Theses concerning the Decalogue.

1. The first table enjoins the duties which we owe to God; the second, the duties which we owe to our neighbor; yet in such a way that the former are referred immediately, the latter mediately, to God.

2. The first commandment, seeing that it commands us to have no other God beside the true God the God revealed to us in the church, comprehends chiefly the internal worship of God, which has its seat in the mind, will and heart.

3. The principal parts of this worship are the true knowledge of God, faith, hope, the love of God, the fear of God, humility and patience.

4. God may be known by rational creatures in as far as he has been pleased to reveal himself to every one.

5. There is a knowledge of God which is simply and absolutely perfect, which is the knowledge that God has of himself. The eternal Father, Son and Holy Ghost, know themselves and each other, and understand wholly and perfectly their infinite essence, as well as the mode of existence peculiar to each person: for no one but a being of an infinite understanding can have a perfect knowledge of that which is infinite. There is also a knowledge of God which belongs to creatures, according to which angels and men have a knowledge of the whole and perfect nature and majesty of God, as being most simple; but they do not know it wholly, but merely in as far as God has revealed it unto them.

6. The knowledge of God which creatures possess, if it be compared with that which God has of himself, may be said to be imperfect. But if we consider the degrees of this knowledge, we may view it as perfect or imperfect, yet not absolutely, but comparatively: that is, in respect to the higher and lower degrees of this knowledge. That knowledge of God is perfect which the blessed angels and saints have in the heavenly world, by which they have a most clear perception of God, or at least as much as is necessary for the conformity of rational creatures with God. That knowledge of God is imperfect which men possess in this life.

7. The knowledge of God which is imperfect, or which we have in this life, is of two kinds: Christian or theological, and philosophical. The former is obtained from the writings of the Prophets and Apostles; the latter is known from the principles and general truths known by men naturally, and from a contemplation of the works of God.

8. The knowledge of God which is theological or Christian, consists of two kinds: the one spiritual or true, living, effectual and saving; the other is according to the letter. The former is that knowledge of God and of his will which the Holy Ghost kindles in our minds, according to and by the word, producing in the will and heart an inclination and desire more and more to know and do those things which God commands to be done. That knowledge of God which is according to the letter, is that which has been in the mind of man either from the creation, or has been kindled subsequently in the mind by the Holy Ghost, through the word, which is, however, accompanied with no desire of conformity with the requirements of the divine law.

9. The knowledge of God, which is spiritual and literal, is in one respect immediate, being produced by the influence of the Holy Ghost, without ordinary means; in another respect it is mediate, being produced by the Holy Ghost, through the doctrine which has been divinely revealed, as heard, read, or meditated upon.

10. The way by which we ordinarily obtain a knowledge of God is that which God himself has prescribed unto us, which is by study and meditation upon his word. We should, therefore, in this way strive to obtain a knowledge of God, and not require or look for any extraordinary and immediate revelation, unless God of his own accord offer it unto us, and confirm it with certain and satisfactory evidences.

11. But although God has sufficiently declared unto us, in his word, as much as he would have us know concerning himself, yet the demonstrations which nature furnishes respecting God are not superfluous, seeing that they reprove the wickedness of ungodly men, whilst they establish the faithful in piety and godliness, and are, therefore, commended by God himself in various places in the Scriptures, and are to be considered by us.

12. Yet we must hold, respecting these demonstrations which nature furnishes of God, that they are indeed true and in harmony with his word; but that they are, nevertheless, not sufficient to a true knowledge of God.

13. Furthermore, although natural demonstrations teach nothing concerning God that is false, yet men, without the knowledge of God’ s word, obtain nothing from them except false notions and conceptions of God; both because these demonstrations do not contain as much as is delivered in his word, and also because even those things which may be understood, naturally, men nevertheless on account of innate corruption and blindness, receive and interpret falsely, and so corrupt it in various ways.

14. Ignorance of those things which God will have known by us concerning himself, revealed to the church in his word and works both of” creation and redemption, is therefore here condemned in the first commandment of the Decalogue. So, likewise, there is here a condemnation, of the errors of those who imagine that there is no God, as the Epicureans, or that there are many gods, as do the heathen, the Manicheans and those who offer prayers to the angels, the spirits of the departed or other creatures. The same thing may be said of the vain confidence of superstitious men, who put their trust in creatures and in things different from God, who has revealed himself in the church, as do the Jews, Mahometans, Sabellians, Samosatenians, Arians, and such like, who do not acknowledge God to be the eternal Father, with the Son and Holy Ghost co-eternal. Having now laid down certain general rules necessary for a proper understanding of the Decalogue, we shall now proceed to give the true sense of each commandment in particular.