Reformation 500 WEEK 35: Heidelberg Catechism QA’s
96-98
Question 96: What does
God require in the second Commandment?
That we in no way make any image of God,
nor worship Him in any other way than He has commanded us in His Word.
In the first commandment, the true God
commanded that He alone should be worshipped. In the second commandment, He
requires us to worship Him in a way that “is pleasing to Him, and not with such
worship as that which is according to the imagination and device of man [Acts
17:29]” (Ursinus, 517). When the Israelites made the golden calf, they were not
intending to worship another god, but rather they proclaimed “a feast to the
LORD [Yahweh]” (Ex. 32:5). They worshiped the LORD with an image. Having spent
over 400 years in Egyptian bondage, the Israelites got the idea of making a
bull from the Egyptians who thought the bull was a good representation of
divine power. Like all pagans, they believed that by honoring the image, the
god’s power and blessing would flow to them from the image. Listen to the
pagans as they speak for themselves: ‘who but a perfect child considers these
idols to be gods?’ ‘Rather, we worship the gods by them.’ ‘I worship not this
visible thing, but the divinity dwelling there invisibly.’ (quoted by Turretin,
2:55).
The LORD repeatedly warned Israel
not to worship Him the way the other nations did (Deut. 12:2-4, 29-32). “You
shall not worship the Lord your God in that way…. Whatever I command you, be
careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deut.
12:31-32; cf. 1 Cor. 10:20). God has not left us free to worship Him as we
think best. God has revealed what pleases Him in Scripture (Matt. 15:9). For
this reason, our love to God through Jesus Christ should lead us to worship Him
the way He requires in Scripture. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth [sincerely in accord with the truth of His
Word]” (John 4:24).
The reason why images of God are
forbidden is because God cannot be
imaged. God is infinite, “the heaven of heavens cannot contain” Him (1 Kings
8:27). “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), “dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no
man has seen nor can see” (1 Tim. 6:16; cf. Ex. 33:20; John 1:18). “To whom
then will you compare God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?”
(Isa. 40:18). Therefore, “you shall not make any likeness of anything…” (Ex. 20:4). All images of God are lies and
detract from His glory (Hab. 2:18).
What
about pictures of Jesus? Jesus said, “all should honor the Son just as they
honor the Father” (John 5:23). If it is wrong to make an image of God the
Father it is equally wrong to make an image of God the Son! He is not just a
man. He is also infinite God. “No man ever spoke like this Man!” There was no
attempt by the apostles to make a portrait of Jesus, or to put on a passion
play (cf. 2 Cor. 5:16; Rev. 1:14-16)! When pictures of Christ were first
introduced they were condemned by the church fathers. The Council of Elvira (AD
306) declared: “there ought not to be images in a church, that what is
worshipped and adored should not be depicted on the walls.” As late as AD 754,
the 7th ecumenical council decreed “no images of Christ should be
painted or graven, not even as it respects His human nature; because nothing
but His humanity could be expressed by art; and those who make such images,
seem to establish again the error of Nestorius, or Eutyches” (Ursinus, 527).
The reformation sought to return to
the basic principles of worship as practiced in the early church, which was
modeled after the Jewish synagogue. “The first Christians [were Jewish
believers and] took over many of the worship traditions of the synagogue. They
did not take over the rich and sumptuous ceremonial of the Temple, but rather
the simpler synagogue service, with its Scripture reading, its sermon, its
prayers, and its psalmody” (Hughes Oliphant Old, Worship, 43). The
“highest worship of God is to hear Him speaking by human lips, and to yield
subjection to His Word” (Calvin). “The best and true ornament of our churches
is the pure and unadulterated doctrine of the gospel, the lawful use of the
sacraments, true prayer, and worship in accordance with God’s Word” (Ursinus,
533).
Question 97: May we not
make any image at all? God may not and cannot be imaged in any
way; as for creatures, though they may indeed be imaged, yet God forbids the
making or keeping of any likeness of them, either to worship them or to serve
God by them.
The Second Commandment “does not
absolutely forbid us to make, or to have images, likenesses and statues,
because the art of painting, sculpture, casting and embroidery, is reckoned
among the gifts of God which are good and profitable to human life, and God
Himself had certain images placed in the tabernacle (Ex. 31:3; 35:30) and
Solomon had upon his throne images of lions, and had figures of palm-trees and
cherubim carved upon the walls of the temple by the command of God (1 Kings
6:23, 29; 10:19-20)” (Ursinus, 526). But those images were part of the
structure, not part of the worship, of the temple; and they passed away with
the passing away of OT worship. God does not want us to use man-made religious
images in our worship of Him. God has given us images of His own choosing:
baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Not even a cross is to be considered a sacred symbol.
If you want to have a cross for decoration, or wear one around your neck,
that’s fine, just so long as you don’t superstitiously think that a cross is
necessary for a person or a Church to be Christian.
Question 98: But may not
pictures be tolerated in churches as books for the people? No, for we should not be wiser than God, who will not have His people
taught by dumb idols, but by the lively preaching of His Word.
The
Medieval Church used pictures, statutes and relics, rather than the Bible, to
instruct its members. The reformers learned from the Bible that the way to
instruct people concerning Christ is to preach Christ to them from the Bible
and to teach them to read the Bible for themselves. “Preach the Word!” (2 Tim.
4:2). A picture of a man hanging on a cross tells you nothing about who the man
was or why he’s hanging there or why we need to believe in him. Pictures do not
teach truths. This is why they are called dumb idols. Only words can convey
truth. Faith does not come from looking at images, but by the hearing of
the word of God (Rom. 10:17). It is the message not the image of the cross that brings salvation. “For the message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18); “it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to
save those who believe…because the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (1
Cor. 1:21, 25).
NOTE: These Posts were written and designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .
Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert: Reformation 500 Heidelberg Catechism 96-98
For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 34
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