Iconoclasm¶
Literally, breaking of images, an iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of artwork, typically religious artwork. Iconoclast movements have been an ongoing pattern starting with Islam and then influencing Christianity, such as the Byzantine Iconoclasm or more recently during the Reformation.
Iconoclastic influences have persisted through the ages and have resulted in bland protestant churches which stand in sharp contrast to the iconographic beauty of orthodox churches.
Icons vs Iconoclasm
While the accusation is usually idolatry, an icococlasm is the violent destruction of icons (images), as well as defacing and even destroying churches. Much blood and ink have been spilled through the ages on the topic of icons. The iconoclasts themselves believed they were adhering to the second commandment, reacting as Moses did to the golden calf.
Exodus 32:19-20
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
Iconoclasts necessarily believed that images of Christ and images of Saints were equivalent to the Israelites worshipping the golden calf (i.e., orgiastic worship of Baal immediately after God told them not to do that). While our modern view can make little sense of this, notice that all sides of this debate in the ancient world understood that images had great power. Humans are "imaging" beings, made to glorify God. We act out our worship and our behavior reflects the images around us.
Images were never as benign as we think in our modern age. Religious icons were either extremely sacred or extremely sacrilegious. The existence of iconoclast movements is itself testament to the spiritual power of images in the ancient view.
That said, were the iconoclasts right to destroy icons? Were the reformers right to build bland churches? Or were the iconoclasts demonically deceived? What is the truth of religious icons?
Idols and Idolatry¶
Ancient pagans created idols not merely as man-made trophies to worship, but in order to capture the essence of a specific god (a fallen spirit) such that people could make offerings and sacrifice to that god.
A pagan god (fallen spirit) was in a sense captured and bound by a physical idol, allowing that spirit to act within rituals that the worshippers participated in. This was the universal backdrop of idol worship, and God worked through His chosen people and transformed this abhorrent practice from within, first into mediated communion in the Tabernacle, and then eventually into the life of Christ Jesus.
Graven Images
The Hebrew word pesel (פסל) is used in Exodus 20:4 (and related passages), referring to a carved statue that is worshipped. Additionally, temunah (תמונה) is referring to a likeness or similitude.
Let's look carefully at the second of the ten commandments, the prohibition of graven images:
Exodus 20:4-5
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (pesel), or any likeness (temunah) 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.
God commanded the Israelites not to make images of spiritual things and worship them (which they immediately did anyway). And this of course follows the first commandment to have no other gods before Him. The Levitical laws further refined this command with reference to idols:
Leviticus 19:4
Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
Importantly, idols are differentiated here from "molten gods", such that we see the beginning of a broad category known as idolatry -- which can be further refined in the New Testament:
1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
Note how the sacrifice of Christ and His body and blood are compared to the pagan sacrifices to idols.
Colossians 3:2-8
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
There is a clear understanding that idolatry is anything valued above God, not just images but anything that is not Christ Jesus:
1 John 5:19-21
And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
The Mosaic law rightly forbids man-made graven images, "molten gods" such as the golden calf. That kind of idol worship was a near universal practice in the ancient world. Christ elevated this prohibition of idol worship to anything outside of Himself, perfectly expressed in the greatest commandment to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. We are to worship the one true God, the only begotten Son of God, the word made flesh.
Christ is the image and also the sacrifice -- no molten idol can contain the Son of God -- but man was made in the image and likeness of God, thus the living God became a living icon (a man without sin), who is the sacrifice for our salvation.
The life of Christ is a clear testament to why we cannot worship "molten gods" or "graven images", for we are created in the image and likeness of the one true God and cannot worship anything that is beneath us, and as Christ ascended as a man into heaven, so we have only Christ Jesus to worship -- there is nothing higher for us to worship.
Icons (Images)¶
Literally, image: an icon is any kind of image. Importantly, images in the ancient world were not benign nor mundane like they are today. Images were and are powerful. Images were deeply sacred, or as in the case of idols, deeply sacrilegious and heretical. The concept of an image is in fact so important that our very creation was in the "image and likeness of God".
Image and Likeness
Icon is from the Greek εἰκὼν (eikōn), literally "image". The Hebrew is tselem (צלם) as in "in the image of God". And relatedly demut (דמות) as in "likeness of God".
We often refer to icons as specific religious images, but it is a general term (sacred or profane or otherwise). If an icon becomes an object of worship, such as a pagan idol (graven image), then this is idolatry. And because imaging is so fundamental to our being, image-based idolatry is so dangerous.
