By New Martyr Nicholas Varzhansky (+1918)
In Holy Scripture a
great deal is said concerning sacred depictions and sacred objects. Some
depictions were absolutely forbidden as being false; one could not make them,
possess them or honour them. However, God did command the making of other
images and objects, and it was ordained that they should be considered holy and
be honoured. First let us consider the false depictions.
False depictions
and objects were absolutely forbidden by the Second Commandment of the Law
given on Sinai:
"I am the Lord
thy God, Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage; thou shalt have no other gods before My face. Thou shalt not make unto
thee any idol 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: thou shalt not
bow thyself down to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous
God" (Ex. 20:2-5; Deut. 5:6-9).
The false
depictions are the idols of:
The calf (Ex.
32:4); Moloch (Lev. 18:21); Baal-phegor (Numbers 25:3); Baal (Judges 2:13; 3
[1] Kings 18:21-29); Astarte (Judges 2:13).
The idols are
nothing:
"We know that
an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but One"
(1 Cor. 4-6).
Idols are the
works of the hands of men:
"The customs
of the people are vanity; they cut down a tree in the forest, they work it with
the hands of the carpenter with the help of the axe; they cover it with silver
and gold, they fasten it with nails and the hammer, that it move not. They are
as turned columns, but they do not speak; they must needs be borne because they
cannot go. Be not afraid of them for they cannot cause evil, and neither is in
their power to do good" (Jer. 10:3-5).
The laws of
nature do not yield to the idols:
"Every man is
mindless in his understanding; every smelter is shamed by his graven image, for
what he hath fashioned is false, and there is no breath in them. It is a
complete vanity, the work of delusion; in the time of their visitation they
shall perish" (Jer. 10:14-15).
The idols cause
depravity and abomination:
"The idea of
making idols is the beginning of fornication, and the invention of them the
dissipation of life" (Wisdom of Solomon 14:12).
Near the idol of
Astarte there was a house of ill-fame. Osias the king "brought" the
Astarte "out of the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook of
Kedron, and he burned it at the brook of Kedron, and stamped it small to
powder, and cast the powder thereof out upon the cemetery of the peoples. And
he brake down the houses of ill-fame, which were by the house of the Lord,
where the women wove garments for Astarte, and he brought all the priests out
of the cities of Judah" (4 [2] Kings 23:6-8).
God commands to
make true depictions:
"Make ye an
ark of shittim wood, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a
cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height
thereof" (Ex. 25:10).
"Make thou a
mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and
a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And make thou two cherubims of gold,
make thou them of beaten work, at the two ends of the mercy seat. Arid make one
cherubim at the one end and the other cherubim at the other end; standing out
from the mercy seat make the the cherubims on both its ends, and the cherubims
shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their
wings, and their faces shall be one to another; towards the mercy seat shall
the faces of the cherubims be. And place the mercy seat above the ark on high,
and in the ark place the revelation, that I shall give thee" (Ex.
25:17-21).
"Moreover make
thou the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and of blue and
purple and scarlet stuff, and cherubims of skillful work make thou on
them" (Ex. 26:1).
"And make thou
a veil of blue, and purple and scarlet stuff and of fine twined linen;
cherubims of skillful workmanship must be made upon it" (Ex. 26:31).
The Ark of the
Covenant was itself called Lord:
"When the ark
was taken up on the way, Moses said: Arise, O Lord, and let Thine enemies be
scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee from before Thy face! And when the
ark rested, he said: Return, O Lord, unto the ten thousand thousands of lsrael!"
(Number 10:35-36).
"Exalt ye the
Lord our God, and worship the footstool of His feet, for it is holy” (Ps.98:5).
David spoke before
the ark and he said: "Before the Lord will I play and will dance, and I
will be more abased, and will make myself even more lowly in mine eyes" (2
Kings [Samuel] 6:21-22).
