Images In Worship

This is the seventh article to reflect Upon the Use of Tangible Images in the Worship Life of the Church by Larry D. Harvey. Previous articles may be found in the archives of Reclaiming Our Heritage under Christian Worship.

________________________________________

In this issue, we continue our consideration of the use of tangible images of God and the Persons of the Trinity within the worship life of the Church.  In the last issue, we considered "The Statements and Teachings of Sacred Scripture About Images, Pictures, or Statues" from Martin Chemnitz's Examination of the Council of Trent, Part IV.  In this issue, we will begin an historical overview of the primitive New Testament Christian Church, employing the same form of citation as previously noted in prior issues.

The New Testament contains no commandment from our Lord Jesus Christ about the use of tangible images for the Word and Sacrament ministry of the Church.  In addition, we find no Scriptural reference to the use of tangible images or statues by the Apostles for the proclamation of the true doctrine.  This is true even when the Apostles were engaged in proclaiming the Gospel to pagan peoples.  When they had completed their work of laying a true foundation of the true faith in any particular location, they proceeded on to other places, and when they did so, "they did not commend repetitions and reminders of the doctrine to statues, but to faithful men who were fit to teach others [2 Tim. 2:2], and for this purpose they reduced to writing the doctrine they had taught.  For they did not teach that images or statues are the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works efficaciously, calling, enlightening, converting, sanctifying men, but the Word of God, written, preached, heard, pondered (Rom. 1:1 ff.; 2 Cor. 3:3; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; Ps. 119)."  (IV, p. 82)  Although the Apostles attacked the worship of idols which involved the worship use of statues and images, and proclaimed and introduced true worship of the true God, they did not transfer the use of statues and images over to the true worship of the true God, nor did they simply substitute replacement images in their stead.  "But they taught that the true God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, not according to either private or public devotions, but according to the prescription of the Word." (IV, p.82)

When the legitimate histories of the Church of the first three hundred years are examined, no mention of the use of tangible images or statues in their public worship life can be found.  Since the worship of false gods involved the adoration or worship of images, "...the Christians simply abhorred images and condemned as heretics those who wanted to worship and adore either the statues of others or also Christ Himself in statues or through images." (IV, p. 83)  It was not a small thing that the worship life of these early Christians differed from the heathen worship forms in that the heathen worshipped their idols employing likenesses, tangible images, and statues.  These early Christians knew well God's clear Word "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24)

"And in order to cut off every occasion for idolatry, in order that the Christian religion might have no affinity with paganism, which consisted in the worship of images, and lest the seeds of heathen superstition should through the occasion of images either creep into the church or remain in the minds of converts, the primitive church did not want to receive even the images of Christ and of the saints into the places of worship.  And among the points of accusation the heathen threw also this up to the Christians, that they had a religion without images." (IV, p.83)

Early Church fathers strongly defended the Church's lack of tangible images with numerous arguments based upon the fact that God has chosen to reveal Himself in His Word, which is heard, read, considered, and meditated upon in the mind of man.  These Church fathers fought with great earnestness those who claimed to desire to now worship the true God through tangible images, who argued that it was not the image itself that they were worshiping but the name of the one to whom it had been consecrated.  These Church fathers fought also against the argument that the image was to assist in recalling into present memory those now separated by death or absence.  For example, Lactantius, a Christian apologist born circa A.D. 240-260 and died circa A.D. 320-340, who was born of heathen parents and became a Christian perhaps around A.D. 300, (Lutheran Cyclopedia,)  stated "Surely, an image of a God whose spirit and divinity is diffused everywhere and can never be absent is superfluous." (quoted, IV, p. 86)  These Church fathers consistently treated the use of images in worship as a teaching proceeding from Satan as Satan sought to turn people away from the worship of the One True God.  Lactantius also said "Therefore there is no doubt that there is no religion where there is an image." (quoted, IV, p.87)

"To sum it up, it is certain from sure and approved histories...that until the age of Jerome there were men of approved piety who allowed no image, either painted or sculpted or woven, in the churches, not even an image of Christ.  For we read in Eusebius that not even in the time of Constantine, who adorned churches with many costly offerings of gold, silver, and precious stones, were images received into churches." (IV, p. 88)  Therefore, for at least three hundred years, there is no evidence from reliable and trustworthy written histories that the primitive Christian Church used tangible images in the worship life of the Church nor that such were allowed in places of public prayer.

