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V, 17 Vol. Vl.] Hfrom the U. Stags’ vjathnlictc Micetl*ny, dept. 1. TtlK MISSIONARY. I Idolatrv—We have seen iu our last that |lbe difference between the doctrines and j practices ol Roman Catholicks and Hea Rheus and idolatrous Jev consisted I, in the (belief aod worship of only one God by the Conner and the latter being Polytheists, or, Iworshippers of many Gods. 2. In the PCaUiolicks consid'Ti 4 their images to bej tmere representations of some determined | objects, to the knowledge and contempt* lion and service of which objects the mind Was brought by mean* of the image, vvhil-t idolaters considered some divinity as resi diog in or united to the idol, and therefore served the idol itself. And 3 Jn the Cath oltck confining bi adoration to the only and true God who made the Heavens and the earth, whilst the Idolaters worshipped dev ils and not God. We next proceed to ascertain whvti-the •difference between an image and an idol :fto image is the likeness of something which exists, or which has existed. Thusimage of men are likenesses of those men. An image of a Chetub is a likeness of a Cher 11b or o ( what was shown a a model of the image, and like to which it was to tie made. Tii is the statue ot Gen. Washington is an image, it i< not an idol. Thus the figure of I the Cherubim a! the mercy seat were ima ge, not idols. What then is an idol? I; is a figure made 10 represent s:ne false deity, and generally speaking in which that Deity is supposed 10 reside It is not the repre seniati m of any thing or person actually existing, or which did actually exist as a D,-iy. Suppose Jupiter to have been a single individual human being, and that an image was made to represent the man, this would no! bo an idol, it could have been nude and erected without any criminality, n >vo tins day make and erect stalnes or image* ot great men, as we. make family busts, or statues, or pictures. But let some person imagine Jupiter to be a God—h< ill)aglofis a lie ; let him suppose some allviii ify to reside IQ that statue, he supposes a falsehood; let him adore the stamp, here is double idolatry, and the s(atue is to him an id I. Thus whal was once an useful image may by change of circumstances be come a dangerous idol. Nc.virers xxi. 8. Anil the Lord said unto Mo t ses, make tin e a tier} serpent, and set it upon a I pop* * Vod it shall Home (o pass, lhat every out I that .s tuft* n, when be h.nketh upon it, shall live. | 9 lint Moses made a serpent of brass, and put I it upon a pole, and it ‘ante to pas that if a ser ■ pent had bitten any man, when he beheld the ser | pent of brass he lived. There can be no question hut thisbruz-m ■ ’range which God commanded Muses to ■ make, was lawfully’ made, and was useful, ■ nod was nol an idol. That it afterwards ■ became an idol we have evidence: speak ling of the goof king Ezechns or Hezektah lin the IV. of Kings Cu'hol’ck version, bo! I Protestant version we read IT. Kings, xviii. 4. Ele removed the high places, ■ and broke the images, (it ought to b idols) ami ■ cut and hvii the gtoves, and broke in piece - the bra ■ ze.i .erpent that doses had made : for unto those ■ days the children of Israel did burn incense to it. The burning of incense to any person or Ith'ng except 10 (he L>r I tn the Temple ■ was specially forbidden nnd a P pain of dea 1 b. K suEvery image then 1* not an idol. An liaol is toe figure made to represent an ima iginarv or false deity. Thus .he Prophet I Hars c. vit. v. 3, calls them •• lies” in v. 1. |“ for ! hey commit falsehood.” Habhackuck 111 13 “ the molten image, and a teacher ■of <ies.” Titus St. Paul 1 Gon. viii. v. 4, Isavs ‘.*.-e know Ihit an id >1 is noihirig m ■ the world, and that there is none other G . 1 one. 5. F->r though there lie that m ■Ca’l-d G ids, &.• ” Having 11 iw seen the ■distinction between an im.g-- and an idol, ■we -ay, there can be no doubt but that even Bjv 1a ft lav of nature, it is a high crime io ■pk ‘, or to keep, or to s-’rve an id 1 HTh're is untiling in !he lew of nafUr- f. B>rav-u ( our m ik'og images. But should an flEmag- become an idol it ought then to t> - >®e-'roy ed IS OtK next inquiry i’ to ascertain whether Sp° l prohibit’d •he m iking of images. O.i fftorult-iey most he inevitable. If God pm jU>ibitml the making of images every slatoa B.V is criminal. But thi* consequence rnus; H 1 stand m our way if we can find such a ■aw. [ The erraon *ays the second command- Mbeot i< j, prohibnion (hereof, and that th’ s||ext ivhicti ii prefixes j< a distinct prehitii HlO.l also. We must take each pan S j pa jfptely, for though they appear to mean a general prohibition, we shall soon she-v *{£!**t they are both only special, and very Htmited. an t perhaps io *ntnp degree only temporary. We shali first take what is ■ tea bed *he second commandment. Exod. xx. 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven ini.. re, or anv likeness of anything that is io heaven above, or that is in the earth be mealli, >r that is in the water under the earth. 6&. 5 rhi'ii shall not bow down thyself to them, ilor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a Jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fatheri . Up in the children unto the third and fourth gene - Wrahous of them that hate me. I 6. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them Hhat love me and keep my commandmeuts. Calhohc Version. ■ Exon xx. 4. t hou h dt n-.t make to thyself a ■graven thing, nor Hie likeness of any thing that is the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, uor TH li MISSIONARY. of those things that are in the waters under the earth. 5. Thou shall not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thyGod.mighty.j-alons,visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me. 6 And shewing mercy uti'o thousands to them that love me and keep my commandments. 1 We shall here remark upon the differ ence of translating. to the SPdbt’estant ver-tun tfie’Wiking of a graven image would appear to be prohibited. Ac cording to thq Oatholick translation, the making of a graven thing ;>uly. WhrtLis ’h* difference? Precisely what we market} before. An image is the likeness of some thing. An idol is an imagination it is not tne likeness of any thing. Taking the Calholick version we shall • hew this law to be consistent with the facts >n record in the sacred volume, and not to be a prohibition of making images. Grav en thing is an idol , (he indefinite word thing eing ii-ed to express that figure which wn* not au image for it had no prototype. This forlnd- the tnikmg of idols. Next is , irbid len the making of likenesses, that is of images of tilings which do exist in the Heavens, on earih, or in the sea. Did the prohibitory clause rest here, we allow that anew law had been made against image making, and therefore that every statuary wouM lie a criminal, a man could not even ■ngrave the likeness of a bird of a fish of an ox of a fr uit without crime, hut the same prohibitory clause continues to sav they shall not be adored Now if the first was abso finely prohibitory, ‘his part prohibiting ad (•ration would never have been given : for whatcoiilJ.be adored unless it had been n ide, and if it was prohibited to make an image, the person who made it was already a criminal. We say then the meaning is plainly this: “ you shall not make an idol, nor shall you make an image to adore it, for you deprive me of ray honour, and c m ver! the image into an idol when yon ndor it, or when you engage yourself in its ser vice!” That is, we say it is the fill expia nation n( v. 3, “‘ Thou shah have no other Gods before me,” which would be done to either of two way-, viz. by setting up for yourself idols, as the Egyptians and ihesur roondimr nations do : or by paying adora tion and service which are due to me only, to images or likenesses of things which ex i*t. This is the explanation of our church which forbids Idolatry and Polytheism, lit) per/ni's images. Now let ns suppose the making of ima ge- to be prtjhihi'ed, we shall iiave Ged contradicting himself, for the following sir<- passages of the Holy Bible. Exon xxv. 1. AND the Lord spake unto Mo ses. faying, 17. And tliou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubi.s and a hah’ shall be the length thereof, and a cubit ami a half the breadth thereof. 18. An I thou shall ‘make twocherubim of gold, yhea;e,i work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19. And make one chernh on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end : even of the n> rcy-seat 5h.,11 ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering t!”- mercy-seat with their wings, and ‘h-ir faces shall look one to another: tow ird the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cher ubim be. Phis was certainly making the likeness of thing- in Heaven, and image making by ‘h- command otGod. who w ar* to!,I prohib ited it as idolatr us N"W we -hill see ima ges of fl overs and fruit and things on earth made by the ame authority 31 And thou “halt make a candlestick o/"pure gold ; of beaten work shalt th*- candlestick he made: hi- shaft, mi I his branches, h - bowls, his knops. and his (]■••. ,-rs sh ill be of the same. 33. Three howls shall he made like unto al mond*. with a lcnop and a flower, in one branch, 34 And in tl,p cand estick shall be four bowls made like onto almonds, Ac. \Ve next find images of fruit upon the High Pr est's dress : Exod xxviii. 33. And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of bine and 0/ purple, and of scarlet round about the hem there of : and bells of gold liet ween them round about. 34. A golden b-ll and a pomegranate, a golden bell ami a pomegianate upon the hem of the robe round about. See what a command was given by the Lord. In Moses in Nom XXI to make an im-ig J of a brazen serpent. Are we then (D say that he forbids and that he commands the same thing to the same people, at the very ame fime? Perhaps our friend the preacher, would be at some loss ‘‘to ac count for the con-i-tency” of the Lord God of Israel filling with his presence a “ church filled with images” of which we shall give a very brief enumeration taken from his own Bib’e I Kings, yet so it is that the word of God, informs us that the house was filled with images and that God vouchsafed to fill it with his presence after the Mission ary and Calvin from vvhoe Institutes he ha j condensed his -erm m would tell u-, God prohibited the m king of images and the filling up of churches therp with. I Kftics, VI. 18. And the cedar of (lie house witlmi was carved with knops and open flowets, lea. 23 And within the oracle he made two clieru- ’ biui (if olive tr**e, each lei, cubits high. 24. And five cubits was the one wing of the 1 cherub and five cubits the other wing of the che-I .. . , into aII ,fcp world, and preach the Coepel to every creature.— J,, u * Christ. Os all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality bre indisputable supports.