The year was 2018 and I was standing in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem, my forearm clutched in the withering grasp of my husband’s great aunt who was a Russian Orthodox nun living in the covenant there. We were standing in front of a small, but rather ornate crucifix decorating the back wall of the church and the elderly Sister, who was in her 90s at the time, was rapidly speaking in Arabic to my mother-in-law, insisting (via translation) that I kiss the image before me. The church, quiet with the reverence of awed travelers, echoed with her demands. I refused, trying to back away from the image, desperate to hide from the innumerable curious eyes, while she continued to argue with me through my mother-in-law. At this point in my faith, I struggled with what to say. I had grown up in a broadly evangelical home and had no theological category for what was I was experiencing. I only knew that this manmade object before me was not my Lord–as if one could fix the God of the universe in time and place in this way, captured and pinned down like some butterfly for visual dissection. From her vantage, this refusal of mine was a slight against Christ Himself. But I insisted that my Savior was no longer hanging upon a tree. He had risen! He was reigning! If death itself could not contain Him, how much less the confines of wood and metal?

I had no way to even begin to understand the depths of what was happening on that day until many years later. Now, I understand that it has been a common belief throughout human history that images can function as a sort of representational intermediary between the viewer (i.e., worshipper) and the deity. This was true in Ancient Egypt where one could encounter the god through its statue as a visible locus of its presence. It was true in Mesopotamia where the idol could receive offerings and worship on behalf of the god, making the god accessible to the people through a physical medium. This was true of Ancient Greek sculptures, of which Gombrich writes, “As we walk along the rows of white marble statues from classical antiquity in great museums, we too often forget that among them, these idols of which the Bible speaks; that people prayed before them, that sacrifices were brought to them amidst strange incantations, and that thousands and tens of thousands of worshippers may have approached them with hope and fear in their hearts–wondering whether these statues and graven images were not really at the same time gods themselves.” (The Story of Art, pg. 84) These ancient peoples didn’t believe they were worshipping the metal or wood or stone which comprised these idols. No, they believed they were worshipping the deity through the image/idol. Gombrich goes on to explain how we have so few of these original ancient Greek sculptures primarily because Christians considered it an act of piety to destroy the likenesses of these heathen gods. Similarly, many early church fathers equate images with pagan practice (you can read those quotes here). It is through this lens, particularly in relation to Egyptian and Mesopotamian ideas, that we must consider what the Scripture is teaching. Are we, as Christians, commanded to worship through images?

We know that the first commandment is concerned with who we are to worship, namely the One True God. The second then is concerned with how we must worship Him. It reads:

“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.” (Exodus 20:4-5, KJV)

We should also consider Deuteronomy 4:15-24:

“Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: but I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”

And what did the Israelites do? Not long after God had delivered them from the pagan influence of their Egyptian overlords, they sought to return to the abominable contextual practices from which they had just been delivered. Note in the forthcoming passages that they were not seeking to worship another god. They did not believe the golden calf itself was a deity or that it represented a deity of their own design but that it represented the Lord, an idea that was consistent with the beliefs of the peoples (i.e. Egyptians) they had lived amongst. Exodus 32:5 explains that they had even made a feast day to the Lord in conjunction with the worship of this calf. Psalm 106 also makes this explicit when it says that they changed their glory (and what was their glory if not God Himself?) into the similitude of an ox.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. (Exodus 32:1-5, KJV)

They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshipped the molten image.
Thus they changed their glory
Into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
They forgat God their saviour,
Which had done great things in Egypt;
Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
And terrible things by the Red sea.
(Psalm 106:19-22, KJV)

But what of the bronze serpent, I hear you ask, was that not an image the people were commanded to look upon for their very healing? Yes, but we must consider the nature of this image. Was it made as a representation of Christ Himself or as a typological symbol to convey a truth by allegory? As a parallel, one might look to the Puritan practice of meditating on everyday objects. A puritan might gaze on a door and recall Jesus’ teaching that, “I am the door…” (John 10:9). Is Jesus the door? No. Is the door a visual depiction of Jesus? No, again. John 3:14-15 reads, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” So, we see the bronze serpent from Numbers 21 was a kind of object lesson, a prophetic sign-act consistent with other theatrical displays in the Old Testament (e.g., Ezekiel’s model of Jerusalem, Elisha’s arrows, Jeremiah’s buried belt). Remember, also, that King Hezekiah had to destroy the serpent in 2 Kings 18 as the people had begun to burn incense to it.

What of art, then, you ask? For argument’s sake, let’s say you’re convinced that the second commandment forbids the use of images in worship. Why, then, cannot one make images of God in a context apart from worship? Why can’t one simply appreciate these great works of art as distant artefacts of history or view images as entertainment such as with programs like The Chosen? Anyone familiar with the fact-value split that has come to poison our modern hearts and minds (thanks for that, Mr. Hume) should recognize the danger in compartmentalizing oneself in either belief or practice in such a manner. We are wholistic beings and, as such, cannot (and should not!) make distinctions between the so-called secular and religious in this way. We were made to worship and can’t help ourselves to do so in every facet of our lives. If Brother Lawrence taught us anything (see his excellent book, The Practice of the Presence of God), it is that even doing the dishes is an act of worship. In every single moment of our days, we are worshipping something. Though we desire to worship Christ always in all ways, we too often fall into the blights of paganism. So then should one view an artistic representation of Christ and seek to disconnect that viewing from a posture of worship? Could one even practically do so? If the answer to these questions is no, then we’re back to the original question of whether or not this is a prescribed, valid method of worship by God’s infallible standard.

A few rapid-fire considerations for contemplation:

1. Lest you erroneously believe this is a fringe concern of my own making, consider that this was such a point of severe contention in the Byzantine period that it warranted its own name–iconomachy (“image struggle”). For more information on this fascinating history, check out scholar Leslie Brubaker’s book, Inventing Byzantine Iconoclasm. Also, consider that the Reformed confessions address the issue of images directly. Read more here.

2. Meditate on the truth of this verse from Isaiah 53:2, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” As far as I’m aware, this is the only description (a non-description, really) that we have of Christ apart from the passing remark a few verses later that he had a beard to be pulled. Throughout history, images of Christ have been beholden to the passing whims of style and form, following the trends of the times. In this way, we are less seeking to be conformed to His image but rather conforming Him to our own. (Read Scottish-born Theologian John Murray’s excellent essay on this issue here.)

3. I heard of a pastor who once said having an image of Christ would be like hanging a portrait of a strange woman other than his wife in his home. If she said, rightfully, “that’s not me! She doesn’t resemble me at all.” It would be folly for him to reply, “I know, but she reminds me of you.” Not only do we not know the characteristics of Christ’s physical appearance, but any attempted likeness of Him captures only His human nature and cannot capture the divine. This amounts to a visual Nestorianism.

This then is the contrast we see with Christianity. Pagans worship their deities through images. We, however, are commanded not to worship God through image but through word, through his revealed and holy Scriptures. We are to worship in spirit and in truth. We already have an image in the Son, the God-man of Jesus Christ, who is Himself the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). This idea is revolutionary in contrast to the pagan idea of deity. No other deity has ever come down in flesh to dwell among the people. No, they had to use a manmade idol of wood and metal, idols the Bible consistently describes as mute and deaf. Our image is a living breathing one. Furthermore, dear Christians, we see the image of God in one another. As we care for one another, we are caring for Christ Himself through the images of His people (Matthew 25:31-46). Why then would we want to return to the dead and lifeless practices of the pagans? To metal, wood, paint, and paper?

Until next time, salutations & selah.