with the inscription ("fish of the living"), early 3rd century,
National Roman Museum.
Early Christian art used symbolic and allegorical images mainly, partly no doubt to avoid drawing attention during the
persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire. In the
Catacombs of Rome, Jesus was represented indirectly by
pictogram symbols such as the
Ichthys (
fish),
peacock,
Lamb of God, or an anchor (the
Labarum or
Chi-Rho was a later development). Later, personified symbols were used, including
Jonah, whose three days in the belly of the whale pre-figured the interval between Christ's death and
Resurrection,
Daniel in the lion's den, or
Orpheus charming the animals. The image of "
The Good Shepherd", a beardless youth in
pastoral scenes collecting
sheep, was the most common of these images, and was probably not understood as a portrait of the historical Jesus. The
depiction of Jesus already from the 3rd century included images very similar to what became the traditional image of Jesus, with a longish face and long straight hair. As the Church increased in size and popularity, the need to educate illiterate converts led to the use of pictures which portrayed biblical stories, along with images of saints, angels, prophets, and the Cross (though only portrayed in a bejewelled, glorified state). After the end of persecution, and the adoption of Christianity by
Constantine, large churches were built and from the start decorated with elaborate images of Jesus and saints in
mosaic. Small carved
reliefs were also found on
sarcophagi like the
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus. However large
monumental sculpture of religious subjects was not produced, and in
Byzantine art and
Eastern Orthodox art it is avoided to the current day. It only reappeared in
Carolingian art, among peoples who had no memory of pagan religious statues. Paintings of Old Testament scenes are found in Jewish
catacombs of the same period, and the heavily painted walls of
Dura Europos Synagogue in Syria. Catholic and Orthodox historians affirm, on the basis of these archeological finds in the Catacombs, that the
veneration of
icons and
relics had begun well before Constantine I. Christian use of relics also dates to the catacombs, when Christians found themselves praying in the presence of the bodies of martyrs, sometimes using their tombs as altars for sharing the
Eucharist, which was, and in
Catholicism,
Lutheranism and
Eastern Orthodoxy is, the central act of Christian worship. Many stories of the earliest martyrs end with an account of how Christians would gather up the martyr's remains, to the extent possible, in order to retain the martyr's relics. This is shown in the written record of the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, a personal disciple of Saint
John the Apostle. Significant periods of
iconoclasm (deliberate destruction of icons) have occurred in the history of the Church, the first major outbreak being the
Byzantine iconoclasm (730–787), motivated by a strictly literal interpretation of the second commandment and interaction with Muslims who have a very strict teachings against the creation of images. Iconoclasm was officially condemned by the Western and Eastern Churches at the
Second Council of Nicaea in 787 AD (the Western Church was not represented, but approved the decrees later). This decision was based on the arguments including that the biblical commandment forbidding images of God was because no-one had seen God. But, by the Incarnation of Jesus, who is God incarnate in visible matter, humankind has now seen God. It was therefore argued that they were not depicting the invisible God, but God as He appeared in the flesh. •
Thomas Aquinas said, (Summa, III, 25, 3), but "no reverence is shown to Christ's image, as a thing---for instance, carved or painted wood: because reverence is not due save to a rational creature". In the case of an image of a saint, the
worship would not be
latria but rather
dulia, while the
Blessed Virgin Mary receives
hyperdulia. The worship of whatever type,
latria,
hyperdulia, or
dulia, can be considered to go through the icon, image, or statue: "The honor given to an image reaches to the prototype" (St. John Damascene in Summa
³).