The ark was
called God as being the highest holy thing of God:
"O God, when
Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst traverse the wilderness,
the earth was shaken and the heavens dropped dew, at the presence of the God of
Sinai, at the presence of the God of Israel"(Ps. 67:8-9).
God commands to
make sacred objects:
"Make thou an
altar of offering, from shittim wood make thou it" (Ex. 30:1).
"Upon it Aaron
shall burn sweet-smelling incense every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he
shall burn incense thereon; and when Aaron lighteth the lamps at evening, he
shall burn incense thereon - a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your
generations" (Ex. 30:7-8).
"And make thou
a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work must this candlestick be."
"And make thou seven lamps therefor, and set its lamps thereon that they
might light over against it" (Ex. 25:31;37).
The tabernacle,
the sacred depictions and objects were sanctified and most holy.
"Make thou of
it a chrism for sacred anointing, an ointment, compounded by the art of one who
compounds ointments; it shall be chrism for sacred anointing; and anoint thou
the tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the table
and all that pertains thereto, and the candlestick and all that pertains
thereto, and the altar of incense, and the altar of the whole burnt offering
and all that pertains thereto, and the laver and its stand; and sanctify them
and it shall be a holy great thing: all who touch them shall be
sanctified" (Ex. 30:25-29).
All the sacred
objects and depictions were made not only by God's command, but also according
to the pattern revealed by Him:
"Make thou
them according to that pattern, which was shown thee on the mountain" (Ex.
25:40).
True depictions
were not only found in the tabernacle, but also in the Temple of Solomon:
"He made two
cherubims of olive wood, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing
of the cherubim, and five cubits the other wing of the cherubim; from the
uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten
cubits. And the other cherubim was ten cubits; both the cherubims were of one
measure and of one form. The height of one cherubim was ten cubits, and so was
it of the other cherubim. And he set the cherubims in the centre of the inner
part of the temple. The wings of the cherubims were stretched forth, and the
wing of one touched one wall and the wing of the other cherubim touched the
other wall; and the other wings came together wing upon wing in the midst of
the temple. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. And on all the walls of
the temple around he made various depictions of cherubims, and of palm trees,
and of open flowers, within and without" (3 [1] Kings 6:23 -29).
The Lord
sanctified this Temple and approved Solomon on its account:
"The Lord
appeared unto Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gabaoth.
And the Lord said unto him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that
thou has made before Me (I have done all according to thy prayer). I have
hallowed this temple, which thou hast built, that My name might continue there
unto the age; and Mine eyes and My heart shall be there in all days… But if ye
shall at all turn from following Me, ye or your sons, and will not keep My
commandments and My statutes that I have given you, but go and begin to serve
other gods and worship them, then will I cut off Israel from the face of the
land, which I have given it, and the temple which I have sanctified for My name
will I turn away from My face, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among
all peoples. And at this temple, which is high, everyone that passeth by shall
be astonished and shall hiss, and they shall say: Why hath the Lord acted thus
with this land and with this temple? And they shall say: Because they forsook the
Lord their God, Who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and
did take unto themselves other gods and worshipped them and served them;
therefore hath the Lord brought all this calamity upon them" (3 [1] Kings
9:2-3, 6-9).
There were
sacred depictions in the true temple seen in vision by the Prophet Ezekiel:
"Show them the
form of the temple and the fashion thereof… and all the images thereof" (Ezek.
43:11).
Idols were
always distinguished from true depictions. The Lord sanctified the temple with
its true depictions, but when Solomon introduced false depictions the Lord
condemned him:
"And Solomon
began to serve Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milchom the
abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did what was displeasing in the eyes
of the Lord, and followed not the Lord wholly, as had David his father. Then
did Solomon build an idol-temple to Chalmos, the abomination of the Moabites,
on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and to Moloch the abomination of the
Ammonites. And likewise did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and
offered sacrifices unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned from the Lord God of lsrael, Which had appeared
unto him twice, and commanded him that he not follow after other gods, but he
did not fulfil that which the Lord (God) had commanded him. And the Lord said
unto Solomon: Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept My
covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the
kingdom from thee, and will give it unto thy servant" (3 [1] Kings
11:5-11).
