Relative cult is exactly what the precept forbids—no sane painter treats the panel as absolute God
Everyday sense: anyone who paints God and bows to the panel means relative honor through it—not absolute godhood of paint.
The precept targets precisely that relative move; absolute tablet-worship is too absurd to need its own ban.
Latin
XXVI. Quam vanum sit autem istud effugium, inde manifestum est, quod sensus communis dictat, eum qui pingit, vel fingit imaginem aliquam Dei qui in coelis est, aut aliarum quae sunt in eis potestatum, eique imagini aliquem cultum & honorem religiose defert, id eo animo facere, ut per illam Deum honoret, & alia ad quorum similitudinem facta est; ac proinde honorem qui in isto casu imagini defertur, ad alium referri, & sic non absolutum, sed relativum esse. At hoc ipsum est praecise quod Deus hoc praecepto vetat; non vero solum ne quis imaginem Dei faciat, eique cultum exhibeat, non propter Deum quem illa exprimi existimat, sed tantum propter ipsam, quam habeat pro summo Deo, qui illa exprimitur: quod ita absurdum est & contradictorium, ut cadere non possit in eum, qui saltem adhuc aliquo modo ratione utitur. Quo modo enim ille ipse, qui Dei imaginem in tabula pingi curat, in animum suum inducere poterit, tabellam illam esse ipsum Deum, quem in ea voluit esse repraesentatum, eique tabellae deberi summum religionis cultum, non propter numen cujus imago est, sed propter ipsam quam scit meris coloribus & lineis constare? Quae insomnia tam rara est atque inusitata, ut non opus fuerit illam singulari interdicto in lege cohiberi.
About this text
Louis Le Blanc de Beaulieu - Sedan Theological Theses, newly rendered from the 1675 London Latin. Covers De Theologia through Angelorum & Hominum Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII and Pars Secunda (Reformata) I-XL. Not the collected folio.
English follows locked Pitt Latin through Imaginum CLOSED + Sanctorum Cultu Romana CLOSED + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL. 1675 PDF ~384-390 (book ~370-376); Vision OCR + pdftotext + tess. No modern English. This slice densifies Sanctorum Pars Secunda I-XL. Next: Pars Secunda XLI–fin (~CI). Claim stays claimed (book densify not done).
Catalogue & scope
ESTC R17887; Wing L802. IA bub_gb_eOkHAW4G0-wC (+ EEBO 1675 for gap leaves). Densify through Sanctorum Cultu Romana I-LXXVII + Pars Secunda Reformata I-XL (Pars Secunda not closed; not whole folio).
Witnesses
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Theologia I-XLIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive PDF of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
- Checked print pdftotext of De Theologia pages (Latin)
- Checked print Internet Archive DjVu OCR of the 1675 Pitt folio (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Fide I-XXII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Authoritate Scripturae Pars I I-XLVII + Pars II I-XXXV + Pars III I-VIII (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
- Copy-text Locked Latin, De Scripturae plenitudine densify (Pitt 1675) (Latin)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.