Global InformationReligious images in Christian theology information
Religious images in Christian theology have a role within the liturgical and devotional life of adherents of certain Christian denominations. The use of religious images has often been a contentious issue in Christian history. Concern over idolatry is the driving force behind the various traditions of aniconism in Christianity.
In the early Church, Christians used the Ichthys (fish) symbol to identify Christian places of worship and Christian homes.[1] The Synod of Elvira (306 AD - 312 AD) "prohibited the exhibition of images in churches".[2] However, since the 3rd century AD, images have been used within Christian worship within parts of Christendom,[3] although some ancient Churches, such as the Church of the East, have apparently long traditions of not using images.[4] However, there is also both literary and archaeological evidence for the early presence of images in the Church of the East tradition.[5]
Certain periods of Christian history have seen supporters of aniconism in Christianity, first with the movement of Byzantine Iconoclasm, in which Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Emperors Michael II, as well as Theophilos, "banned veneration of icons and actively persecuted supporters of icons."[6] Later, during the Iconoclastic Fury, Calvinists removed statues and sacred art from churches that adopted the Reformed faith.[7][8]
The church father John of Damascus argued "that God's taking on human form sanctified the human image, noting that the humanity of Christ formed an image of God; therefore, artists could use human images to depict the incarnate Word as well as human saints."[9] As such, religious imagery today, in the form of statues, is most identified with the Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions.[10] Two dimensional icons are used extensively, and are most often associated with parts of Eastern Christianity,[11] although they are also used by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and, increasingly, Anglicans.[12] Since the 1800s, devotional art has become very common in Christian homes, both Protestant and Catholic, often including wall crosses, embroidered verses from the Christian Bible, as well as imagery of Jesus.[13] In Western Christianity, it is common for believers to have a home altar,[14][15] while dwelling places belonging to communicants of the Eastern Christian Churches often have an icon corner.[16]
A cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, person or spirit that it embodies or represents.[17] It is also controversially and pejoratively used by some Protestants, particularly certain Anabaptist and Reformed Christians, to describe the Eastern Orthodox (and, to a lesser extent, Catholic) practice of worshipping the Christian God through the use of icons, a charge which these Christians reject. In a similarly controversial sense, it is also used by these Protestants to pejoratively describe various Catholic devotional practices such as scapulars and the veneration of statues and flat images of the Virgin Mary and other saints, which Catholics do not consider idolatry.
- ^ Grumett, David; Muers, Rachel (3 November 2011). Eating and Believing: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Vegetarianism and Theology. A&C Black. p. 474. ISBN 9780567577368.
...early Christians, and remains a Christian symbol to this day. In early Christian art, fish represented the souls of believers, while fishermen imaged the apostles as founders of the Church and thus fishers of souls.35 But, paradoxically, the 'saved' fish are the ones caught in the net of the fisherman. As Jerome puts it: 'The apostles have fished for us and have drawn us out of the sea of this world that, from dead, we might become alive.'
- ^ Solovieva, Olga V. (15 November 2017). Christ's Subversive Body: Practices of Religious Rhetoric in Culture and Politics. Northwestern University Press. p. 60. ISBN 9780810136014.
The Synod of Elvira (306-312) prohibited the exhibition of images in churches on the same terms as the participation of Christians in pagan games--obviously understanding both phenomena as kindred.
- ^ Miles, Margaret R. (1 September 2006). Image as Insight: Visual Understanding in Western Christianity and Secular Culture. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 48. ISBN 9781597529020.
Third century visual and verbal evidence is not in disagreement; both reveal an early and generally accepted use of images in the settings of christian worship.
- ^ Browne, Laurence E. (1933). The Eclipse of Christianity in Asia: From the Time of Muhammad Till the Fourteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 79.
In modern times the Nestorians alone of all the Eastern Churches have abandoned he use of images, only using the cross to which they pay the greatest reverence. The use of a plain cross without the figure of Christ on it goes back at least as far as the middle of the thirteenth century, for William of Rubruck, in his journey across Asia from Southern Russia as far as the town of Karakorum, mentions several times that the Armenians and Nestorians whom he meet used the cross but not the crucifix. In response to Rubruck's questions they could only reply that it was their custom. Whatever the cause may have been it was apparently not due to any dislike of images or pictures in general. When the Roman Catholic missionaries went to Malabar they found that the Nestorian Christians there did not use images and said, "We are Christians. We do not worship idols".
