3. They positively deny that they had any images or made any use of them, and defend themselves against the charge of the Pagans against them for professing an imageless Religion. Clemen. Alexand. Strom, Lib. 6. plainly and openly confesseth and testifieth, that Christians had no Images in the world. And in his Adhortat. ad Gent. he positively asserts that the arts of Painting and Carving as to any religious use were forbidden to Christians, and that in the worship of God they had no sensible image made of any sensible matter, because they worshipped God with understanding. What was the judgement of Tertullian, is known from his book de Idololatria, from whence if we should transcribe what is argumentative against image worship, very little would be remaining. But of all the Ancients Origen doth most clearly manifest what was the doctrine and practice of the Church of God in his days; as in other places, so in his seventh book against Celsus he directly handles this matter: Celsus charged the Christians, that they made use of no images in the worship of God, telling them that therein they were like the Persians, Scythians, Numidians and Seres, all which impious nations hated all images, as the Turks do at this day. To which discourse of his, Origen returning answer, grants that the Christians had no images in their sacred worship, no more then had the Barbarous nations mentioned by Celsus; but withal adds the difference that was between those and these; and tells you, that their abstinence from Image worship was on various accounts. And after he hath showed ⟨p. 494⟩wherefore those Nations received them not, he adds that Christians and Jews abstained from all sacred use of Images because of Gods command. Thou shalt fear (as he reads the text) the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve; and thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, and adds, that they were so far from praying to the images as the Pagans did, that saith he, [Greek or Hebrew], a thing expressly commanded in the Nicene Conventicle, we do not give any honour at all to Images, least we should give countenance to the error of ignorant people, that there were somewhat of Divinity in them;
3. They positively deny that they had any images or made any use of them, and defend themselves against the charge of the Pagans against them for professing an imageless Religion. Clemen. Alexand. Strom, Lib. 6. plainly and openly confesseth and testifieth, that Christians had no Images in the world. And in his Adhortat. ad Gent. he positively asserts that the arts of Painting and Carving as to any religious use were forbidden to Christians, and that in the worship of God they had no sensible image made of any sensible matter, because they worshipped God with understanding. What was the judgement of Tertullian, is known from his book de Idololatria, from whence if we should transcribe what is argumentative against image worship, very little would be remaining. But of all the Antients Origen doth most clearly manifest what was the doctrine and practice of the Church of God in his dayes; as in other places, so in his seventh book against Celsus he directly handles this matter: Celsus charged the Christians, that they made use of no images in the worship of God, telling them that therein they were like the Persians, Scythians, Numidans and Seres, all which impious nations hated all images, as the Turks do at this day. To which discourse of his, Origen returning answer, grants that the Christians had no images in their sacred worship, no more then had the Barbarous nations mentioned by Celsus; but withall adds the difference that was between those and these; and tells you, that their abstinence from Image worship was on various accounts. And after he hath shewed ⟨p. 494⟩wherefore those Nations received them not, he adds that Christians and Jews abstained from all sacred use of Images because of Gods command. Thou shalt fear (as he reads the text) the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve; and thou shalt not make to thy self any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, and adds, that they were so far from praying to the images as the Pagans did, that saith he, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, a thing expresly commanded in the Nicene Conventicle, we do not give any honour at all to Images, least we should give countenance to the error of ignorant people, that there were somewhat of Divinity in them;