In terms of sacred icons, here is perhaps the most important and sacred use of an "image" (icon):
Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image (tselem), after our likeness (demut): and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Images are not just important but they are the most important power at our disposal (because we are made in the image of God). And contrary to the sacrilegious golden calf that Moses destroyed, images were used in the most sacred places, such as the icons of gold cherubims protecting the ark of the covenant:
Exodus 25:18-21
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
The sacred icons in the Tabernacle are another good example:
Exodus 26:1
Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.
And when the second temple was built, it was adorned with icons big and small:
1 Kings 6:23-28
And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
Note that cherubim were the highest of the heavenly hosts, and the most sacred created being in heaven one could make into an icon (but never as idol, never to worship). Even the prophecied temple in Ezekiel's vision contained cherub icons:
Ezekiel 41:18-19
And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.
It is clear that images were sometimes idolatrous, like the golden calf -- and sometimes sacred, like the golden cherubims. Importantly, images were never mundane. Any icon, including your fellow human beings, should never be worshipped, but they can be honored and respected (venerated).
Icons are not Idols¶
It is clear from scripture that icons are not idols (although some idols are of course images), and further, veneration is not the same as worship. We are to worship only God, and will inevitably venerate all things that point us to God (from scriptures to icons).
Importantly, most idols today are not physical images -- for example, modern people often worship money or career, that is, they put their career above God (this is clearly idolatry, but not related to an icon). Icons and Idols are two very different categories, and while there exists an intersection (graven images), we should never confuse idols and icons.
Remember, we are created in the image and likeness of God. We ourselves are icons of God. The ancient Hebrew words for "image and likeness" are distinct from the prohibited "graven image" in the ten commandments, which refers directly to the worship of the idols of false gods. Conflating icons with idols is dangerous and heretical (see anathema below).
This categorical distinction of idols and icons is not only obvious but it is also inevitable and inescapable. We cannot rid ourselves of iconographic symbolism and still worship a transcendent God (we are ourselves icons of that transcendent God). Any attempt to glorify God necessitates symbolism (in image or action or word). Iconographic symbolism will happen no matter how much we suppress or destroy sacred images.
Destroying images does not remove man-made images. The result is never "no image". The result is ugly, bland, industrial images in what was supposed to be a sacred place (the church). The risk of idolatry from iconoclasts is the same if not greater because they've replaced intentionally sacred images of Christ with intentionally bland images.
In many cases, a bland spartan church is as idolatrous as the golden calf, because in both it is not aimed at God, and there is clearly a higher principle being worshipped (above Christ).
Destroying sacred images does not clear a path to God. The Tabernacle was adorned with golden cherubims for a reason. And there was a reason Moses ground up the golden calf into powder, sprinkled it into water, and forced the idolatrous Israelites to drink (water here symbolizes precosmogonic chaos). Moses attacked the idol itself, not the very concept of images (which were obviously necessary in the Tabernacle).
Just like "nothing is not a reference point", nothing is not an image that clears a path for communion with God. Destroying images results in images of bland brokenness and not nothingness. And if the goal is truly nothingness, then it is nihilism and not Christ that iconoclasts are worshipping.
To explain this in metaphysical language: the finite cannot touch the infinite, the created cannot touch the uncreated -- a mediator is required -- the uncreated infinite must descend down into the created finite and express itself through created forms, that is, through icons (of which Christ is the alpha and the omega).
Veneration is not Worship¶
What we worship inevitably determines what we venerate. We cannot force ourselves to respect something. We do not, and can not, choose what we venerate, but only how we worship.
Our God-given free will grants us a choice of what to worship, and then separately how to worship. If you do not worship God then you will feel no need to honor or respect icons of Christ, including the person of Christ. And likewise if you worship God then you will feel no desire to respect idolatrous images.
Let's examine this carefully, first from idolatry:
- If we worship money (mammon), then we will venerate symbols of wealth.
- If we worship ourselves, then we will venerate images of ourselves (as is so common on social media today).
- If we worship "nothing", then we will venerate symbols of nothingness: such as postmodern philosophy, moral relativism, fashion trends, and absurdism such as celebrity gossip.
- If we worship our career, then we will venerate symbols of our career: such as business cards, job titles and so forth.
And then from worship of God:
- If we worship God, then we will venerate the saints that inspire in us a deeper sense of worship.
- If we worship God, then we will venerate the mother of God, the Theotokos, who birthed Christ Jesus, who is the spirit of truth and the word made flesh.
- If we worship God, then we will venerate all the symbols of the one true God: such as scripture, hymns, and icons.
If we do not feel any respect or honor to the saints, nor to the Theotokos, nor to the scriptures, then it is probably not God that we worship. We all worship, and our actions and words will reveal what it is we are really worshipping.
