[Vision2020] Icons [was A Post Regarding Douglas Wilson]

[Andreas Schou]

On 2/25/07, Ralph Nielsen <nielsen at uidaho.edu> wrote:
> Seeing the icons on Gary Greenfield's blog site prompts me to pass
> this on.
>
> After the takeover of the Christian church by Constantine, Jesus and
> other important figures in the church were represented in the same
> royal garb as was worn in the court of the emperor in Constantinople
> (present day Istanbul). The large churches became known as royal
> palaces or basilicas. On the ceiling was usually a large mosaic of
> the Emperor Jesus glowering down on his humble subjects. The clergy
> were dressed in expensive robes that put to shame the lilies of the
> field. The Christian liturgy was very similar to the court ceremonial
> of the day.
>
> However, statues were not used in the Eastern Church because carved
> images were forbidden to the ancient Hebrews in one of Yahweh's Words
> (Commandments). But the Western Church continued the use of statues
> for religious purposes, as had been done for many centuries by the
> pagan Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
>
> Several centuries later many Protestants went even further in
> ecclesiastical iconoclasm and forbade both statues and pictures. To
> this day in many old Dutch Calvinist churches the original Catholic
> stained glass windows have been replaced by plain Protestant glass.
> So instead of worshipping an icon or a statue many Protestants now
> worship the Bible. Idolatry has been replaced by Bibliolatry.
>
> Ralph

Ralph --

I don't quite understand. As you advocate the worship of nothing at
all, why is any particular practice preferable to idolatry?

-- ACS