The Hebrews used
to worship and bow down before sacred objects:
"I shall
worship toward Thy holy temple" (Ps. 5:8).
"I will
worship towards Thy holy temple" (Ps. 137:2).
At the tabernacle,
Moses and Aaron "fell upon their faces" (Number 20:16).
Jesus of Navi
[Joshua] "fell to the earth upon his face before the ark" (Josh.
7:6).
They lit lamps
before these sacred objects, following the teaching of the Lord Himself Who
said unto Moses:
"Thou shalt
make a candlestick of pure gold … and thou shalt make seven lamps therefore,
and place its lamps thereon, that they might give light over against it. And
the tongs thereof and the snuffers thereof shall be of pure gold … and look
that thou make them after the pattern which was showed thee on the mount"
(Ex. 25:31, 37-40; see Ex. 27:20, 21; 30:8; Lev. 24:2; 2 Chronicles 4:40).
They burned
incense as the Lord commanded Moses:
"Thou shalt
make … censers … and thou shalt make an altar to offer incense thereon… and
Aaron shall burn thereon fragrant incense" (Ex. 25:29, 30:1,7).
Candles and
offerings in the temple of the Lord were not denied even in the New Testament,
for the Saviour says (Matt. 5:21-24): if thou bring thy gift to the altar and
the rest; and see also Hebrews 13:10; the Saviour's tribute money for the
temple (Matt. 17:24-27); the widow's mite (Mark 12:41-44).
Miracles were
worked through sacred object:
The Ark was taken
by the Philistines into the temple of Dagon and for this reason Dagon was
overthrown, and the Philistines were punished with grievous tormenting
haemorrhoids (1 Kings [Samuel] 5:1-6).
"And He (the
Lord) smote the inhabitants of Bethsamis, because they had looked upon the ark
of the Lord, and He smote of the people fifty thousand and seventy men. And the
people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great
slaughter" (1 Kings [Samuel] 6:19).
"Uzzah put
forth his hand to the ark of God (to steady it) and took hold of it, for the
oxen shook it. But the Lord was angered against Uzzah, and God smote him for
his boldness, and he died there by the ark of God" (2 Kings [Samuel]
6:6-7).
The Saviour did
not condemn the true depictions in the Temple of Jerusalem, but on the contrary
He said:
"My house
shall be called of all nations the house of prayer" (Mark 11:17; Matt.
21:13; Luke 19:46; John 2:16).
The apostles
prayed and worshipped in this Temple:
"That thou
mayest understand," said the Apostle Paul, "that there are yet but
twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship" (Acts 24:11).
The Lord appeared
to the Apostle Paul in the Temple showing that prayers offered in churches with
sacred depictions are acceptable to God:
The Apostle Paul
says: "When I was come again unto Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the
Temple, I was in a trance and saw Him (Christ)" (Acts 22:14-18).
The Lord
promised to reveal Himself to those who would keep His Commandments:
"He that hath
My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me, and he that loveth
Me shall be loved of My father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself
unto him" (John 14:21). This implies that the prayer of the Apostle Paul in
the Temple before the icons was acceptable in that the Lord once appeared to
the Apostle Paul during such prayer.
The Lord founded
the New Testament Church and in the true Church there are sacred objects such
as the holy icons:
Prior to the Second
Coming, the Antichrist will come, the "man of sin will be revealed, the
son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called
God or that is holy, so that he shall sit in the temple of God, as God, shewing
himself to be God" (2 Thess. 2:3-4).
This means that
before the coming of Christ, the Christians will have churches of God, and in
them will be holy things "called God".
These holy things
"called God" as the Apostle says are the holy icons. [1] We depict:
●
God the Father, as the Prophet
Daniel saw Him, as the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9). [2]
●
The Son of God - the Incarnate
Word, as the Holy Apostles beheld Him (John 1:14).
