The Death of Icons

For most protestants, especially those who grew up protestant, there are many aspects of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy that seem strange to them, some may even seem sacrilegious. Practices like confession, veneration of the saints, and infant baptism are so far from the ways of most protestant denominations that it can almost seem that they are from an entirely different religion. Most of these practices, however, are at least partially similar to the practices of evangelicals. While some protestants may reject infant baptism they do agree that baptism is an important sacrament and while a priest is not necessary for the process of confessing sins we admit that confession of sins is a necessary part of a devoted life. But one aspect of roman catholicism (as well as eastern orthodoxy and some other Christian groups) that is completely foreign to many forms of protastinism is the use of icons in worship. Some churches globally have maintained some form of icons, but in the majority of evangelical churches in America this practice is completely absent, and this is a tragedy. This is not because the use of icons is good or beneficial, as this paper will show later, but because of the impact that icons have on the epistemology of the church.The rejection of icons during the protestant reformation caused, while a necessary part of their separation from the Roman Catholic Church, caused the church to completely distance themselves from all images and visual art, a problem that is still being rectified. To fully understand the impact that this shift has had it is first important to look at two things. The first thing that must be understood is what an icon actually is, and also is not. The second is to look at the history of icons and why they were abandoned by most protestants during the reformation.Importance of Icons  It may seem simple to define what an icon, however, while trying to fully define what is and is not an icon several problems come up. The first of these is that there are no definitions of icons in scripture. However, there are several things that may be considered to be icons such the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant that do appear in the Old Testament. Another problem is that there are no official definitions or statements about what is and is not an icon from the roman catholic church . In addition to this is the simple and confusing fact that no one seems to agree on what is and is not an icon. Most descriptions are complicated include contradicting descriptions of what icons are  and are not. These lists attempt to describe and define something that was mostly mysterious. For our purposes, we will be defining an icon as such. An icon is either a physical representation of a spiritual reality, or it is a physical item which has been mysteriously endowed with some sort of divine attribute and with which some miraculous event occurred. Icons serve as a way to see the unseeable and act as a window into the heavenly realm that man is allowed to look through. This definition may seem vague and very inclusive, but as you will see there are many things which are considered to be icons that seem completely different and unrelated.cons take many forms and many things can be considered icons. Some of the more common icons are paintings. While not all icons are images, many religious images are icons. Other icons objects which were owned by, touched by, or in some way associated with a biblical character. Some examples of this are pieces of the true cross or the bones of the apostles. Other examples of icons sculptures, church buildings, architectural features, and vestments. An icon may also have some miraculous attached to it, a miraculous healing, appearing to cry myrrh resistance to decay or a supposed word from God somehow being communicated through the icon, some even believed the icons to be alive and actually possessing divine attributes. It should also be noted that an icon is not an idol, at least not in a Christian context. Many religions use icons and in those religions, all idols would also count as icons, however, not all icons are idols (think of it like how all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares).  Many have accused the veneration of icons, and the saints associated with them, as being nothing more than idol worship this is not the case. Veneration and worship may seem similar in concept, both are about honoring and ascribing worth to something. In worship, however, the thing being paid respect to is seen as divine, in veneration it is not. In veneration, the icon or saint is not seen as the main focus. You are respecting them but still directing your focus to God, the one who is above both the item and the saint (that is at least the goal, to say that always occurs would be a lie) the point of veneration is to worship God alongside the saints, not to worship the saints.The Historical Significance of IconsIt is easy to forget now but for most of the Church’s history icons were a very important part of worship, and for some they still are. The history of icons extends even before the church itself and has many ties to roman traditions and even to ancient Jewish religious practices. Images (similar to icons, though it may be a stretch to call them icons) played an important role for the Hebrews as they worshiped God. The presence of God was physical with them in the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant as well, and the priestly vestments were very important ad played a role in teaching theology. At the same time, the Nation of Israel also saw the effects that icons have on worship by observing other nations around them. This is one of the many reasons that God ordered the destruction of items like altars to Baal and Asherah poles when the Israelites entered the promised land (Deut 20:17-18, Ezek 6:13) and one of the reasons why the second commandment given to Moses at Mt. Siani is to not make graven images (Exo 20:4). Obviously, worship of  false gods is wrong, but making images of false gods for that worship reinforces the worship of that deity. Rome also used icons in religion, but