A - Prohibition of the Old Testament
The people of the Old Testament were forbidden to make and worship idols: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not make for yourself a carved image, or the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not make for yourself a figure of them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children” (Exodus 20:4-5). “Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molten gods; I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:4). “You shall not make for yourselves idols or graven images, nor set up a pillar, nor make any carved stone in your land to make for yourselves a figure of it; for I, the Lord your God, am” (Lev. 26:1). How do we interpret these verses?
Some heretics separate the first part of these verses from the second and distort their interpretation. But it is clear that the main weight of the meaning lies in the last phrase: “I am the Lord your God.” These verses want to declare that the only true God is the God of Israel, not the gods of the pagan nations: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, ‘Amen, praise the Lord’” (1 Chr 16:26). “For all the gods of the peoples are vain, but the Lord himself created the heavens” (Ps 95:5). “I am the first and the last, and besides me there is no God” (Is 44:6). Therefore the Israelites were forbidden to make or worship the gods of the nations: “You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them, nor do according to their works; you shall destroy them and utterly smash their pillars, but you shall serve the Lord your God only” (Ex 23:24). Violating this commandment would have dire consequences for the Israelite people (1 Kings 9:6-7), as it was a crime punishable by death (Exodus 22:20, Deuteronomy 17:2-7), even for those who incited others to do so (Deuteronomy 13:6-11).
The worship of one and only God leaves no room for “other gods and idols that pass away” (3 Kings 9:6-9, 14:9-10, Joshua 23:15-16, 1 Kings 7:3, 8:8, Jeremiah 1:16, 2:27, Mal. 2:11), for the God of Israel is “jealous”: “They have made me jealous with those who are not God, and have provoked me with their vanities; but I will provoke them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will provoke them with foolish men” (Deut. 23:21; cf. Ezek. 20:5, 34:14, Deut. 4:24, 5:9, 6:15). He declared his oneness by the name he gave to Moses: “I am that I am” (Ex. 3:14). In the Hebrew text (ehje aser ehje) which indicates what precedes the verb (haja) meaning “I am”, “I exist”, “I am”. This name then declares the absolute existence of God, and that He is the true existence and the true life (Jer 2:13). He is the one who brought his people out of Egypt and to Him glory and worship return. He is the only God, and all others are “no gods” (Deut 32:21, 1 Kings 12:21, 2 Kings 19:18, 2 Chronicles 13:9, Jer 2:11, 5:7), that is, they do not exist. They must not be glorified or worshipped. “I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to graven images” (Is 42:8).
Despite these stern warnings, the danger of idolatry was great and tempting for a people surrounded on all sides by paganism. We must not forget that the Israelites had repeatedly fallen into disobedience, making and worshipping idols instead of the true God. The Bible describes this disobedience in many places (Exodus 32:4-5, 3 Kings 12:28, Judges 2:13, 3:6, 4:1, 10:16, 1 Macc 1:15, etc.), and especially in the tongues of the prophets who warned of terrible punishments for the disobedient (Hosea 2:7-15, Isaiah 40:19-20, 46:1-7, Jeremiah 2:5-13, 2:27-28, 10:1-16, 16:20, etc.).
Therefore, it was necessary to continue to remind of this danger and to emphasize the duty of worshipping the one and only God, “Beware, then, that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. Rather, you shall fear the Lord your God, and him you shall serve, and swear by his name… You shall not follow other gods, the gods of the nations that are around you, for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you and destroy you from the face of the earth…” (Deut. 6:13-15). “Those who trusted in graven images, who said to the molten images, ‘You are our gods,’ are turned back; they are utterly confounded” (Is. 42:17).
“But as a woman treacherously deals with her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “A voice is heard in the high places, the weeping and supplication of the children of Israel, because they have turned aside in their way, and have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to You, for You are the LORD our God. For the hills and the multitude of mountains are but a lie, but the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 3:20-23).