●
The Holy Spirit in the form of a
dove, as He descended on the Saviour "in bodily form" (Luke 3:22).
We also have
depictions of the Mother of the Lord, the Holy Angels, the Holy Apostles and of
all who pleased God. For us, the icons are primarily for the remembrance of
God, of the sacred events, of the instructive lives of the Lord and of the
saints. Also, icons set forth the teachings of God and invoke religious
feelings in us. Through icons we glorify God as we do through sacred singing
and music. Christians have always had icons, and there never was a time when
the Christians had absolutely no icons. This is shown not only by Scripture but
also by the whole history of the Church. The Roman Catacombs, in which the
Christians used to pray at the beginning of the Faith of Christ on earth, are
abundant in icons.
Wherefore we must
ask the sectarians: How can they be they Christians if they have no divine holy
things? How is it that they have no holy icons?
A Selection of
Refutations of the Dissenters
The Dissenters
say: Exodus 20:4-5; images are forbidden, which means
that icons are forbidden.
The Orthodox
reply: It is idols of false gods that are forbidden.
Through true depictions we remember and glorify the true God. These depictions
are not forbidden: Ex. 25:8-10, 17-21; 26:1,31 etc.
The Dissenters
say: Esaias [Isaiah] 17:7-8.
The Orthodox
reply: This concerns the idols of Astarte and Baal and
their altars, not true depictions.
The Dissenters
say: Esaias 31:7.
The Orthodox
reply: This concerns idols.
The Dissenters
say: Esaias 42:8; 48:11.
The Orthodox
reply: Here is says that the True God will not give
His glory to a false god (an idol).
The Dissenters
say: Esaias 44:8-28.
The Orthodox
reply: Here it speaks about the making of idols, about
their being unnecessary and vain, but it says nothing here about true
representations. Moreover, here the Lord promises the building of the Temple of
Jerusalem (Esaias 44:28.) showing that material sacred objects are permitted.
The Dissenters
say: Jeremias 2:26-28.
The Orthodox say: We do not forget God, but rather strive to remember Him by His
depictions.
The Dissenters
say: “Thus saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The
ark of the covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to mind, neither shall
they approach it, neither shall that be done any more” (Jer. 3:16).
The Orthodox
reply: We do not mourn the loss of the ark because now
we have Christ God. It is clear though that the commandments forbidding idols
were not violated by sacred depictions or by the ark, the cherubims and the
rest.
The Dissenters
say: Deut. 4:15-17. All representations are therefore
categorically forbidden.
The Orthodox
reply: Here it speaks of the likenesses and idols of
other gods. Moreover the True God is a jealous God and will not have mercy when
man begins to serve other gods. However the Orthodox do not make false idols,
only true depictions of the one true God. Similarly we depict the good servants
of the one God, the holy Angels and the saints. A depiction of God is not a
substitute for God, but recalls Him and instructs concerning the true God, just
as a portrait of the king does not replace, but rather brings to mind, the
earthly king.
The Dissenters
say: Jer. 10:3-15.
The Orthodox
reply: Here it concerns idols, and not true
depictions, which are permitted (see Ex. 25:8-10, 17-21).
The Dissenters
say: See the Book of Jeremias.
The Orthodox
reply: This concerns idols and not true
representations, which are permitted.
The Dissenters
say: Acts 17:24-31.
The Orthodox
reply: We do not think that the Divinity is gold,
silver, or stone carved by men. But we ask the question: Is God actually paper,
printed with letters? No. But we use paper to refer to God by writing the name
‘God’. Is God actually an angel or a stranger? No. But God appeared in the form
of three strangers (see Genesis, chapter 18) and in the form of an Angel (see
Judges, chapter 6).
Yes, we depict God
in those forms in which He appeared to people; and Christ in the appearance
that He had when he lived on earth; the Holy Spirit, as He appeared in a bodily
form, in the form of a dove (Luke 3:22); God the Father in the appearance of the
"Ancient of Days" that is as an Elder, as was seen in the vision of
the Prophet Daniel (7:9) and also the angels, the Mother of God and the saints.