they also incorporated them into their society in a way which greatly influenced the Church. The Romans, along with several other people groups at the time, believed that a person's image contained their true presence. Because of this if there was an image of the emperor nearby then they viewed it as if the emperor was truly there watching you. This is, in part, how the early Church came to believe that icons contained the true divinity of Christ within them. An icon was not simply a picture of Christ it was Christ, there, present with you. How that was possible was not the matter of concern, the point was that he was mysteriously present. Iconoclasm and middle agesAs time went on, many in the early church began to reject icons. They claimed that, among other things, the use of images and icons was in direct violation with the second commandment, and that any portrayal of God was blasphemous because it is impossible for finite man to properly an infinite God. This thought led to several periods of iconoclasm,the systematic destruction of icons and images, throughout the Church during the Byzantine empire. Though these periods of iconoclasm eventually ended they had a lasting impact on the global church and were one of the key issues which caused the Roman Catholic Church in the east and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the west to split. Even after several rounds of iconoclasm by the Church images and icons still played a vital role in worship. This is due in part to the fact that the laity was illiterate and masses were conducted in latin. The only way that they had to understand the truth of scriptures was through art and icons. The latin mass may not have been completely understood by a congregation but an icon showing the virgin Mary and the newborn baby Jesus was easily recognized by the people. However, the view of icons would shift again during the reformation. To say that iconography was a main concern of the reformers would be a lie, but it was of some concern. Protestants rejected icons and images and began another round Iconoclasm. Around the 1560’s a wave of iconoclasm began to sweep throughout northern Europe. During a time when Calvinism was becoming more widely accepted and the Roman catholic Church was being fully rejected. Beeldenstorm, a Calvinist preacher, told his congregation to go out and destroy icons from nearby catholic churches. The lead to another period of iconoclasm. This period, unlike the periods in the past, would lead to a much larger shift in the public's thinking about icons. The Iconoclasm that followed in the later sixteenth century revealed not only that the newly established protestant church did not believe in icons but that they would not tolerate their use, and misuse, by anyone, especially the people of God.It is important to note that here iconoclasm is not a phenomenon which has only occurred in Christendom. Throughout history, many have realized the power of destroying important symbols and artifacts of those with whom they disagree, either politically, socially, or religiously (one good example of this can be seen in Mao Zedong’s destruction of Buddhist icons from 1966-1976. Seeing how and why Mao destroyed Buddhist icons and the effect that it has had on the religious landscape of China is helpful in seeing what iconoclasm can do to a people.).Iconoclasm is not simply the destruction of icons and images for the sake of destroying images. Iconoclasm is a symbolic action, rejecting the currently held beliefs of the powers and necessity for images. For the reformers, It said that they did not need images to see God and that we do not need an object to have Christ present with us. It is not an attack on items it is an assault on ideas. Just as Gideon’s destruction of the Asherah poles and altars to Baal showed that God was above those false gods the Protestants rejection of icons showed that a true understanding of God without the need for icons is superior to a false following of God which requires a reliance on the physical and visual to connect with God. In addition to showing what protestants believed about icons, the protestants iconoclasm showed how the power over society that the Roman Catholic Church once had was waning. Protestants could inspire large-scale change across many counties. No longer did Christians need to go to church to feel the presence of God. Not only that they no longer say icons and images as the best way to commune with God and understand his words. Today, it may seem drastic to go on a cross-country tour of destruction of other people’s property to prove a point. At the time, however, this degree of action was far more normative. Religion was so deeply intertwined into the political and social systems that to oppose icons and the catholic ways of worship were essential to oppose the government. The reformers were, in essence, in the middle of a rebellion, and like with any good rebellion destroying the current powers, icons was inevitable. Not only was the iconoclasm a religious statement of freedom from the roman catholic church but also a political one.This iconoclasm was not the only significant event that lead to widespread change in the way that people viewed the place icons held in worship.The printing press had already been invented and was quickly changing many aspects of people's day to day lives not just the religious aspects, though the printing press did have a tremendous impact on the way people viewed religion. Previous iconoclasms lacked the technological and cultural advancement that had taken place to allow them to stick. Now the perception of the ability of the lay people to understand scripture had changed drastically over the course of about a century. This shift of perception lead people to realize that they no longer needed icons and that the use of them was insufficient. To a people who had for centuries been held captive to or limited by icons. If someone desired to know about the life of Christ they did not need an icon, which is limited in how much can be conveyed, they had the words of God. No longer did the church come between God’s word and man, man now had easy access to it in