Images, icons, and veneration
Catholic teaching permits and venerates sacred images while reserving adoration for God alone. Images are honored for the persons they represent, not as divine objects.
Historical context
The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 defended the veneration of images. Its later reception and the use of religious images differ among Christian traditions.
Key points
- The Incarnation grounds the use of sacred images.
- Veneration of an image is distinguished from worship of God.
- Catholic churches include varied Eastern and Western visual traditions.
Scripture
- Exodus 20:4–5 — The commandment forbids making an idol and bowing down to it; traditions debate its application to Christian images.
- John 1:14 — John says the Word became flesh and lived among us; later image arguments appeal to this incarnation.
- Colossians 1:15 — Paul calls Christ the image of the invisible God in a hymn about his relation to creation.
Primary sources
Catechism §1159 states:
The Catholic Catechism says the liturgical icon principally represents Christ.
The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents Christ.
Passage context and translation
The Catholic argument begins with Christ's Incarnation and distinguishes the image from the person represented.
After the excerpt
It cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God