The Dissenters
say: Romans 1:21-23. The Apostle forbids sacred
depictions.
The Orthodox
reply: The Church has never changed the glory of the
incorruptible God. The sacred depictions, they do not stand with us "in
place of the Creator," as do idols with the pagans. Just as a portrait of
the king does not replace the king, so sacred depictions do not replace Christ
God, Whom the holy icon commemorates.
The Dissenters
say: Psalms 113 and 134.
The Orthodox
reply: Here Scripture speaks of idols.
The Dissenters
say: John 1:18. No one has seen God at any time and it
is completely impossible to represent Him.
The Orthodox
reply: It is possible, because "the Only Begotten
Son, Which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath revealed Him" (John
1:18). "And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon
Him" (Luke 3:22). So we represent the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, as
the Lord manifested Himself.
The Dissenters
say: It is not necessary to speak of Old Testament
depictions because Hebrew 9:5 now applies.
The Orthodox
reply: Then don't read about them in the Bible, and
cross these references out! But this one cannot do, but one must rather read
Chapter Nine of Hebrews intelligently, and not like sectarians. The Apostle
Paul spoke of the Old Testament sacred objects which were well known to the
Jews, to whom this epistle was sent, not in order to deny them, which is
inadmissible, but rather to instruct the Jews that it is possible to flee idols
and yet to hold to physical sacred objects such as was God's command to Israel.
The Dissenters
say: Why don't all icons work miracles?
The Orthodox
reply: Why did not all the clothes of the Apostles
work miracles, but only the Apostle Paul's "handkerchiefs and aprons"
(Acts 19:12)?
The Dissenters
say: If the icons are gods, then they should cry out
when we hack at them and should strike those who mock them. This does not
happen, which means that icons are not gods.
The Orthodox
reply: No one recognizes them as gods, but only as
sacred depictions. We should not be surprised that blasphemers of the icons are
not immediately punished. Likewise, the soldiers and servants of Caiaphas hit
Christ, spat at and mocked Him, but were not immediately punished; these acts,
however, resulted in divine punishment after death. In like manner those
sectarians who blaspheme will be visited with punishment.
In conclusion we
say that the verses in Scripture that refer to idols do not refer to icons.
Regarding idols: we do not have them in church.
1. St. Nicholas’s meaning is clearer when we
consider that the Russian word for 'icon corner' is bog – the
same word as that used for God in Church Slavonic. St. Nicholas is not of
course saying that icons are gods. An icon can never be consubstantial with the
prototype because it has a different nature. The idea that two objects can be
identical and yet different is explained by St. Theodore the Studite: ‘As in
the Trinity Christ differs from the Father in hypostasis, so He differs from
His own image in nature’.
The icon and the prototype are however connected –
there is a participation of one in the other. An icon is connected to the
person painted on it because the honour given to the image is transmitted to
the prototype (the person painted on it). St. John of Damascus explains:
‘Matter is endued with a divine power through prayer made to those who are
depicted in image. Purple by itself is simple, and so is silk, and the cloak
which is made of both. But if the king put it on, the cloak receives honour
from the honour due to the wearer. So is it with matter. By itself it is of no
account, but if the one presented in image be full of grace, men become
partakers of his grace according to their faith.’
The Fathers of the Seventh Oecumenical Council clearly
state that we offer ‘relative worship’ to the icons. The original Greek word
can also be translated as ‘venerate’. ‘Absolute worship’ or ‘adoration’ is
offered to God alone.
2. The Father is shown as the Ancient of Days in many
older icons but the 1667 Council of Moscow condemned this practice. The dispute
over whether the Son or the Father should be shown as the Ancient of Days still
continues however.
Sources:
https://brookwoodblogger.blogspot.com/2018/10/concerning-sacred-depictions-and-sacred.html
https://brookwoodblogger.blogspot.com/2018/11/concerning-sacred-depictions-and-sacred.html