How are icons venerated?
In Orthodox churches, icons are venerated by bowing and kissing, exactly as people in ancient cultures greeted one another. In this case, Christians bow to and kiss icons as if greeting a close friend. Despite the modern aversion, kissing as a greeting was the norm in early Christianity (see Romans 16:16). And notice how the most secular cultures are the most averse to kissing as a greeting.
Worshipping physical icons would of course be wrong (and somewhat absurd in our modern age). It would clearly be idolatry and should be condemned as heretical. Likewise, conflating icons with idol worship should also be condemned. Iconoclasts should be condemned as heretical.
Imagine someone burning Bibles because they thought people were worshipping Bibles instead of God. If you can understand that you're not worshipping a Bible while venerating the words of the gospel, then you can understand that icon veneration is not idol worship.
Anathema!¶
While iconoclasts suppress and destroy what they believe are idols, let us not grant piety nor tolerance to the destruction of sacred images, which are clearly not idols. In fact, the seventh ecumenical council (full text) did not mince words in the pronouncement of anathema onto the iconoclasts.
from the Seventh Ecumenical Synodikon
Believing in one God, celebrated in Trinity, we salute the honorable images! Those who do not so hold: Let them be anathema!
Those who do not thus think: Let them be driven far away from the Church.
We follow the most ancient legislation of the Catholic Church. We keep the laws of the Fathers. We anathematize those who add anything to or take anything away from the Catholic Church. We anathematize the introduced novelty of the revilers of Christians.
We salute the venerable images. We place under anathema those who do not do this. To those who presume to apply to the venerable images the things said in Holy Scripture about as idols: Anathema!
To those who do not salute the holy and venerable images: Anathema!
To those who call the sacred images idols: Anathema!
To those who say that Christians resort to the sacred images as to gods: Anathema!
To those who say that any other delivered us from idols except Christ our God: Anathema!
To those who dare to say that at any time the Catholic Church received idols Anathema!
In the orthodox church (the ancient Christian church as it was founded by the apostles), anathema is the most severe condemnation possible. Whereas excommunication means you are still a member but will be denied participation in the eucharist until you repent, anathema is a complete separation from the church until you repent. In other words, iconoclasts have been expelled from the church, the body of Christ, unless and until they repent.
Ultimately, iconoclasts impede us from expressing our worship of God (worship of truth) -- effectively removing the primary means (imaging) of expressing our worship of God, confining how we worship -- making us vulnerable to image-based idolatry (such as pornography or politics). The bad fruits of iconoclastic churches demonstrate exactly this: they are not just ugly, but will inevitably produce a bland faith, where God becomes a lesser concern in people's daily life (such as giving God only an hour on Sunday).
It is difficult in our modern view to understand the importance of religious icons. Today, we are saturated with images which we pretend have lost all sacred value, and as a result we barely understand the ancient iconoclasts let alone the anathema because we're surrounded in our modern world by seemingly mundane and profane images.
If we look at today's overabundance of images, profane images such as pornography, or mundane political memes, and then examine how those images influence and shape our behavior, then it is clear that these images are as powerful and as sacred as images ever were in the ancient world, and that idolatry is as present as ever. The reformation iconoclasts have clearly not saved our modern world from image-based idolatry, quite the contrary.
Today, while most iconoclastic protestants would never adorn their church with holy icons, they do not question a nativity scene in their own front yard during Christmas (good for them and may God bless them). Again, icons are inevitable. Should iconoclasts destroy nativity scenes?
We ought never condone the destruction of images. It is reprehensible behavior. Venerating icons is the same as venerating scripture. That is, we ought to treat scripture as divinely revealed truth. Both icons and scripture are symbols pointing us to God, helping and guiding us towards Christ Jesus.
Icons of Christ¶
The most interesting and most sacred icon is the person of Christ Jesus, that through Him we may look upon the face of the Father. This means -- necessarily -- that images of Christ allow us to see the image of God the Father. And through the life of Christ do we see the image and the likeness of God.
John 14:9
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father
and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
The life of Christ, as He is both human and divine, allows us to know what is otherwise ineffable and transcendent. God ceases being an untouchable transcendent category and is revealed to us not just as a man but as relationships such that the will is a person (the Father), the word is a person (the Son), and the love from will to word (Father to Son) is a person.
1 John 1:1-2
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us)
The icon that is Christ Jesus reveals that we are (even in our fallen state) in the image of God, and through Christ can we take upon us the likeness of God.
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
To dispel any iconoclast confusion, the word icon is used throughout scripture (typically translated as image) when referring to Christ.
