In 1547, the young King Edward VI issued a series of religious injunctions that were intended to reform the Churches in England. Religious imagery was a tangible and permanent aspect of the landscape, both inside and outside churches. For many people, it was one of the first aspects of the Church to be reformed, and the degree to which it was reformed often was indicative of an individual's or community's theological leanings. Behind this destruction lay a longstanding debate over the nature, purpose, and appropriate uses of images, particularly in relation to worship and devotion. The Reformation lines between icon and idol, however, are much more difficult to identify than any single debate, event, or royal injunction would suggest. From Icons to Idols tracks the image debate from the perspectives of both Protestants and Catholics across the period of religious change in England from 1525 to 1625. For scholars of the English Reformation, iconoclasm has played a major role in the historiographical disputes over the nature, length, and efficacy of Protestant reform. The fresh perspective of David J. Davis incorporates geography historical use and abuse, popular appeal, size, dimensions and what was represented.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Abbreviations General Introduction Part 1: The Early Reformation Document 1 - John Ryckes, The Image of Love (London, 1525) Document 2 - William Tyndale, An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue (London, 1532) Document 3 - Martin Bucer, A Treatise Declaring and Showing that Images Are Not to be Suffered in Churches (London, 1535) Document 4 - Woodcut title-page, The Great Bible (London, 1539) Document 5 - John Calvin, The Sermons of M. John Calvin upon the Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomy (London, 1583) Document 6 - Roger Edgeworth, Sermons, Very Fruitful, Godly, and Learned (London, 1557) Document 7 - John Hooper, A Declaration of the Holy Ten Commandments (London, 1549) Part 2: The Elizabethan Reformation Document 8 - Woodcut of Ezekiel's Vision of Heaven, Geneva Bible (Geneva, 1560) Document 9 - Woodcut of Isaiah's Vision of Heaven, Bishops Bible (London, 1568) Document 10 - Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, The Allegory of Iconoclasm (London, 1566:1568) Document 11 - Heinrich Bullinger, Fifty Godly Sermons (London, 1577) Document 12 - John Jewel, Homily Against the Peril of Idolatry and Superfluous Decking of Churches (London, 1571) Document 13 - John Martiall, A Treatise of the Cross (Antwerp, 1564) Document 14 - Nicholas Sander, A Treatise of the Images of Christ (Louvain, 1567) Document 15 - Peter Vermigli, The Common Places of the Most Famous and Renowned Divine Doctor Peter Martyr (London, 1583) Document 16 - Gregory Martin, A Discovery of the Manifold Corruptions of the Holy Scripture by the Heretics of Our Days (Rheims, 1582) Part 3: The Post-Reformation Document 17 - William Perkins, Two Documents Document 18 - William Bishop, A Reformation of a Catholic Deformed (English Secret Press, 1604) Document 19 - Robert Bellarmine, An Ample Declaration of the Christian Doctrine (English Secret Press, 1604) Document 20 - John Heigham, The Touchstone of the Reformed Gospel (St. Omer's Press, 1652) Document 21 - Richard Montagu, A Gag for the New Gospel?: No, a New Gag for an Old Goose (London, 1624) Document 22 - Anonymous, Controversii et compendium Becari (1625) Bibliography General Index