Soli Deo Gloria: For the Glory of God Alone

The Messenger, August 16, 2012
Images

By JOHN K. JONES
Special to The Messenger
 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6
In this week’s article in our series on the Heidelberg Catechism, we turn to Lord’s Day 35, questions 96-98. These questions and answers are printed in their entirety below with the Scripture references.
Question 96:  What is God’s will for us in the second commandment?  Answer: That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than has been commanded in God’s Word. (Deut. 4:15-19; Isaiah. 40:18-25; Acts 17:29; Romans 1:22-23, 2 Leviticus 10:1-7; I Samuel 15:22-23; John 4:23-24)
Question 97: May we then not make any image at all? Answer: God cannot and may not be visibly portrayed in any way.  Although creatures may be portrayed, yet God forbids making or having such images if one’s intention is to worship them or to serve God through them. (Exodus 34:13-14, 17; II Kings 18:4-5)
Question 98: But may not images be permitted in churches in place of books for the unlearned? Answer: No, we should not try to be wiser than God. God wants the Christian community instructed by the living preaching of his Word — not by idols that cannot even talk. (Romans 10:14-15, 17; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19; 2 Jeremiah 10:8; Habakuk 2:18-20)
In our day, this may well be the most controversial section of the Heidelberg Catechism. Many in the modern church have flashed pictures or artwork depicting Jesus onto screens in front of congregations of believers as they worship the Lord in song.  Pictures of Jesus adorn our church walls and even our Bibles. In emergent church circles, artists paint God and His Son, Jesus, as a part of the worship service. Other flamboyant artists paint pictures of Jesus that dazzle the senses.
However, if the catechism is right, these images and their use in worship lead us to picture God in ways that limit His being.  God is Spirit, and we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). God is free, and, as Kevin DeYoung says in his book “The Good News We Almost Forgot,” “Once you have something to represent God or worship as if it were your god, you undermine God’s freedom.” God has the freedom to act in the ways He pleases, and images do not control Him. God is also majestic, and no form or picture can capture or express His glory adequately.
In his book “Knowing God,” respected evangelical theologian J. I. Packer says: “Psychologically, it is certain that if you habitually focus your thoughts on an image or picture of the One to Whom you are going to pray, you will come to think of Him, and pray to Him, as the image represents Him. Thus you will in this sense “bow down” and “worship” your image; and to the extent to which the image fails to tell the truth about God, to that extent you will fail to worship God in truth.”
God can and does communicate facts about Himself through the written words of the Bible. We would be much better off teaching people to read and understand Scripture than spending our time dabbling with images that readily become idols.
———
Editor’s note: John K. Jones is the chairman of deacons at Grace Presbyterian Church in Troy, where he attends with his wife and child.
 

Print