Colossians 1:15
ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως,
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The person of Christ is literally the icon of God. And through Christ, through a baptismal death, are we renewed into the image of Christ.
Colossians 3:9-10
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him
To be clear, just as Moses beheld God in the Tabernacle, where God condescended down into creation (into the holy of holies, surrounded by venerated golden cherubims and other sacred icons), so too do we behold God in the image of Christ Jesus.
This is a radical cosmological shift, renewing us through Christ, such that through Christ we are no longer under the dominion of principalities and powers, no longer corrupted by sin, no longer bound by death. And this is what we experience when venerating icons of Christ.
But again, we each freely choose what to worship. If in your heart you feel no respect when looking at icons of Christ, then perhaps it is not Christ that you worship. Perhaps it is not the face of God you are seeking (but ought to be seeking, as He is the spirit of truth).
Icons of Mary¶
Icons of Mary are extremely popular (second only to Christ) yet are sometimes the source of controversy and misunderstanding between well-meaning Christians. Even today, accusations of "Mary worship" resound from protestants (iconoclasts and otherwise).
If anyone is deserving of honor (veneration), it is the mother of the God-man Christ, the Theotokos.
Luke 1:28
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women
Let's examine some of the iconoclastic reactions to icons of Mary:
Reaction to Immaculate Conception
Roman Catholicism (papal protestantism) insists that Mary was born without original sin (the immaculate conception). This is due to a non-orthodox (and false) understanding of sin, a logical consequence to the Augustinian error of original sin as inherited guilt.
The reformers were reacting to the many abuses and innovations from Rome, and thus rejected what they saw as "Mary worship", but interestingly they kept the Augustinian view that leads to immaculate conception (original sin as inherited guilt).
Iconoclasm became a way for the reformers to avoid the "immaculate conception" of Mary but still keep to Augustinian presupositions, effectively by just ignoring Mary, icons and all.
Reaction to Intercessions
Venerating Mary involves intercession, i.e., Mary prays for you. Most protestants will reject this and ask, "why not pray directly to Christ?"
Obviously one should pray to Christ, but we should also pray for others (what are known as intercessory prayers) and ask others to pray for us. The reasons for intercessory prayes are many, and the protestant belief seems to be that only people living in the world can do intercessory prayers, and otherwise there's no living spirits who can intercede (which is a nihilistic view and should be rejected on those terms alone).
Ultimately, Christ has a human and divine will, being both God and man -- and it is from Mary that Christ gets His humanity. The Orthodox view is that Mary is alive with her Son and is very much able to hear and respond to prayer requests. Intercessions from Mary are a way to connect directly to Christ's humanity.
As has been the tradition for two thousand years, we honor and respect icons of the Theotokos because she is the human mother of Christ. We ought never to destroy nor suppress such images.
Icons of Saints¶
Similar to the icons of Mary, venerating saints often involves intercessory prayers from those saints. The orthodox view is that the saints and the angels are praying for you, and by venerating an icon you are participating in the spirit of that saint or angel, opening yourself to them, which could be as simple as gaining inspiration from their life story, such as their deep humility or in their struggles with sin and their salvation in Christ.
Here are a few informative examples of icons of saints:
Sts. Paul and Peter
We see in this icon the spread of Christianity, the spread of Christ's church through the missions of Sts. Paul and Peter, reaching to the Gentiles and to the Jews alike. It is a mission that continues very much to this day.
The Good Thief in Paradise
One of my favorite icons is the traditional depiction of the good (or penitent) thief who was crucified alongside Christ. He is traditionally depicted as carrying his cross everywhere he goes, and as such stands out in any of the icons where he appears.
Very little is known of this man, other than the what is written in Luke 23:39-43, including the merciful words from Christ, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Importantly, the good thief repented and turned to Christ, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, but also this thief rebuked a sinner (the other criminal who hurled insults at Christ). In doing so this thief confessed his own sins, stating that his punishment is just. And most importantly, he experienced a baptismal death (the old man died and the new man was born into Christ). The entirety of Christian salvation is captured in this very short story (baptism, justification, redemption, confession, and even theosis).
John the Baptist
This is another uniquely recognizable icon. John the Baptist is traditionally depicted with wings and holding his severed head. This is an example of how orthodox icons emphasize symbolic meaning over candid realism.
Parable of the Good Samaritan
In this icon we have the parable of the good Samaritan. The parable itself is depicted, not a named saint, although in Christ's telling of this parable he seemed to be referring to an actual event (of a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho).
Venerating this icon is to venerate the very words of Christ, as well as venerating the good Samaritan and appealing to the spirit of the good Samaritan for help and intercession.