of the golden calf by Aaron and the people,as being done without authority from God,was idolatry;not only because they held it for God,but also because they made it for a religious use,without warrant either from God their Sovereign,or from Moses that was His lieutenant.