Seeking lost icons

Lost Icon

Originally uploaded by alterednate

It is clear that in my church there are no icons. We have no stained glass windows, no carvings, not even a cross. I have done little research on WHY this is, but I certainly experience this at each worship service.

The reason this interests me is because technology is starting to change this long standing situation. (Long standing being somewhat less than 200 years, I think).

We sing, we pray, we have scripture readings, and now we have A PROJECTOR! For the most part, the projector is used to project the words and music on the screen for the song service. It seems to me that the words and music are indeed easier to see, for those who are beginning to have trouble with their vision. The song leaders do report that it is gratifying to see people’s faces, rather than the tops of their heads as they gaze downward at hymnals.

Between songs, there are often prayers, scripture readings, the sermon, and communion. Rather than turning off the projector, our congregation has elected to keep an image on the screen.

I found this rather remarkable. I don’t know that anyone thought deeply about what this practice could mean. I note that the images supplied by the software developer were all landscapes. I have yet to see a person, an animal, or any man-made thing in the images. I have seen mountains, forests, wildflowers, clouds, oceans, waterfalls, and the like. Of course you can add your own images to the library, and I am wondering about what kind of repercussions might follow.

St John of Damascus wrote three apologies regarding the use of icons sometime during the reign of Leo III (717 to 741 A. D.). There was a raging battle between those who thought the use of icons was forbidden by scripture and those who thought the use of icons enhanced worship. Sometimes, I think there is STILL a battle regarding the use of icons in worship, and that spills over into the use of multimedia in worship.

Clearly, there are a number of scriptures regarding the use of images or carvings in worship. Various proscriptions are set forth in Exodus 20:4 “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” and Deuteronomy 4: 15-19 “5 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”

St. John of Damascus explains, in the first apology, that it is indeed incorrect to attempt to represent God. However, he believes that when God “clothed himself with creation” (p.15) through the advent of Jesus Christ, He was no longer formless or bodiless. “When the invisible One becomes visible to flesh, then you may draw His image. . .” (p.18) St. John makes a clear distinction between adoring and honoring. Veneration of images, and by extension those individuals the images depict, is acceptable so long as one clearly reserves the highest degree of worship, adoration, for God alone.

Another thing that St. John discusses, and I think is germane to the idea of proper use of multimedia in worship, is that images are of two kinds: the written word and material images. Clearly both types of image were used even in Moses’ day. The written word (the law) was inscribed upon the tablets and representations of the wandering in the wilderness (the jar of manna and the rod of Aaron) were kept in the ark of the covenant. The ark was decorated with cherubim (so this must not have been considered a graven image). The entire meeting tent evidently served as a representation of the court of Heaven (Hebrews 8:5 “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”)

Therefore, it seems to me that the interpretation of the scriptural prohibition against graven images (or indeed ANY images) must consider the purpose and motivation of the artist who creates the work and the individual who engages with the work as a part of his or her worship of God.

In my mind, I see the most common components of multimedia (text, video, image, and sound) to each serve as a kind of “image”. I think the parables of Jesus were a kind of “image”, assisting his hearers as they came to understanding through picturing a scene with familiar elements but unfamiliar meanings. Now, we have more sophisticated means of creating and sharing these “images”. Some are interactive and require some overt action from the viewer, some are more passive.

Regardless, I think the limited use of images in my own church leaves our worship experience the poorer.