- Heshivgton. MOtJMT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY, GEORGIA,) MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 11124” rub, from the uttermost part of the oue wing unto the uttermost part of the other.werc ten cubits. 25. And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and size. 26. The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27. And he set the cherubim within the innet house; and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall & the wing of the other cherub touch ed the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 28. And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29. And lie covered all the walls of the house 4ound about with carved figures of cherubim and ‘aim trees arid open flowers, within and without. 32 The two doors also were of olive tree ; and he carved upon them curving- of cherubim and paliu trees and open flowers; and outlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim and upon the palm trees. 35. And he carved thereon cherubim, and palm trees and open flowers; and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work. Chap. vii. 18 And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one net work, to cov er the chapiters that were upon the top with pome granates. 22. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work, tic. 23. And he made a molten sea ten cubits from one brim to the other ; it was round all about,and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cu bits did cotupa.-s it round about. * 25. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking towards the north, and three looking towards the west, and three looking towards the south, and three looking towards the east: and the sea rear set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 26. And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers and lilies, &c. 29. And on the borders that were between the edges were lions, oxen and cherubim, & 0. 36. For on the plates of (lie ledges thereof, and on the borders (hereof, he graved cherubim, lions and palm trees, &c. Now we doubt if any where, ottr squeam ish friend could find a Roman Calholick Church, better furnished with the like msses of things in heaven and in earth, graven and molten and beaten, in all vari* y of workmanship, yet were all those ima ges made by the regulation of God himself, •vho upon the dedication of the church, which was filled with them vouchsafed to fill it with hi presence, and told him who dedicated this house filled with image-. Chap. IX. V. 3. ,! have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever : arid mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. ‘Ve beg leave then to inform the preach er, that although the law of tutfure and the law of revelation did distiuedy prohibit idolatry, they did both permit the making ot images, and God himself did specially command Moses to makp them and to place them in the most holy part of the place of publick worship, and did through the in strumentality of one image confer upon hi people the greatest bcnefils, although he foresaw that in alter ago* 1 hat -ame image of a serpent would become an Idol, and be destroyed by a good king, slii! the possibili ty of a remote and contingent evil wh'ch could be remedied when it should exist, did not prevent his commanding the image to be made. We alo find that in the days of Solomon he filled with his presence a hou-e of worship, filled with images. We now come to consider the preacher’s ‘••xt, upon which he remarks. Deul.lV. 15. Take therefore good liped unto yourselves; for ye saw no inarmer of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke to you iu Iloreb oat of the midst of the Are : 16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a grauui image, the similitude of any figure the lik> ness of male or female, See. “ If this passage of Divine Revelation possesses any authority, and is enforced by any reasoning, we are unable to account for the consistency of those who fill theirchurches with images.” IV-iw we say, that passage does possess • hit full force of God’s authoritative com mand delivered by the mouth of Mose, to ‘he people of Drael, and that the reasoning i- conclusive. But we must have the hi tire passage fairly hefore us to know the extent ot the prohibition and to see the full force of the reasoning. We shall therefore give the succeeding portion of the scrip 1 tore. 17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air. 18. The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likenes- of any fish that is in the j waters beneath the earth : 19. And lest thou lift up thy eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest Die sun and moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven shouhlest be dri- | ven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all the nations under the whole heaven. Now we have the whole sentence before U, and its meaning and reasoning are obvi ously—“You saw no figure of God at H i reb that you may be convinced of his spirt toal nature, and to guard you against ima gluing that he is like those forms of mal?