B - Tools of worship in the Old Testament
God forbade idolatry, but He commanded the Old Testament people to make certain tools and use them in His worship and to give them honor and respect. God commanded Moses to write His words on “tablets of stone” (Exodus 34:1), and He explained to him—down to the smallest detail—how to make the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:9-21), the table of offering (Exodus 25:22-29), the altar (Exodus 27:1-8, 30:1-10), the bronze basin (Exodus 30:17-21), the tabernacle or tent of testimony (Exodus 26:1-37), and so on (see Exodus 35:11, etc.). Moreover, God commanded the making of two cherubim with their arms extended over the trough (Exodus 25:17-19; see Heb. 9:5), two large cherubim over the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:23-28; see 2 Chron. 3:10-12; 5:8; Ezek. 9:3; 10:2; etc.), and various forms of ten bronze cows, lions, and other carved images (1 Kings 7; 2 Chron. 4:3; etc.).
This indicates that when God commanded, “You shall not make for yourself an idol or an image,” He did not prohibit the use of instruments of worship. Idol worship was forbidden, but the symbols, instruments, and means used in the worship of God were not forbidden, because the people do not worship or honor them “for themselves,” that is, independently of their relationship with the living God, to whom worship is due alone. “Those who trust in graven images are turned back, who say to the molten images, ‘You are our gods’” (Isa. 42:17).
C - The Christological Basis of Icons of Saints
In the Old Testament, God appeared through uncreated divine acts and spoke through the mouths of the prophets (Acts 3:21, 2 Tim 3:16, 1 Pet 1:10-12, 2 Pet 1:21). In the New Testament, the Word of God became incarnate and “dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory” (John 1:14). That is, the Father himself appeared to mankind in the person of the Son (John 14:9) and established a personal relationship with us, so we can picture God in the person of Christ. In this regard, Saint John of Damascus says: “In ancient times, it was not possible to picture God, because he had not yet taken on a body or form. But now, after God appeared in the flesh and lived with men, I picture the God whom I can see, who has become matter for me. I will not cease to respect the matter by which my salvation was completed.”
St. Theodore the Studite explains: “We do not depict the nature of Christ, but the person of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God” (cf. Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Wisdom of Solomon 7:26). This image is a visible sign and confirmation of the invisible presence of God (cf. John 14:9). Consequently, the veneration of icons is based on the most important saving doctrine of the faith, namely, the incarnation of Christ and His real presence among us. When we venerate icons, we declare our faith in the truth of the incarnation and the human nature of Christ. The icon, which is the confession of the incarnation of God in Christ, leads us to the model, that is, to Christ himself.
The icon also expresses man’s deep longing for Christ, the incarnate God, and constitutes a powerful motive for man’s return to Him. Thus we realize the great danger in which one falls who denies the veneration of holy icons, because by doing so he denies the incarnation of Christ and the truth of the divine plan. Whoever refuses to depict the One who “dwelt among us” and “we have seen his glory” (John 1:14) has denied the Church, which is the body of Christ, its divine-human character and its ability to offer salvation to man.
The rejection of the icon, that is, the visible and tangible witness of the incarnation of Christ and the truth of man’s salvation in the envy of Christ, has destructive consequences for man. That is why our Church considers the Orthodox faith to include the veneration of icons, and calls the first Sunday of Lent, on which it commemorates the elevation of the holy icons, “Orthodox Sunday.” Consequently, no one can claim to be Orthodox if he does not venerate icons.
But this does not mean that the Orthodox confuse the image with the original, and worship the wood and colors that make up the image, without God who is the original and the model. The icon is the “sign” or “mark” and not the person depicted in it. Therefore, St. John of Damascus says: “Where the sign is, there is also the owner of the image.” We honor the image, and never give it the status of its owner. The same Damascene said that “whoever deifies the image is cursed” (see Isaiah 42:17). This is the teaching of our Church as formulated by the Seventh Ecumenical Council: “We kiss icons, worship them, and honor them, but true worship is only appropriate to the divine nature.”
Whoever worships holy icons without God has misinterpreted the decision of the Ecumenical Council and exposed himself to the condemnation of the words of the Holy Bible, because he worships “idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood” (Rev. 9:20), which are “made by human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak. They have eyes, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. They have noses, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not touch. They have feet, but they do not walk. They do not make a sound with their throat. Let those who make them be like them, and all who trust in them” (Ps. 113:4-8; see Ps. 134:15-21).
