Verse 4 says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (King James Version).
Taken literally, this verse forbids any image of anything. Yet we know from other passages that God does allow images--for example, the bronze snake or the tabernacle and temple decorations. Such allowances help us clarify what is really prohibited.
Verse 5 tells us that images are forbidden if they are used for the purpose of bowing to them, serving them or worshiping them--if they are no longer mere images, but objects of worship. The golden calf, for example, was used for worship and was therefore an idol even though it supposedly represented the true God.
Therefore, the New International Version is correct when it translates verse 4 in this way: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."
Deuteronomy 4:15-19 more explicitly forbids images of the true God. Just as the Israelites at Mt. Sinai did not see any image or form, they were not to create one in an attempt to help them worship Yahweh.
The New Testament also forbids idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:21) and declares that it is futile to attempt to depict God (Acts 17:29). God is spirit, invisible and limitless. Any image humans could make would be inadequate and would not help us worship God in spirit and in truth. Images would be obstacles rather than helps.
No. For example, when God and two angels appeared to Abraham, they appeared as men (Genesis 18:1-2). It is not wrong for us to illustrate three men walking toward Abraham. If all three visitors look like ordinary people of that time period, it would not be possible to tell which men represented angels and which represented the Lord.
Such an illustration, because of its impreciseness, would not become a mental image we use to worship God. It serves only to illustrate what Abraham may have seen.
In other theophanies (God appearing to humans), God appeared in a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-16), and his glory appeared in the pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:21; 16:10); these may also be illustrated without distorting our worship of God. We realize that God was in the pillar of cloud and fire, but the pillar was not the exact likeness of God. Nothing visible can be.
God the Logos became flesh and appeared as an ordinary baby, an ordinary boy and an ordinary carpenter. It is not wrong to illustrate ordinary people. Jesus, as a human, had the appearance of a human, and can be illustrated as such.
Some people have reasoned that Jesus might have looked like David or Adam.
Just as it is not wrong to draw pictures of David and Adam (even though we don't know what they looked like), it is not wrong to illustrate Jesus--no more so than it was wrong for the Pharisees and multitudes to see him--especially if he is illustrated as an ordinary person similar to his disciples and other first-century Jews. Such artwork can help us understand what the Bible describes.
A drawing of Jesus would represent him in the way that he was seen by observers in his day. The Bible does not forbid us to imagine what thousands of people actually saw. We realize that Jesus does not look like that today, and we do not worship an ordinary-looking human. However, such illustrations can reinforce the theological truth that Jesus came in the flesh.
A drawing of Jesus would illustrate his humanity (not his divinity, which is impossible to illustrate). Although Jesus came in the flesh, we do not worship him according to his human appearance. Illustrating the fact that Jesus looked like an ordinary person should not detract from our understanding that he is now limitless, spirit and invisible.
However, many people have greatly misused illustrations of Jesus, and we can learn from previous problems to avoid some types of illustration. Some illustrations of Jesus are historically and biblically inaccurate, and are often created and used for wrong purposes. Many other illustrations are of dubious accuracy and worth.
Suppose we own a Bible or other book with inaccurate illustrations--should we rip them out? The Bible does not require that we do so. The Bible simply requires that we do not worship them or venerate them.
As a practical matter, if we do not want our children to envision a particular face of Jesus, we could show them several artists' concepts. Then, none of the faces would become fixed in memory; the variety would be an opportunity to teach our children that Jesus looked like an ordinary person, and that no one knows exactly what he looked like.
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Worldwide News January 30, 1996 |
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