One of the largest obstacles I faced when seeking to convert to Orthodox Christianity from Protestantism was the prevalence of iconography in the theology and practice of the Church. Every time I walked into an Orthodox Church, I would see people venerating (that is, showing honor to, specifically by kissing) an icon of one of the saints commemorated on that particular day, an icon of Christ, and an icon of the Theotokos (from the Greek meaning “Mother of God.” This term has historically been used to reference the Virgin Mary). This deeply bothered me as a Presbyterian, a Calvinist form of Protestantism that is vehemently against the use of any images to show honor to the Holy Trinity. I was taught that use of religious images went directly against the second of the ten commandments, which states:
“You shall not make for yourself a graven 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 upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6).
If one believes in the validity of the scriptures, it would seem almost impossible to say that the use of religious images in worship is a good and healthy thing from this passage alone. How can one claim to use what God Himself said is wrong and immoral in good faith and practice? Of course, the issue of iconoclasm (belief that the use of religious imagery is immoral) is an issue that the Church has dealt with before. The Seventh Ecumenical Council came to the conclusion that because God has become incarnate as a human being, it indeed makes intuitive sense to use physical images in worship. This is why icons of Christ and the saints were not rejected by the Church: Christ became incarnate in human flesh and thus sanctified matter and made it holy, and the saints incarnate Christ on earth to the extent that they reflect and bear His image, thus becoming, “partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4).
In fact, the use of iconography was ordained and commanded by God in the Old Testament, particularly with the building of the Ark of the Covenant and the building of the temple by King Solomon. Looking at Exodus 25:17-22, we can see the use of iconography depicting angels in the Old Testament:
Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
Thus, it starts to become clear that the meaning of the second of the ten commandments is certainly not to forbid religious imagery in its entirety, for God would not have commanded images of cherubim to be made if this was the case. Furthermore, God also commanded the use of imagery of in the making of the temple, particularly cherubim, palm-trees, and open flowers (1 Kings 6:23-29).
But what about the veneration of icons? The Orthodox Church’s position on this issue is best summarized by quoting the findings of the Seventh Ecumenical Council after the Church had gathered in prayer and intercession:
We define that the holy icons, whether in color, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Whenever these representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and honor (timitiki proskynisis), but not of real worship (latreia), which is reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the divine nature, ... which is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands.
Notice how the wording of the council emphasizes how the veneration of the holy icons is showing honor to the prototype that the image depicts, and does not show worship of the image itself. Worship belongs to God alone (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We do not worship the icons, but we venerate them to show honor to the saint or saints depicted in them. This is similar to how a man on a business trip might kiss a picture of his family when he misses them. The business man never mistook the picture of his family for his actual family; rather, he kisses the picture of his family to show his love for them when he cannot be with them physically. The same is true of the icons of Christ, the Theotokos, and the saints: we kiss their icons in order to show them reverence and honor, while never mistaking or worshiping the picture for who it represents.
Of course, even the most convincing theological argument would not change the heart and mind of someone conditioned their whole life to shun iconography. However, what does change people is the experience. It is not until I began praying before the icons of Christ and the Theotokos that I truly understood the purpose of the holy icons: to cultivate a desire for Christ and the saints that changes one to become like them. This was the experience of St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco, who would spend hours standing before the icon of Christ. Upon being asked by one his parishioners what he was doing, St. John responded, “It is simple. I look at Him. He looks at me. And it is enough.”
I cannot comment on the experience of others apart from what they have told me or have written. However, I can comment on my own experience looking at the first icon ever written (icons are written, and not painted, for all icons tell a story) of the Theotokos, which was made by St. Luke the Evangelist (the same person who wrote the Gospel According to St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles) and is now kept at the monastery of Mega Spililon in Greece. I cannot explain what happened, but I started crying. I do not know why I cried, but I believe that I cried because I knew that this icon has a unique connection to the Mother of God both physically and spiritually, who stood before St. Luke to allow him to make this image. I cried because I knew I was not worthy to look at such an image. I cried because I knew I needed to ask Christ’s mother to intercede for me to change those parts of me which are dark and laden with sin. I cried because I felt the love in the place of hate. I cried because I felt life in the place of death. I cried because I knew, in some small way, this was God’s way of showing His divine love for me and all of the humanity. It was the type of crying that profoundly changes a person after they are done.
Others I have talked to have experienced things such as this as well, as well as countless other Orthodox Christians throughout the ages who have pleased Christ through the use and veneration of the holy icons. Thus, we use the holy icons in prayer and worship of God because they sanctify and change us. Such is God’s good pleasure, who, according to St. Nektarios of Aegina, “[helps us,] who strengthens us in the difficult path of virtue.”
Let us then venerate the holy icons and use them in offering up prayers and petitions to Christ and the saints, who shall deliver us out of all suffering and, “Wipe every tear from… [our] eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things, have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4). And then He who is seated on the throne shall say, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5). Amen.