Images, icons, and veneration
Many Protestant confessions reject the veneration of images or their use as objects of devotion, emphasizing the prohibition of idolatry and the sufficiency of worship directed to God. This does not mean every Protestant rejects religious art.
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.
Tradition note
Protestantism has no single universal position on religious art; this overview distinguishes veneration from depiction and decoration.
Key points
- Historic Reformed teaching is especially restrictive about images in worship.
- The Thirty-Nine Articles reject the adoration of images and relics.
- Lutheran and Anglican visual practices differ from Reformed and many free-church practices.
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
The Anglican Articles state:
Anglican Article XXII rejects what it calls worship and adoration of images; this confessional statement does not define every Protestant use of religious art.
The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.
Passage context and translation
Article XXII rejects what it calls the 'Romish Doctrine' of worship and adoration of images. This is a specifically Anglican confessional witness and does not define every Protestant use of religious art.
Before the excerpt
Article XXII. Of Purgatory.
After the excerpt
Article XXIII. Of Ministering in the Congregation.