Thus far Calvin has spoken on the topics of God and his relation to man, man and his relation to God, creation, and scripture. He now takes a short detour and talks about a subject that he briefly spoke about
earlier which is idolatry.
"Hence we may infer, that the human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols. "
-John Calvin
Calvin says that mans mind is similar to that of a manufactures building that creates idols. Setting aside three chapters to the topic of idolatry Calvin begins to unload with both barrels on what many would call a sensitive subject. In prior chapters we witness the utter folly of man as he is unable to come to a true knowledge of God due to the depravity of his mind. As a result, their decent in further acts of unrighteousness and ungodleness is seen and they spirals down further as is depicted by paul in romans where he writes,
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkenedAt the beginning of Exodus 20 God declares that hes a jealous God and that all worship and honor is his alone since he alone is worthy. The prophet Isaiah tells us also that, God will share His glory with no one (42:8), summarizing these two statements nicely Calvin writes,
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things."
"But God, in vindicating his own right, first proclaims that he is a jealous God, and will be a stern avenger if he is confounded with any false god; and thereafter defines what due worship is, in order that the human race may be kept in obedience. Both of these he embraces in his Law when he first binds the faithful in allegiance to him as their only Lawgiver, and then prescribes a rule for worshipping him in accordance with his will."
"Corporeal images are unworthy of the majesty of God, and that, because they diminish reverential fear and encourage error," Calvin states, and goes on to utter how bizarre this act is as it reduces the immense and incomprehensible Deity to the size of a few feet. This act being natural to mans fallen nature defiles Gods majesty by an absurd and indecorous fiction which is explained by Calvin, "...when he who is incorporeal is assimilated to corporeal matter; he who is invisible to a visible image; he who is a spirit to an inanimate object; and he who fills all space to a bit of paltry wood, or stone, or gold. "
Man flies headling in the pursuit of idols with the utmost of speed similar to water bursting forth voilently from and abundent stream. The multitude of stars in the skies was equlivant to the number of Gods man devises and imagined to be as well as every filthy animal that walks the earth. "Visible shapes made for the purpose of representing him are false and wicked fictions;" Calvin declares," and all, therefore, who have recourse to them for knowledge are miserably deceived."
The longing for a visible form of God has been in the sinful heart of man for ages and in their futile attempts to ascend to god by their own strength they bring down and fashion him with their hands using gold,silver,wood,stone or other dead and corruptible matter. Calvin asserts, "The human mind, stuffed as it is with presumptuous rashness, dares to imagine a god suited to its own capacity; as it labors under dullness, nay, is sunk in the grossest ignorance, it substitutes vanity and an empty phantom in the place of God. To these evils another is added. The god whom man has thus conceived inwardly he attempts to embody outwardly. The mind, in this way, conceives the idol, and the hand gives it birth. That idolatry has its origin in the idea which men have, that God is not present with them unless his presence is carnally exhibited.." With ears and eyes men create idols, a visible representation of the invisible God beseeching aid, prostrating themselves as suppliants in an act of prayer before the most reprehensible images clad in the dress of men and beast shamefully displayed while others Calvin recounts as having, "...confound the sexes, and form a compound out of different bodies, giving the name of deities to objects, which, if they were met alive, would be deemed monsters."
Now, here's where things get a bit sticky....In contemporary art visible representation of God or Jesus Christ are regularly seen. Such images are "purported" to be a representation of Jesus or God so the question is if some act of sacrilege was committed on a picture would one consider it offensive. If so, would that person be treating that image as an object of worship,reverence, honor, while holding pious feelings for it? The text of the Second Commandment forbids not only the worshiping of God by images, but the making of images purporting to be of God and since Jesus is God that kinda complicated the whole children's book issue. To be sure, this is a debate that is on going and will continue till Christ returns again.
Calvin weighs in on this subject quite nicely,
"I am not, however, so superstitious as to think that all visible representations of every kind are unlawful. But as sculpture and painting are gifts of God, what I insist for is, that both shall be used purely and lawfully,--that gifts which the Lord has bestowed upon us, for his glory and our good, shall not be preposterously abused, nay, shall not be perverted to our destruction. We think it unlawful to give a visible shape to God, because God himself has forbidden it, and because it cannot be done without, in some degree, tarnishing his glory. And lest any should think that we are singular in this opinion, those acquainted with the productions of sound divines will find that they have always disapproved of it. If it be unlawful to make any corporeal representation of God, still more unlawful must it be to worship such a representation instead of God, or to worship God in it. The only things, therefore, which ought to be painted or sculptured, are things which can be presented to the eye; the majesty of God, which is far beyond the reach of any eye, must not be dishonored by unbecoming representations. Visible representations are of two classes--viz. historical, which give a representation of events, and pictorial, which merely exhibit bodily shapes and figures."
" Let it suffice to remember, that whatever offices of piety are bestowed anywhere else than on God alone, are of the nature of sacrilege."John Calvin
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