- or females, of beasts or fi-hes, or such lik • as are used amongst nations for Gods, not the sun nor moon. The object was to guard you against idolatry, lest making orh a likeness you might be brought to worship or to serve it. You are therefore com manded not to make any representation ot I G id, for you saw no model.” The reason ! mg 1* good, the command is clear. But the ‘ cumaiattd is special, “ Do not make any fig ! ore to represent God.” Bpyond that, the ! command does not extend, nor would the’ reasoning extend farther. You saw uoi likeness, aod because you saw do likeness, < ! you’ shall touke no representation This i leaves them a! full liberty to make a like i ness of any thing they saw. They might i | make images 01 what they -aw, hot having seen no likeness of God, they could make I !no representation of God. Thus as we | jretna'ked this command is restricted to j ! very narrow limits, and is not a prohibition j of image makti.g It it was a general pro | hihition, Moses vvoulti hitve been a violator, Svlontni in the very act tor which God spe cially approves and reward* him would have be-n a violator. Bi za'eel and Aholt ah, and tvery wise hearted mao, in whom the Lour pul wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to ad that the Lord had commanded, Fxod. xxxvt were transgressors, and the Lord himself was the instigator to the violation of his own precept. But ,f Dbe lawful to tn-tke images, though forbidden to make idols; It it be lawful to make images but not an image of the. Deity, then neither of • hose porous did wrong; Roman Catho licks do not wrong, and God did not com •hand contradictions; every word of the sa cred volume remains in full force, and Ro man Cathnlicks are not Idolaters. Every intelligent Protestant on his first entering a Calholick Church and witnessing Die devotion of the people, must feel shocked, if. ftt nothing else, at their prostrations before images. Has the preacher ever been in a Roman Calfiol ck Church? Did he ever see the people prostrate before art image? To say the very most we can in his favour, the preacher made a very serious mistake. We now come to the conclusion of this tedious, anil we did once hope unnecessary examination. Roman Catholicks do make imtiges of Jestis Chri“t, God the Son, but they only make the similitude “f what was seen, a human body, in which the fulness of the divinity did dwell, neither the reason ing nor the enactment prohibits this. This is an image not an idol. They also mak images of a dive, to signify (he Holy Ghost, who otic e assumed that form, here they had a similitude. John i. 32. And John bare record, saying, 1 saw the spirit descending from Heaven likt a ’ dove, mid it abode upou him. Matt. iii. 16. And Io ! the heavens were open unto him, and he saw the spirit of God descend ing like a dove, and lightine upon him. •Mark i. 10. And he saw the heavens opened, and the spirit like a dove descending upou him. Lukk ii. 22. And the Holy Gho-t descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him. VVe stated tha’ the commandment in Deu teronomy was given only to the Jewish people, and we now add only under (he pe ctiliar circumstances in which they were placed, coming out from an idolatrous na tion, in the idolatry of which they had fre quently joined, to which they were still prone, and going into the mid*t of ob situate idolaters, who had rnoro'ih.in once seduced them to sin. We shall shew seve ral facts which are exceptions to the rea sorting principle found in the precept ‘you saw no similitude.’ Genesis iii. 23. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of F.den Cherubim, and a flaming -word which turned ev ery way to keep the way of the tree of life. Many commentators state, but this i only an opinion, that Adam saw God, if so, he must hare seen a similitude. Gen. xii. 7. And the Lord appeared onto Abram, xvii. and when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Loud appeared to Abraham, xviii. And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat at the tent door in the heat of the day ; 2. and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and 10. three men stood by him, &c. 20. And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grievous. 21. 1 will now go down and see. &o. 22. And the men turned their faces from tlii nee, and went towards Sodom : but Abraham stood yet before the Lord 33. And the Lord went I • way, as soon as he had left communing with Ahraham. xix. And there came two Angels to Sodom at even ; and Lot sat in the gale of Sodom, and seeing thrrn rose up to meet them ; and he bow eel himself with his face towards the ground. xxti. 2. And the lord appeared unto him, (Isaac,) and said go not down into Egypt. 24. And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of thy father 1 Ahraham, &c. xxviii. 12. Ayid he dimmed, and behold a lad der set up on file earth, and the top of it reached Heaven ; and behold the angels of God ascending | arid descending on it. 13 And behold th Lord stood above it and said, i aui the Lord God of Abraham, Ac. We shall omit iruinv others, and select a very few passages t shew that subsequent !y. ms well a previous to thi- special and particular precept God did manifest himself in a similitude. I Kings al 111 Kings xxii. 19. Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on hi* throne, and all the hoit of heaven 1 standing by him on his right hand and on lii* lelt. I 20. And the Lord -aid, who shall per-j made Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ra- j moth Gilead, and one said on this manner, and : another on that manner. 21 Am! there crme forth a spirit, and stood hef'-re the Lord - nd *aid, I will persuade him. Ac. Lajau vi. In D.fc year Dial king Uzziah died 1 ‘ saw also the Lord sitting upon a tic ne, high, j and lifted up. and I is tn in filled 11 . temple. 