Religious Images in Christian Theology - The Use of Icons and Symbols in Christian Worship - Protestant Criticism

Protestant Criticism

Martin Luther did not object to the use of religious images per se, but he did object to various beliefs that were associated with them. In particular, he objected to the practice of invoking the saints that was often associated with images of the saints. He was also concerned that those who erect beautiful and costly images would presume to think they had done a good work that would earn them merit with God. Yet these concerns did not prevent him from allowing new Lutheran altarpieces, often of the Last Supper, in many of which leading reformers were portrayed as the apostles. John Calvin was always extremely hostile to all publicly-displayed images, which were systematically destroyed by Calvinists, as in the Beeldenstorm in the Netherlands. Towards the end of the 16th century there were disputes between Lutherans and Calvinists, with the former put under pressure to destroy images. Though both groupings did not object to book illustrations or prints of biblical events, or portraits of reformers, production of large-scale religious art virtually ceased in Protestant regions after about 1540, and artists shifted to secular subjects, ironically often including revived classical mythology.

Many Protestants, especially evangelicals or fundamentalists, believe that attributing holiness or power to human relics, fosters disbelief in God's omnipotence, and his independent and sovereign will, and suggests to fallible humans that God can be manipulated. To them, this is the essence of sinful idolatry. However, other Protestants disagree with this assessment.

The earliest catechisms of the Protestant movement, written in the 16th through 18th centuries, including the Heidelberg (1563), Westminster (1647) and Fisher's (1765), included discussions in a question and answer format detailing how the creation of images of God (including Jesus) was counter to their understanding of the Second Commandment's prohibition against creating images of worship in any manner.

They may also consider the Catholic and Orthodox use of relics to be idolatry, Especially suspect in Protestant eyes is the belief that articles such as Lourdes water, holy water, and so forth possess supernatural powers, such as for healing. To the Protestant mind this seems akin to the practice of magic. There are, however, instances of miracles or supernatural healings associated with relics and holy objects in the Bible. For instance, Acts 19:11–12, "God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them."

In reference to holy places, it is argued that God is no less accessible here and now than he is in a distant holy place. To support this notion reference is made to John 4:21-24, "Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." According to John 4:23, Jesus spoke these words to a Samaritan woman who asked whether men should worship God on Mount Gerizim, the Samaritan place of worship, or at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Many Protestants read Jesus' response as dismissing the importance of such divisions. They interpret this passage to mean that true worship is a matter of the spirit, the mind and the heart — in other words, it is highly abstract. Sacred places, shrines, and ritual tools and forms are, at the very least, not of the essence of worship.

Many Protestants hold that veneration and worship are for all practical purposes identical. Protestants who hold this position also believe that sacrificial worship (which Catholics and the Orthodox call latria) no longer holds a place in Christian worship. Christ's sacrifice on the Cross is unique, unrepeatable, and complete for all time, so that no human act can add or subtract from its power, or lay claim to its saving efficacy. On the other hand, Catholics and Orthodox hold to the above statement also, and believe Protestants unwittingly make false dichotomies.

Most typically, modern Protestants are no longer offended by religious art, or pictorial representations of Jesus, as was certainly the case in the 16th century. However, some consider it necessary to avoid religious use of these objects, especially as the focus of communal worship. In order to avoid praying before them, lighting candles to them, and other acts that make it appear as if the image itself is holy or an object of devotion, many Protestants avoid locating any representational art in front of the congregation, although exceptions may be made for the Christian cross and, sometimes, an image of the Face of Christ or the Good Shepherd. In most cases, it is the devotional use, especially, that is avoided.

In some cases, such as fundamentalist sects, it is not only the veneration of images, but also the making of an image, that is avoided. Any visual representations of Jesus, including drawings, paintings, stained glass windows, sculpture, and other forms of representational art are considered a violation of the commandment of God prohibiting the depiction of God by images. Calvinist theologian J. I. Packer, in Chapter 4 of his book Knowing God, writes that, "Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining Him by the work of our hands." His overall concern is that "The mind that takes up with images is a mind that has not yet learned to love and attend to God's Word." In other words, image making relies on human sources rather than on divine revelation. Another typical Christian argument for this position might be that God was incarnate as a human being, not as an object of wood, stone or canvas, and therefore the only God-directed service of images permitted is the service of other people.

Others go even farther to eliminate, if it were possible, any kind of religiously symbolic art of any kind, in addition to any representational art. The use of a cross, censer, candles, or vestments in a place of worship is considered idolatrous by some. By using tools and items of furniture or clothing only in the context of religious ritual, these implements seem set apart as holy, they would be profaned by ordinary use. This too is believed to pose a danger that these objects are being worshiped, or are becoming talismans. During the period of Archbishop William Laud's conflicts with Puritans within the Church of England, the use of ritual implements prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer was a frequent cause of conflict. (See vestments controversy)

Some Protestant groups have criticized the use of stained-glass windows by other denominations, while Jehovah's Witnesses criticize the use of windows, statuary, as well as the wearing of a cross. The Amish are the only Christian group that forbids the use of images in secular life. In their critiques these groups argue that such practices are in effect little different from idolatry, and that they localize and particularize God, who, they argue, is beyond human depiction.

For most Protestants all religious images and all conceptions of God that can be apprehended by human senses are problematic.