"It still remains to be shown that, excluding worship and adoration, not every historical use of images was simply rejected in the primitive church." (IV, p.91)  Eusebius, sometimes identified as Eusebius of Caesarea, circa A.D. 260- circa A.D. 339, called "The Father of Church History", (Lutheran Cyclopedia), for example, wrote of the civil and historical use of tangible images, and did not condemn images of Christ and of the Apostles in their historical use, but the early church did not institute any public worship gatherings or pilgrimages to any statue or worship or adoration.  The Church fathers, such as Origen, circa A.D. 185 - circa A.D. 254 (Lutheran Cyclopedia), a Greek Church Father, and Lactantius, also did not condemn the civil use of images such as statues of kings after their deaths.  But a clear line was drawn.  For example, Constantine, circa A.D. 280 - A.D. 337, Roman Emperor A.D. 306 -337, who granted the Christian church not only legal standing but also Imperial support (Lutheran Cyclopedia), after his conversion to Christianity, had his picture painted.  He was depicted as "...standing upright, looking upward to heaven, his hands uplifted as though he were praying." (IV, p. 94)  He was not condemned as having violated God's Law in Exodus 20:4,5.  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and forth generation of those who hate me." (ESV)  However, Constantine commanded that this picture of him not be placed in any temple of an idol.  But, it should be noted that it was not reported that it was placed in any Christian church either.

We do find frequent references in the writings of the early Church fathers to the sign of the cross.   During those times, it was not a tangible image of a man with outstretched arms, nailed to the cross, "but at the time of Tertullian [circa A.D. 155/160 - circa A.D. 220/230 (Lutheran Cyclopedia)] and afterward the Christians with their fingers formed a transverse figure like a cross in the air, and in this way identified themselves.  It was not, however, a sign put forward for worship and adoration, for it was at that time not something with continued existence, but was only a profession and reminder that they believed in Christ crucified, and that they were placing all their hope and confidence in Him."  (IV, p. 94)

 It was after the conversion of Constantine that "the sign of the cross began to be represented by two pieces of wood joined crosswise, or painted in this form." (IV, p. 94)  This arose from Constantine having purportedly seen the sign of the cross "formed by the splendor of the light" (IV, p. 94)  when deciding whether or not the cast off heathen worship and follow Christ, with the addition of "In this sign conquer!" (IV, p. 94)  Constantine directed that a military emblem be made as follows: "A long spear, overlaid with gold, with a transverse arm, constructed in the form of a cross.  At the top a crown woven about with precious stones and gold, in which the mark of the Savior was inscribed with the first two letters of the name of Christ.  On the crosspiece a cloth was suspended shining with precious stones.  Downward, below the cloth on the long spear, there was a golden effigy of Constantine and his children, depicted as far as the breast."  (IV, p. 95)  It is important that we note that this sign was not placed in churches for worship and adoration.  It was a military banner or emblem, which was thereafter "preserved privately in the royal palace" (IV, p. 95)  and engraved on the weapons of his soldiers.  Constantine hoped to use this as part of his confession of faith to his soldiers in the hope that it would help lead them to worship of the true God.  This image was not taken into or used within the churches, nor was any other image placed in churches during that time.

In this discussion, we have seen that during the first three hundred years after Christ that tangible images were not employed in the church's worship of the true God and were not allowed into places of prayer.  In the next part of this series, we will look at when images began to be received into churches and what the first use of such images was, along with what followed thereafter.