Are images of Christ a violation of the Second Commandment?
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Images of our Saviour abound: in ancient or expensive icons, in modern films, in the home and at the office. They are said to remind us of His presence, His suffering and His character, they teach the unlearned, and provided they are not worshipped with the worship reserved for God, they are harmless. So it is claimed by some christians from each tradition. But these casual claims deserve closer examination, particularly because they are deeply out of touch primarily with the teaching of the Bible, and secondly also with our historical traditions.
What does the second commandment require?
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Ex:20:4-6) This solemn,
and often violated command still stands today. God, in his burning
love, is jealously interested in the purity of the worship of His
people. Superficially, some will claim, that if an image is made but
not worshipped, then it does not break the first part of this command.
But any image that purports to represent God, the true God, is a form
of idol, whether it is worshipped by all or not. It is still claiming
to represent God, to teach us about His nature and His character, to
inspire our admiration. So the commandment begins with a strict
prohibition not to make any likeness or image, and continues by
clarifying that this prohibition applies directly and specifically to
images intended to represent the One, Who is alone worthy to require
our soul’s hearty adoration. Any image or picture of God is a serious
violation of this command.
The nature of idolatry
It is not new to claim that the image itself is not the object of
worship, but merely a teaching aid or a stimulus to contemplate the
glory of the spiritual reality. It is an argument which the idolatrous
Jews of old raised. But is an argument strongly contested by their own
holy prophets. Isaiah says by the Spirit, ‘To whom then will ye liken
me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.’ How can we make any image
that represents God, without insulting and demeaning Him? Without
making him immeasurably smaller and meaner than he really is? How can
even the greatest artist ever begin to hope to convey a small glimpse
of His glory. The very attempt must end in dismal failure. God is far
greater in His Holiness, for more glorious, far more wise and powerful,
far more wonderful than we can possibly convey. Similarly, we have an
evil and continuous tendency to remove aspects of God that we do not
like, and to distort His image and His character according to our own
evil imagination. He has chosen to reveal His character through His
word, and to ban all lying images - why do we provoke Him to anger?
Christ the unique image of God
It is claimed that Christ, being God and man, may be depicted at least
in his humanity *. But Christ is the perfect image of the invisible
God. When Philip asked Him to reveal God, He replied, ‘Have I been so
long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has
seen me has seen the Father’. When Christ appeared in flesh, He
received the worship due only to God even whilst He was in the flesh -
because He was Son of God incarnate, the fullness of the Godhead
dwelling bodily in Him. So to make some likeness of Christ, is to make
an image of the express and perfect image of God. Can there be
any doubt, that such an image deeply breaches this weighty command? If
such an image were accurate and true, it would command our worship. But
how can human craftsmanship or human acting convey anything of the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, without hopelessly
misrepresenting Him, cheapening and defiling our view of Him,
distorting Him and degrading His unique Majesty, which is ‘full of
grace and truth’. Dear friends, it is an insult to Him, however
lovingly intended !
The alleged benefits of icons
It is claimed that images are of benefit to the illiterate and
ignorant, and teach them things that they could not otherwise learn.
Again, this argument is nothing new. But the prophets again strongly
oppose it. What does an image teach accurately and properly of God and
of Christ? Isaiah’s answer is ‘wind and confusion’ - nothing but
mischief, and again Jeremiah says it is a doctrine of vanities, making
us more brutish and foolish not less. The Holy Spirit warns us it is
profitable not for something or even a little, but ‘for nothing’.
Images do not guide, in fact they deceive, ultimately they will bring
nothing but shame (Isa 41:29, Jer 10:8, Isa 44:10, Hab 2.18). Why not
teach the Word of God, instead of wasting time angering God with
foolish images, icons and films? It is the Word that is profitable to
instruct, reprove, correct and train, not vain images. It is the Word
which Satan fears, not idols and icons. It is the Word which generates
and inspires faith, by the Holy Spirit, even in the humblest men and
women. It is the Word that God promises will bear fruit, not skilful
artistry or acting. And it is the Word which cannot be bound, by human
chains, not vain and empty workmanship.
Historical traditions
So where did this tradition of icon admiration first come from? Is it
inherited from our first fathers? What is our common history ? It is a
question that must deeply embarrass those who advocate the use of
images. Before the great contamination of the churches at the time of
Emperor Constantine’s conversion, there is very little evidence that
icons were used at all. On the contrary, Tertullian, Cyprian,
Athanasius, Justin the Martyr and almost every early forebear who
touches on the question uses these same powerful arguments against
idolatry amongst the pagans. These arguments would have been terribly
turned back upon them, and their own inconsistency exposed, had their
own churches been guilty of making images of God and of Christ. Were
images of God prevalent amongst the Jews? - only among those determined
to ignore the plainest commands. Were images of Christ honoured after
the purification of the church at the Protestant Reformation? No, men.
women and even children were cruelly burned and tortured, just as
the early martyrs had been, rather than submit to Rome’s idolatry.
Conclusions
Christians should shun images of Christ, whether as icons or paintings,
statues or films - whether openly worshipped or not. As our beloved
John the Apostle implored, ‘Little children - keep yourselves from
idols!’
Neither
shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house,
lest thou be a cursed thing like it:
but thou shalt utterly detest it,
and thou shalt utterly abhor it;
for it is a cursed thing.
Deut. 7.26
Some notable quotes.
Justin Martyr
‘And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form,
and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a
god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to
God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached
to things that are corruptible’
Tertullian
All things, therefore, does human error worship, except the
Founder of all Himself. The images of those things are idols; the
consecration of the images is idolatry.
Cyprian
Believers, and men who claim for themselves the authority of the
Christian name, are not ashamed—are not, I repeat, ashamed to find a
defence in the heavenly Scriptures for the vain superstitions
associated with the public exhibitions of the heathens, and thus to
attribute divine authority to idolatry. For how is it, that what is
done by the heathens in honour of any idol is resorted to in a public
show by faithful Christians, and the heathen idolatry is maintained,
and the true and divine religion is trampled upon in contempt of God?
Athanasius
Nor have they escaped prophetic censure; for there also is their
refutation, where the Spirit says , “they shall be ashamed that have
formed a god, and carved all of them that which is vain: and all by
whom they were made are dried up: and let the deaf ones among men all
assemble and stand up together, and let them be confounded and put to
shame together..”
While those who profess to give still deeper and more philosophical
reasons than these say, that the reason of idols being prepared and
fashioned is for the invocation and manifestation of divine angels and
powers, that appearing by these means they may teach men concerning the
knowledge of God; and that they serve as letters for men, by referring
to which they may learn to apprehend God... Such then is their
mythology,—for far be it from us to call it a theology.
The Heidelberg catechism (1563)
Q98. But may not pictures be tolerated in churches as books for the
laity? A. No; for we should not be wiser than God, who will not have
His people taught by dumb idols, but by the lively preaching of His
Word.
Calvin
Augustine also confidently asserts the unlawfulness, not only of
worshipping images, but even of erecting any with reference to God. Nor
does he advance anything different from what had, many years before,
been decreed by the Elibertine council, the 36th chapter of which is as
follows, ‘It has been decreed that no pictures be had in the churches,
and that which is worshipped or adored be not painted on the walls’.
The Westminster Confession of Faith 1647
The grandfather of all Presbyterian confessions
Chapter 21, from Section 1.
But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is
instituted by
himself, and so limited to His own revealed will, that He may not be
worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the
suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations or any other
way not prescribed in Holy Scripture.
Comments by the Bible League Quarterly on Mel Gibson's idolatous blasphemy 'The Passion'