D - Icons of our church's saints
The Orthodox Church venerates not only the icon of Christ, but also the icons of the saints. This is not mentioned in the Old Testament, because no one could depict the true nature of man, as created “in the image of God,” due to the inability to see the image of God “man” in all its purity. All people have inherited the nature of Adam, that is, the image of God distorted and transformed by the fall and corruption.
But Christ became incarnate and “emptied” Himself, “taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7), and “their firstborn brother” (Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:18; Ps. 88:28), and made them again “conformed to his image” (Rom. 8:29; cf. Phil. 3:21). And made them again “conformed to his image” (Rom. 8:29; cf. Phil. 3:21). Thus we can recognize the true man in the person of those who bear, in purity, the image of God. As for the saints of our Church who responded to God’s call, they became “conformed to the image of the Son” and put on anew “the image of the heavenly One” (1 Cor. 15:49), reflecting his glory (2 Cor. 3:18).
Therefore, the icons of our Church do not depict the fallen nature of man, but rather the “new man” (Eph. 2:15, 4:24) and refer to God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15) and to the transfiguration that no one can perceive with his physical senses, because it is “the world sanctified by the grace of God,” in the words of Saint John of Damascus.
The person who has accepted Christ reflects “the glory of the Lord” and is transformed “into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). This happens by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why the bodies of the saints already shine with light, without the rest of humanity being able to perceive it with their senses. Those who do not live the life of the Spirit in perpetual Pentecost cannot comprehend the meaning of the holy icons, and cannot see the transformation of man and the whole world. As for the faithful who live this truth in the Church, no one can prevent them from entering into this spiritual joy that they feel through the witness of Orthodox icons to this new world.
“The apostles saw the Lord with their bodily eyes,” says St. John of Damascus, “and many people have seen the apostles and martyrs. I too desire to see them with the eyes of soul and body. I am a man surrounded by the body and I desire to communicate with the saints and see them.” The presence of holy icons is an excellent means of permanent contact with the saints, who do not remain people of the distant past, but become our contemporaries and personal friends of every believer.
H - Painters in our church
He was imposing on my painters. (1) Icons Before the saints begin to paint an icon of Christ or the Most Holy Virgin, they must fast and live a life of asceticism, devotion and prayer. In this way, they gain the necessary spiritual experiences, which they then express in colors. Something similar happened in the vision of Moses. We saw that he remained on the mountain for forty days and nights, living a life of intense asceticism and closeness to God (Exodus 24:15-18). After being enlightened by the light of the Triune Godhead, he came down from the mountain to convey the commandments of God (Exodus 34:30).
Thus we understand why no one who lost this inner feeling and spiritual experience could acquire the title of painter in the Church, and whose works were nothing but simple panels, or copies of the holy icons that the Spirit of God had drawn from their faces. As for the true painters, they felt that they were not working for themselves, but only making the works of the Holy Spirit to whom they had lent their hands. Therefore, they did not put their names on the holy icons, and were content to indicate that they had been “made by hand…”, that is, by their hand that they had entrusted to the Holy Spirit to guide it in what it should do. They believed that the grace of God, which corrects the distorted image in man, guides their hand to draw the joyful and beloved image of the living God.
They also believed that icons, which were an expression of spiritual life, did not depict states of earthly life but states of the changing world. For this reason, they did not depict saints, animals, plants, and all of creation in “natural” forms. The holy icons do not express the “natural” states of this world, but rather our Church’s spiritual experience of a changing world, returning to its first radiance and to “the glorious freedom of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:21). (2)
(1) He is also called the “icon writer”… (network)
(2) This is one of the reasons on which our Orthodox Church relies in rejecting the making of statues of the Lord or Lady and the saints, because they cannot depict a state of glory, but rather a state of nature. We also see that the West has slipped after making statues into drawing its icons with a natural human face, expressions and dimensions… (Al-Shabaka).