Adrian Fortescue sums up Church teaching: "We should give to relics, crucifixes and holy pictures a relative honour, as they relate to Christ and his saints and are memorials of them. We do not pray to relics or images, for they can neither see nor hear nor help us." The
USCCB also refers to
materialism,
sports, and those who resort to omens by
mediums or others who claim to control time and history as potential forms of idolatry. Speaking of the effects of idolatry,
Benedict XVI says, "Worship of an idol, instead of opening the human heart to Otherness, to a liberating relationship that permits the person to emerge from the narrow space of his own selfishness to enter the dimensions of love and of reciprocal giving, shuts the person into the exclusive and desperate circle of self-seeking"
Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy avoids 3-dimensional religious iconography, but has a rich history of using 2 dimensional icons. Eastern Orthodox position in this regard is elaborated by
John Damascene as follows Damascene argues that the injunction against icon-veneration applied as long as God hadn't been seen by mortals, but that no longer applied after
Jesus' Incarnation. (see
Supersession of the
Old Covenant with the
New Covenant). He interpreted the contemporary
Byzantine iconoclasm as '
The letter kills while the spirit gives life'.(
2 Corinthians 3:6) Following is an extract from the text
Lutheran A recent joint Lutheran-Orthodox statement made in the 7th Plenary of the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission, in July 1993 in Helsinki, reaffirmed the Ecumenical Council decisions on the nature of Christ and the veneration of images: 7. As Lutherans and Orthodox we affirm that the teachings of the ecumenical councils are authoritative for our churches. The ecumenical councils maintain the integrity of the teaching of the undivided Church concerning the saving, illuminating/justifying and glorifying acts of God and reject heresies which subvert the saving work of God in Christ. Orthodox and Lutherans, however, have different histories. Lutherans have received the Nicaeno?Constantinopolitan Creed with the addition of the filioque. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which rejected iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons in the churches, was not part of the tradition received by the Reformation. Lutherans, however, rejected the iconoclasm of the 16th century, and affirmed the distinction between adoration due to the Triune God alone and all other forms of veneration (CA 21). Through historical research this council has become better known. Nevertheless it does not have the same significance for Lutherans as it does for the Orthodox. Yet,
Lutherans and
Orthodox are in agreement that the Second Council of Nicaea confirms the christological teaching of the earlier councils and in setting forth the role of images (icons) in the lives of the faithful reaffirms the reality of the incarnation of the eternal Word of God, when it states: "The more frequently, Christ, Mary, the mother of God, and the saints are seen, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these icons the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honored and life?giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred objects" (Definition of the Second Council of Nicaea).
Martin Luther held to the "importance of images as tools for instruction and aids to devotion". He stated that "If it is not a sin but good to have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes?" He permitted the commissioning of new Lutheran altarpieces, including those of the
Last Supper. The
Schneeberg Altarpiece was placed at the
high altar of
St. Wolfgang's Church, Schneeberg and as
Lutheran sacred imagery, reflects "the devotional forms of fifteenth- and early sixteenth century northern art".
Methodist with a
votive candle rack and
kneeler in a Methodist church in
Cleveland. Writing for the
United Methodist Church, Tricia Brown discusses the importance of sacred art:
Reformed .
John Calvin, the progenitor of the
Reformed tradition of Christianity that influenced the
Continental Reformed,
Congregational,
Anglican and
Presbyterian traditions, was always extremely hostile to all publicly displayed religious images, which were systematically destroyed by Calvinists, as in the
Beeldenstorm in the Netherlands. Towards the end of the 16th century there were disputes between Lutherans and Calvinists, with the Lutherans offering strong opposition to Calvinist iconoclasm. Though both groupings did not object to book illustrations or prints of biblical events, or portraits of reformers, production of large-scale religious art virtually ceased in Protestant regions after about 1540, and artists shifted to secular subjects, ironically often including revived
classical mythology. The earliest
catechisms of Reformed (Calvinist) Christianity, written in the 16th through 18th centuries, including the
Heidelberg (1563),
Westminster (1647) and
Fisher's (1765), included discussions in a question and answer format detailing how the creation of images of God (including Jesus) was counter to their understanding of the Second Commandment's prohibition against creating images of worship in any manner. 20th century Calvinist theologian
J. I. Packer, in Chapter 4 of his book
Knowing God, writes that, "Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining Him by the work of our hands." His overall concern is that "The mind that takes up with images is a mind that has not yet learned to love and attend to God's Word." In other words, image making relies on human sources rather than on divine revelation. Another typical Christian argument for this position might be that God was incarnate as a human being, not as an object of wood, stone or canvas, and therefore the only God-directed service of images permitted is the service of other people. During the period of Archbishop
William Laud's conflicts with
Puritans within the
Church of England, the use of ritual implements prescribed by the
Book of Common Prayer was a frequent cause of conflict. (See
vestments controversy)
Non-use by Amish Proto-Anabaptist leader
Andreas Karlstadt read the commandment that
one should make no graven images, and he applied that to any image. He said that if someone made an image of something in heaven, on the earth, or below the earth, then he is breaking the commandment and is guilty of idolatry. The
Amish are an
Anabaptist Christian group that forbids the use of images in secular life. In their critiques these groups argue that such practices are in effect little different from idolatry, and that they localize and particularize God, who, they argue, is beyond human depiction. ==See also==