But, strange as this vision appeared to the sacred prophet, the Papal history is found to realize all the wonders of it: And, backward as we may be to interpret this vision of a church, professedly Christian, that church herself is so little scandalized at the imputation of these crimes, that she is ready to avow them all; the two first, directly and openly; and the last, when set in a certain light, and explained in her own manner. In short, she prides herself in the extent of her sway[216], and the fire of her zeal[217], and only quibbles with us about the meaning of the term, idolatry.
To cut the matter short, then, and to keep clear of those endless debates concerning the worship of Images, of the Cross, and of the Host in the celebration of the Mass; debates, which a dextrous sophist may find means to carry on with a shew of argument, and with some degree of plausibility; To set aside, I say, all these topics, let it be observed, at once, That idolatry, in the scriptural sense of the word, is of two sorts, and consists either, 1. in giving the honour due to the one true God, as maker and governor of the world, to any other supposed, though subordinate god; Or, 2, in giving the honour due to Christ, as the sole mediator between God and Man, to any other supposed, though subordinate, mediator. The former, is the idolatry forbidden by the Jewish law, and by the law of Nature: The latter, is Christian idolatry, properly so called, and is the abomination, prohibited and condemned, in so severe terms, by the law of the Gospel.
Now, whether the former species of idolatry be chargeable on the church of Rome or not; and whether the crime of that species, may not be incurred by honouring the true object of worship, through the medium of some sensible image: Whatever, I say, be determined on these two points (which, for the present, shall be set aside) the other species of idolatry is, without all doubt, chargeable on any Christian church that shall adopt or acknowledge, in its religious addresses, another mediator, besides Christ Jesus.
But the church of Rome (I do not say, in the private writings of her divines, but) in the solemn forms of her ritual, publicly professes, and, by her canons and councils, authoritatively enjoyns, the worship of saints and angels, under the idea of mediators and intercessors: not indeed in exclusion of Christ, as one, or, if you will, as chief mediator, but in manifest defiance of his claim to be, the sole mediator. This charge is truly and justly brought against that Church, as it now stands, and hath stood, for many ages; and cannot, by any subterfuge whatsoever, be evaded[218]. And therefore, to the other characters of Pride and Intolerance, which she takes to herself with much complacency, she must, now, be content (whether she will or no) to have that of DÆMON-WORSHIP, or ANTICHRISTIAN IDOLATRY, fastened upon her.
Nor let the followers of that communion think to elude this charge, by saying, That they only request the saints, as we commonly do any good man, to pray for them[219]. False and disingenuous! False; because their breviaries and litanies shew, that they supplicate the saints to befriend them by their own inherent power, or to intercede for them to the throne of God by virtue of their own personal merits[220], in blasphemous derogation to the all-atoning and incommunicable intercession of Jesus. Disingenuous, too; because they know very well, that the question is concerning unseen and heavenly mediators only, not men like ourselves, such as we live and converse with on earth; whom we only admonish of their duty, and to whom we only do ours, when we call upon them to exert an act of piety and common charity in praying for their fellow-christians. Our meaning is but that which the Apostle well expresses, when he would have us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works[221]; and not at all to supplicate our Christian brethren as powerful intercessors, in whose meritorious virtues we confide, and to whom, as possessing a proper interest in the Almighty, by the worth of their own persons, we commit our dearest concerns, The forgiveness of our sins, and the salvation of our souls.
“But this, it will be said, is a very defective, and even unfair, account of the matter. We do more than admonish our brethren of their duty, when we sollicit their prayers for us. We invite them directly, and formally, to intercede for us to the throne of Grace. We are allowed, nay encouraged, to lay a stress on their intercession; and, what is more, we are given to understand that such intercession, especially if it be made by good men, will have weight and influence in Heaven. What else is the meaning of the Apostle, when he assures us, That the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James v. 16.? And, if the prayer of a righteous man, much more the prayer of glorified saints and angels.”
I have put the argument, I think, in all its force, and (because the advocates of the papal cause affect to think it unanswerable) shall examine it, with care.
“We apply to good Christians, or to those we esteem such, to intercede for us by their prayers to Heaven.” We do so; and are encouraged in this application, by the example, and by the directions of the Apostles. For I shall not take advantage of what some have conceived to be the meaning of St. James, in the place alledged, where he attributes so much to the prayer of, a righteous man, That the prayer, there spoken of, is the prayer of faith, or a spiritual gift miraculously conferred on the first teachers of the Gospel, and confined to their ministry: I will not, I say, take advantage of this gloss; because, whatever foundation it may seem to have in the context of that epistle, I allow it to be clear from other places of the New Testament[222], That the duty of Christians is to pray, that is, to intercede, for each other.
But then I desire it may be observed,
1. What difference there is between desiring good men to pray for us, in the Gospel sense of that duty; and desiring Saints and Angels to pray for us, in the sense of the papal rituals. We request those prayers, only as they shall be offered up in the name, and through the merits, of the great, and properly speaking, sole intercessor; and we look for no effect from them, but on that condition. The Church of Rome addresses herself to Saints and Angels, as intercessors, by, what we may call, their own right, by virtue of their own inherent sanctity: Or, rather, she applies to them directly, as to Saviours, for their proper and immediate help, and expects it from the supposed privilege of their rank, or merits, independently of their prayers, or, at least, of the manner in which those prayers shall be presented through the name of Jesus. The formal words of their Litanies shew, that such is their meaning.