Idolatry or Iconography? Part III
This is a sort of part three of a series I’ve done regarding the use of iconography as a biblical practice, and the veneration of such. What are even more biblical examples of iconography in Scripture? Of idolatry? How do we distinguish the two? May the Triune God grace my words in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Bronze Serpent
The first example occurs with Moses and the bronze serpent. God instructs Moses to create an image of a bronze serpent and raise it up on a pole. St. John the Theologian is quick to note this is pointing to a prefiguration of Jesus Christ being lifted up on the cross. The biblical passages are as follows:
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” - Numbers 21:8-9
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” - John 3:14
Again, God instructs Moses to make an image, and by looking at this image a person could be healed. The image itself does not heal, the material it is made on by itself does not heal, but God’s grace working through the image indeed does. Holy Scripture says this plainly. This is an example of iconography in the Bible.
Now if we fast forward to King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18, the following is given: “He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.” We find King Hezekiah destroying the bronze serpent, why? Because the people had begun to think the literal material serpent healed them of itself, they even gave it a name. This is an example of idolatry in the Bible.
So the bronze serpent was either good or bad depending upon its use, when used as an instrument of God to bring us close to Him it is iconography. When believed that the image is God Himself or another “god” it is idolatry. God clearly did not find this bronze serpent originally to be a graven image, but in its misuse it became one.
This is where we get to the more fundamental objection today against both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics, the argument is something along the lines of “yes images are fine to be made and looked at, but they are not to be bowed to, kissed, or venerated. That is the idolatrous part.”
“When Did We See You?”
Which leads me to my next example to counter this argument is found in the Holy Scriptures, specifically: “For I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” - Matthew 25:42-45
Christ here is explaining that when we pass by our fellow brothers and sisters who are hungry, tired, sick, etc we are passing by Christ Himself, as every human being is made in the image of God. You cannot divorce His image from the human person.
Christ Himself distinctly says what is done (and not done) to the image is passed on to the prototype. This is what we believe about venerating icons. He says you didn’t feed/clothe that person (image) and therefore you didn’t feed/clothe Me (prototype). The kiss given to the icon of Christ passes on to Him. It is a window to Him.
Now, when you do give to the poor, or feed someone who is hungry, are you therefore committing idolatry? Certainly not! Apply the same logic to iconography. If someone were to enter your house and destroy the images of your loved ones, would you not be upset? But why are you even upset? Because inherently that same reality is known, it is a disrespect to the prototype of whom we love.
When we bow in respect to someone in real life, or kiss our spouse, is this idolatry? As these people are also images of God. The quick retort is “oh but these are living people! And that image is not alive!” once again showing the lack of distinction between the image and the prototype which again the Lord Himself emphasizes a distinction. It also subtly states that Christ is not alive, if an image of Him is simply dead and not worthy of veneration. It also reveals the belief that in heaven people are no longer alive, when it’s quite the opposite. Our God is a God of the living (Mark 12:27).
Bowing and kissing images being idolatry argument hinges on the presupposition that said image is a false god, and that those doing so believe the literal material/image is God Himself. This would imply Jesus Christ is a false god, and the latter is simply untrue. I reference back to the first example of what is proper iconography and what falls over into idolatry.
Was Joshua an idolater when he bowed before the Ark of the Covenant adorned with images? “And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the Ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads." (Joshua 7:6)
Ezra, Solomon and Ezekiel all bow and prostrate in prayer in the Bible too. Or was Abraham an idolater for bowing before the people? “And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth... And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land."(Genesis 23:7).
By this same logic of never having images due to the risk of idolatry, we should never drink alcohol due to the risk of drunkenness, we should never eat due to the risk of gluttony, married couples should never consummate the marriage due to the risk of lust, etc. This all easily falls apart under scrutiny. Nothing is inherently evil, it becomes evil in our misuse of it through the will.
Do you think you see simply images of saints everywhere in the Orthodox Church along the walls and ceilings? Do you not know that you are seeing Christ in all of these saints and that’s why they are saints in the first place? They incarnated the reality of Christ on earth, these images of saints are all showing forth Christ. “When did we see You?” how applicable this is to us today, myself especially. How many people will say this due to the account of our own lives? When was the last time others saw Christ in us? When was the last time we saw Christ in others?
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all!
Render To God
That thought leads me to reinforce it with the last example of Jesus answering the Pharisees showing them the coin of Caesar. They try to trap Him by saying is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?
“Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cæsar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.” - Matthew 22:17-22
The response, “Render to Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is God’s.” They marveled! What is to marvel about if Jesus is just saying “okay, pay your taxes.”
They marvel because Jesus is saying you should render to Caesar what this earthly king thinks belongs to himself only for a time but render to God’s what is God’s; that Caesar himself belongs to God, and all of the earth belongs to God too as He made him and it. Caesar only rules in this moment because God allows it. “The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it” - Psalm 24. The coin bears the image of Caesar, so it belongs to Caesar; then because we bear the image of God, we belong to God including Caesar.
So yes we should honor those who rule over us and honor God Who triumphs and is above all earthly rulers too. We render to the earthy rulers (Caesar) so long as they are in line with the heavenly ruler (God). The Pharisees set up a dialectical trap for Christ tempting Him as if everything doesn’t belong to Him, and He rejected the premise answering with a both/and.
Conclusion
This can be applied to the iconography question too, as Jesus for a second time in the Bible, is proclaiming that images refer back to their prototype. Even further, speaking to the faithful Church in Revelation 3:9, God says, “I will make them bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.” Therefore, God is explicitly saying saints are to be venerated! We even see this in the life of the great prophet Elijah, read his story again and see how often he and Elisha are both bowed to.
As I think I’ve proved, veneration of iconography depends upon the image itself, and the intent before it could ever be considered idolatry, this includes the context of bowing and kissing found throughout the Holy Scriptures.
Opponents often talk about the “idolatry of iconography” erroneously either knowingly or unknowingly. But what about the iconography of idolatry? What do I mean by this?
Those who hold these iconoclastic beliefs (most of the time unintentionally), be them about images themselves or the veneration of them; cannot escape the reality of their own iconographic worldview. A worldview which murders its own ability of vision and image while calling the rest of the world to be blind because they blinded themselves.
Side Note:
I recommend everyone get themselves an EOB (Eastern Orthodox Bible).