- ^ Parry, Ken (1996). "Images in the Church of the East: The Evidence from Central Asia and China" (PDF). Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. 78 (3): 143–162. doi:10.7227/BJRL.78.3.11. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ Frassetto, Michael (14 March 2013). The Early Medieval World: From the Fall of Rome to the Time of Charlemagne. ABC-CLIO. p. 327. ISBN 9781598849967.
- ^ Stark, Rodney (18 December 2007). The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Random House Publishing Group. p. 176. ISBN 9781588365002.
The Beeldenstorm, or Iconoclastic Fury, involved roving bands of radical Calvinists who were utterly opposed to all religious images and decorations in churches and who acted on their beliefs by storming into Catholic churches and destroying all artwork and finery.
- ^ Byfield, Ted (2002). A Century of Giants, A.D. 1500 to 1600: In an Age of Spiritual Genius, Western Christendom Shatters. Christian History Project. p. 297. ISBN 9780968987391.
Devoutly Catholic but opposed to Inquisition tactics, they backed William of Orange in subduing the Calvinist uprising of the Dutch beeldenstorm on behalf of regent Margaret of Parma, and had come willingly to the council at her invitation.
- ^ Cohen, Yoel; Soukup, Paul A. (22 February 2023). The Handbook of Religion and Communication. John Wiley & Sons. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-119-67155-8.
- ^ Thiessen, Gesa Elsbeth (20 December 2004). Theological Aesthetics. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 125. ISBN 9780802828880.
However, in Anglican churches statues and images are far less prevalent than in Lutheran or Roman Catholic places of worship.
- ^ Holm, Jean; Bowker, John (1 May 1994). Worship. A&C Black. p. 39. ISBN 9780567262325.
In Greek and Russian Orthodox churches icons play a very significant part in the piety of ordinary believers who often pray before their icons.
- ^ Cooper, Jordan (27 August 2015). The Great Divide: A Lutheran Evaluation of Reformed Theology. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 91. ISBN 9781498224246.
It is not uncommon to see icons of saints in Lutheran households and churches. Many Lutherans also adopt a historic church calendar wherein certain feast days are held in remembrance of great saints. This includes both biblical saints as well as venerable figures in church history. ... Lutherans use images, icons, and statues as tools to instruct and remind people of central elements of their faith. The crucifix is a constant reminder of the gospel. It is often placed in the sanctuary to remind both the pastor and the congregation that Christ and his cross are the center of the church's worship life. Churches use images of saints to remind the congregation of the great faith of those who have come before them, and to remind them of the unity of the church in heaven and on earth. It is a valuable picture of the communion of saints as expressed in the creed.
- ^ Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (10 November 2016). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 707. ISBN 9781442244320.
Protestants also displayed devotional art as images and objects. Beginning in the 1830s, lithographers produced and sold cheap images for display in parlors. These included scenes of families reading the Bible, children praying, and Jesus preaching. Protestants also adorned their homes with handmade wall crosses and embroidered Bible quotes. Whether bought in the marketplace or handmade, Protestant art connected homes and families to God and Jesus. Catholics also displayed devotional art in homes. In the 1870s, Irish immigrants adapted protestant domestic religion. This home art often emulated church art.
- ^ Skrade, Kristofer (2006). The Lutheran Handbook on Marriage. Augsburg Books. p. 84. ISBN 9780806652948.
Some Lutherans designate a special place in the home where they can focus during personal devotions. This space could include a Bible, candles, and small colored paraments or hangings that change according to the seasons of the church calendar.
- ^ Hahn, Kimberly; Hasson, Mary (1996). Catholic Education. Ignatius Press. p. 312. ISBN 9780898705669.
One thing some families do is make a family altar with pictures of Jesus, candles, a crucifix, and other religious articles. This family altar reminds the family of the importance of prayer.
- ^ Visel, Jeana (6 September 2016). Icons in the Western Church: Toward a More Sacramental Encounter. Liturgical Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780814646847.
Without a doubt, then, liturgy and shared devotion are integrated in Eastern Christianity; icons are present in both private and public spaces. In the home, most Eastern Christians have an icon corner where members of the family and guests alike may "greet" the saints in prayer.
- ^ Geoffrey W. Bromiley International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), vol. 2 p 794.