And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
All Commentaries on Revelation 19:10 Go To Revelation 19
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
And I fell before his feet, to adore him. They of the pretended reformation think they have here a clear proof that no veneration is due to Angels and saints, and that papists in so doing are idolaters. In answer to this: First, they make St. John the apostle guilty of that idolatry which they lay to our charge. For they must suppose and grant that St. John, as to the dispositions of his mind and will, was just ready, or rather falling down, did pay an idolatrous worship to the Angel; and what Christian can believe this of so great an apostle, that after he had been favoured with all those extraordinary visions, he should either be so very ignorant as not to know what was idolatry, or so impious as to become guilty of it, and give divine honour to any creature? And what makes St. John altogether inexcusable, (had it been idolatry) we find him doing the very same a second time, in the last chapter of the Apocalypse; (ver. 7 and 8) that is, falling down at the Angel's feet to adore. Secondly, as it would be extravagantly unreasonable to suspect this apostle, this evangelist, this prophet of the new law, to be guilty of what every Christian, every Jew knows to be idolatry; to wit, to give the divine honour due to God alone to any creature whatsoever; so in reason we cannot but conclude that he was not for giving divine honour to any Angel, knowing them all to be God's creatures. If therefore he was about to pay divine honour, we must either say that he took him who then appeared to him to be our Saviour Christ, God and man, as some expound it; or, which seems more probable, he was only for offering an inferior honour and veneration to the Angel, such as he knew was lawful: and therefore he was for doing it afterwards a second time; though the Angel would not receive it from St. John, to make us the more convinced of the great dignity of this apostle and prophet, who should be raised in heaven to a degree of glory, not inferior to that of the Angels: and thus the Angel tells him, that he is his fellow creature, who with him must adore Almighty God, that by these prophecies they both bear testimony concerning Jesus Christ and his Church, the Angel by revealing them, and St. John by publishing them, which seems to be the sense of the following words, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy: or they may be expounded thus, for the testimony that we give concerning Christ and his Church, we both of us receive from the divine spirit of God, who reveals such truths to his prophets. Thirdly, the Protestants are for proving us idolaters from what St. John was about to do, or rather from what he did, expressed in these words, and I fell before his feet to adore him; or, as in the Protestant translation, and I fell at his feet to worship him. Now it is certain and evident that these words neither in the Latin nor in the Greek, express that divine worship and honour which is due, and which is given to God alone, whether we consult the Hebrew or the Septuagint of the Old Testament, the very same words are many times used to signify no more than an inferior honour given to creatures. This is a thing well known, and agreed upon by every Protestant as well as Catholic, who has read the Scriptures, or who knows any thing of Latin, Greek, or Hebrew. Fourthly, it seems very strange, very unaccountable, that our adversaries will not understand the difference betwixt divine honour due to God alone, and an inferior honour, respect, or veneration given to Angels or saints, to their relics or images, which inferior honour may, in some sense, be called a religious honour, inasmuch as it is paid to persons or things that may be called sacred or holy. Is not honour or veneration certainly different, as the objects or things we pay honour to, and the intention of him that pays this honour, are different, though perhaps the exterior marks of bowing, of kneeling, of prostrating, of kissing, may be the same? We honour the king, and we also honour his courtiers, his officers, and such as are invested with dignities and authority from him: but shall any one think that we pay the same honour to all these persons or things belonging to them? though the eastern people kneel or prostrate themselves before kings or persons in dignities, they neither give nor design to give them divine honour. Why will our adversaries pretend to make us idolaters against our wills, minds, and intentions, when we have always protested that we give divine honour and supreme worship to God alone? that we honour, worship, serve and adore him only as the author of all things? that we never design to pay any thing but an inferior honour to the highest Angels or saints, or to their relics and images. We know, believe, and profess that there is an infinite distance betwixt God the creator, and the highest and most perfect of all created beings; so that the honour we give them is infinitely inferior, as they themselves are, to the honour that with our hearts and minds we pay to God: and must it be said that we give divine honour to creatures, and so become idolaters, when we never design it, when we design quite the contrary? This made Mr. Thorndike, in his book of just weights and measures, tell his Protestant brethren, that the Church of Rome cannot be charged with idolatry for their reverencing images, nor on any other account; and so exhorts them not to pretend to lead the people by the nose, to make them believe suppositions which they cannot prove. See Chap. ii. and xix. (Witham)
Fell before St. Athanasius and St. Augustine think St. John took the Angel to be Jesus Christ, and as such was desirous of paying him the supreme homage, or latreia. (Calmet)
St. John, in token of gratitude, offers to pay to the Angel such homage as is due to a being of his rank, which the Angel however refuses to accept, giving for reason, that his is a fellow-servant of the apostle, and of the apostle's brethren, who bear testimony to Jesus Christ. (Pastorini)
This speech evidently agrees with the character of John the Baptist, but not with that of a real Angel.
Testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The testimony which you give to Christ, by suffering for his holy name and the profession of his doctrine, is of equal value with the spirit of prophecy which I possess (Pastorini; Calmet)