2. Above it stood tin Seraphim: vm-h one had j six wing-, with twain he covered his face, and ! with twain he covered his feet, and with twain did be fly. 3. And obv tried unto another, and suid, Holy, 1 [Price $3 50 per ann. holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth i full of Lis glory. Ezekiel 1. The heavens were opened, and I saw th. visions of God. 26. And above the firmament that was over then he ad tear the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27. And 1 saw as the colour of amber as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearanceof his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had bright ness round about. 58. As tin- appearance of the bow that isin the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appear ance of the brightness round about This was the appearance of the hk, iie*s. of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it 1 fell upou my face, and I heard the voice o! one that spake. Daniel vii. 9. 1 beheld til’ the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did -it, whose gr scents were white as snow, and the h„ r c f his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flames, and his wheels as burning fire. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before liim : thousands and thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him : the judgerneut was set, and the books were opened. 13. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one likt the son of man came with the clouds of hea ven, and came to rhe ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given to him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that ail people, rial ions and languages should serve hint: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be de stroyed. Amos vii. 7. Thus be shewed me: and behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by plumbliue, and a plumbliue in his hand, Homan C atbolicks do nol believr* that they can, by any likeness, express the na ture or figure ol (he God whom alone they adore They know that from special cir cumstances special laws were given lo the Israelites, the obligation of the law ceased wi(h the circumstances which made if neces sary. The law of Denteronomv quoted in (be (ext was one of thi- description; nei iber the reason nor the circumstences which once required ils enactment now exist. It never had the extent which the preach er would give it. Ids always unlawful to moke or to retain idols. It is not un lawful to have images in churches. An image which had been useful may become injurious, it then ought to be removed; there is nothing ol divinity or *arclity in the image, but there is a degree oi publick decency to be observed, and a degree of private feeling which it is lawful to indulge. What the Roman Calholick church permits and requires for her in.ages does not exrpfd what the statute law of North Carolina permits and requires for the statue of General Washington. This slate is pot (dolalrous. MISSIONARY. CHICKASAW MISSION. The various accounts which have been received from this atijjion indicate its pros perous condition. The prudence and rare of ilip Superintendent and assistants have effected much more than could have, been expected iu so short a period. And when we consider how contracted have been the means of supporting this mission, and how few pprsons the Synodical Society have been enabled to procure as member* of the mission family, it is a matter of surprise to the friends of Zion, that so much success has followed (heir labours. The incieasing demands of (be Indians had induced the Society to form another locai school in the neighbourhood; for which preparations have been made, and which must now be ready to go into opera tion. , The mission has, however, had its pecul taliar diffh iilfie* as well as other establish ments of a similar nature. These difficul ties have chiefly arisen from two causes— the went of an adequate number of assis tants at the station, and the deficiency of pecuniary mean*—without which none of the benevolent operations of the day can proceed The former of these, is hoped, will now he removed The Correspond ing Secretary (Rev. Dr. Henry) has re ceived some communications which lead lo a Lope that suitable pet sons may he engag ed to fill the vacancies. If this hope be reilised they will he immediately employ ed. The second difficulty is ol a more serious character. During ‘he first years of this inlan’ establishment (he support of the mis sion. which had been derived from the liberality of the benevolent, was sufficient, to supply the pressing wants of the station. Last year ihe additional aid of Governirmt encouraged the expectations of the Society. And, on a suggestion being made to the Sym and, it was resolved to comply with the earnest request of the Indians, and to es tablish one or two local‘chool*. This de termination was predicated on Ihe slate of Ihe treasury, as it then wn\ and -u the ex pectation that the liberality of the relig ion* publick would not, ;.t least, he less than in formed years. Unhappily ‘bis expecta tion ha* faflpd. It 1* feared ‘hat the <lcoa s'inns have hr en from a third lo a half le Than in any previous year, while the necci sary expendi.ure* have been great. Yet the society is pledged. They amst redeem that pledge. To ‘his stair mem it ix a mel ancholy addition to say, that iu ccusequ’ nee of the arrangements made, aud in coiue-