Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
The doctrine of images in worship concerns the second commandment’s prohibition of making and worshipping images or visual representations in the worship of God, and the Reformed conviction that this prohibition forbids not only idols of false gods but also any image of the true God and the use of images as objects or aids of worship. The second commandment is explicit: ‘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... thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.’ The Reformed tradition understands this to forbid two related things: the making of any image or representation of God (who is infinite, invisible, and spiritual, and cannot be represented by any likeness without dishonoring and distorting Him—for to whom will ye liken God?), and the use of images of any kind as objects of worship or as aids and means in the worship of God. Israel sinned grievously at Sinai not by intending to worship a false god, but by making a golden calf to represent the LORD who brought them out of Egypt—an image of the true God, which He condemned as corruption and idolatry. Hence the Reformed churches removed from worship the images, statues, crucifixes, and icons that the medieval and Eastern churches employed, holding their use in worship—even as mere ‘aids’ or ‘windows’ to devotion—to be a violation of the second commandment and a form of idolatry, however the worshippers might distinguish veneration from worship. The principle is that God has appointed how He will be worshipped—by the Word, sacraments, prayer, and praise—and that the introduction of images as objects or means of worship is both forbidden by the commandment and corrupting to true spiritual worship, which is offered to the invisible God in spirit and in truth, not through visible representations. Rome and the Eastern churches defend the veneration of images and icons, distinguishing it from the worship due to God alone; the Reformed answer that the commandment forbids the practice itself, that the distinctions are not observed by the people in fact, and that God is to be worshipped without images, by the means He has appointed. This guards the spirituality and purity of worship and the honor of the God who will not give His glory to graven images.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines IMAGE as a representation or likeness; and notes the second commandment’s prohibition of images in the worship of God.
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IMAGE, n. — 1. A representation or similitude of any person or thing, formed of a material substance; as an image wrought out of stone, wood, or wax. 2. A statue. 3. An idol; the representation of a false god. The making and worship of images is forbidden in the second commandment.
IMAGE-WORSHIP, n. — The worship of images as representatives of deity; idolatry.
📖 Key Scripture
Exodus 20:4-5 — "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them."
Deuteronomy 4:15-16 — "Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves... lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure."
Isaiah 40:18 — "To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?"
John 4:24 — "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The use of images in worship is itself the corruption—the Romish and Eastern veneration of statues, crucifixes, and icons, defended as honoring God through representations, which the second commandment forbids as idolatry.
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The use of images in worship is itself the corruption that the second commandment forbids, and it has flourished in the Roman and Eastern churches in the form of statues, crucifixes, paintings, and icons venerated as aids and objects of devotion. Rome and the East defend the practice by distinguishing the veneration (dulia) offered to images and saints from the worship (latria) due to God alone, holding that the honor paid to the image passes to its prototype and that images serve as ‘books for the unlearned’ and windows to devotion. The Reformed reply on several grounds: that the commandment forbids the making and bowing to images in worship outright, without the subtle distinctions; that the distinctions, however carefully drawn by theologians, are not observed by the people, who do in fact worship the image; that God cannot be represented without dishonoring His infinite, invisible, spiritual nature; and that the golden calf, an image of the true God, was condemned as idolatry though Israel meant to worship the LORD by it.
The deeper principle is the spirituality of true worship and the sovereignty of God in appointing how He will be worshipped. God is a Spirit, infinite and invisible, and to reduce Him to a likeness of wood, stone, or paint is to distort and dishonor Him, exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for an image. He has appointed the means of His worship—the Word, the sacraments, prayer, and praise—and the introduction of images as objects or aids of worship is both a violation of His command and a corruption of the spiritual worship He requires. The Reformers, applying the second commandment, stripped the images from their churches, not from any hatred of beauty or art (which have their lawful place), but from a jealous regard for the purity of worship and the honor of God, who has said, ‘I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ The recovery of the doctrine guards the church’s worship from idolatry and preserves the worship of the invisible God in spirit and in truth, by the means He has appointed, without images of any kind.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The doctrine rests on the second commandment’s ban on the pesel (graven image) and tēmūnāh (likeness)—for God, a Spirit (pneuma), is worshipped without representation.
Usage
"The second commandment forbids images in worship—both representations of God and the use of images as objects or aids of devotion."
"Israel’s golden calf was an image of the true God, yet condemned as idolatry—intention does not sanctify a forbidden practice."
"Rome distinguishes veneration of images from worship; the Reformed answer that the commandment forbids the practice itself."