their own language. The iconoclasm that resulted as a shift in that cultural thinking expressed this idea and reminded everyone of this truth. The old ways were gone and they were not coming back.After the Reformation The views of icons that the protestants had held and enforced continued on even after the protestant church had been firmly established. Many denominations, such as the puritans, placed a large value on reading and writing. Reading and writing were not only seen as important to the church. Those outside of the church also saw the importance of them and used them to convey their ideas, record history and engage in public discourse. The use of literature to do this was nothing new, ever since its invention the written word had been used for these purposes, however, images were still widely used due to the difficulty associated with mass producing a work before the printing press. After the reformation images were still used in this way but not to the same extent as the written word, and because images no longer held their same value icons also went through a mass depreciation in cultural value. By the time that people began to colonize the Americas this cultural shift was complete. Those settling the new world were largely protestant and because of this did not take icons with them to the new world. As the church was being established in America the public mindset was shifting more and more to the importance of literacy and icons and images were left out of the worship of the American Church. It should be said that this exclusion of icons from the church was not necessarily a bad thing. The over reliance of icons in worship by the Roman Catholic church was still fresh in the minds of the puritans, to re-incorporate them into worship so soon and suddenly would have been a cause for alarm and a sign that everything that the previous generations had fought and died for was not worth it. The exclusion of icons by the American protestants is not a negative fact, it is simply what happened, however, it did have several unintended effects on those that would come after.   The Current Landscape Today the protestant church's relationship with icons and images is difficult to define. To say that there is one way that all protestant view images would be wrong. Overall most evangelical protestants do not believe that there is any power or presence in icons, but some do find them and things like them helpful in worship. However, this is generally a more recent occurrence. The way that the church relates to images and are can be and has been the topic of many writings and would be impractical to discuss at length now. What is important is that over the last century images have been slowly reincorporated into the Church. This is not without some great difficulty, everyone in the church has seen their fair share of bad art in the church and books could be filled with jokes about the terrible apparel and posters present at Christian bookstores. In spite of this images are re-emerging in the protestant church. The days of sheer white walls with a single cross are coming to an end. I believe that this trend should and will continue. While it is wrong to over rely on icons, and even to say there is divinity on an inanimate object, images and objects can help to draw the church closer and to teach and illustrate biblical principles. These should not be used alone. The Church's’ focus should be on the scriptures, everything else should exist to aid in that understanding.Over the past two thousand years, the way that Christians have viewed the relationship of icons and worship has constantly shifted. There have been times where they have been a helpful tool in worshiping God and times where they have been a distraction, times where they have been a key part of the Christian life and times where they have been totally absent. With the constant change that has taken place, it is easy to try to make one hard and fast judgment on what role icons should play in worship, but their role does depend on many things. The culture surrounding worship does change and as it changes we must be aware that some things that once were important no longer are, but may be again some day. Rejecting icons during the protestant reformation was important but today an acceptance of them may be important in illustrating the truth of God’s presence in our lives.The question should not be whether icons should be present in worship or if images should be completely absent. The question should be in their role. Have they become the focus? Is the creation what we are worshiping? Are we worshiping an image of God and an icon that is supposed to draw us closer to him or are we truly worshiping God? If an icon or image has become our focus it should be cut out, but if the image draws us closer to God, if the icon reminds us of his presence among man we should embrace them and use them in our worship to draw us closer to our creator through the thing which we have created. While it may be too late to re incorporate icons fully into the church, we should still use images and art. In doing this we can be reminded of the truth that God is with us and have a window into heaven.  If you would like to know more about icons and their use in worship click here for an interview with Aphrodite Peponas from Annunciation Church in Chicago.Works Cited Reinders, Eric. "Monkey Kings Make Havoc: Iconoclasm and Murder in the Chinese Cultural Revolution." Religion 34.3 (2004): 191-209. Web.Zelensky, Elizabeth, and Lela Gilbert. Windows to Heaven: Introducing Icons to Protestants and Catholics. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2005. Print.Dyrness, William A. Senses of the Soul: Art and the Visual in Christian Worship. Eugene, Or.: Cascade, 2008. Print.Jennes, William M. The Substance of Things Seen. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm E. Eerdmans, 2004. Print.Bynum, Caroline Walker. Christian Materiality: An Essay on Religion in Late Medieval Europe. New York: Zone, 2011. Print. Olson, Roger E. The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1999. Print.Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Penguin, 1986. Print.