Religious Icons​—Their Ancient Roots

“Icons are a way of joining us to the goodness and holiness of God and His Saints.”​—GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA

ON THIS sultry August day, the sun’s rays beat down on the cement steps that lead up to the monastery of the “Most Holy Mother of God,” on the island of Tínos, in the Aegean Sea. The scorching heat does not dampen the determination of the more than 25,000 devout Greek Orthodox pilgrims who inch along trying to reach the heavily decorated icon of the mother of Jesus.

A young girl, lame, obviously in pain and with a desperate look on her face, crawls on her badly bleeding knees. Not far from her, an exhausted old lady who has traveled from the other end of the country struggles to keep her tired feet going. An eager middle-aged man perspires heavily as he anxiously tries to make his way through the jostling crowd. Their goal is to kiss an icon of Mary and prostrate themselves before it.

These deeply religious people are no doubt sincere in their desire to worship God. How many, though, realize that such devotion to religious icons traces its origins to practices predating Christianity by centuries?

The Prevalence of Icons

In the Orthodox world, icons are everywhere. In church buildings, icons of Jesus, Mary, and many “saints” occupy a central place. Believers often honor these icons with kisses, incense, and burning candles. Additionally, almost all Orthodox homes have their own icon corner, where prayers are uttered. It is not uncommon for Orthodox Christians to say that when they worship an icon, they connect with the divine. Many believe that icons are imbued with divine grace and miraculous powers.

Those believers would likely be surprised to learn that first-century Christians did not favor the use of icons in worship. The book Byzantium states: “The early Christians, inheriting from Judaism a repugnance toward idolatry, had looked askance at any veneration of pictures of holy persons.” The same book observes: “From the Fifth Century on, icons or images . . . became increasingly prevalent in public and private worship.” If not from first-century Christianity, from where did the use of religious icons originate?

Tracing Their Roots

Researcher Vitalij Ivanovich Petrenko wrote: “The use of images and its tradition comes from well before the Christian era and had an ‘ancestry in paganism.’” Many historians agree, saying that the roots of icon worship are found in the religions of ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Greece. In ancient Greece, for example, religious images took the form of statues. These were believed to be invested with divine powers. People thought that some of these images were not made by hands but had fallen from heaven. During special festivals, such cult images were taken in a procession around the city, and sacrifices were offered to them. “The cult image was considered by the pious to be a deity himself, although attempts have been made . . . to distinguish between the deity and his image,” said Petrenko.

How did such ideas and practices seep into Christianity? The same researcher observed that, in the centuries after the death of Christ’s apostles, especially in Egypt, “Christian ideas were confronted by the ‘pagan amalgam’​—made out of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, Oriental and Roman practices and beliefs which were practiced alongside Christian confession.” As a result, “Christian artisans adapted [an interfaith] method and made use of pagan symbols, putting them within a new context, although not purifying them totally from pagan influence.”

Soon icons became the focus of both private and public religious life. In the book The Age of Faith, historian Will Durant describes how this came about, saying: “As the number of worshiped saints multiplied, a need arose for identifying and remembering them; pictures of them and of Mary were produced in great number; and in the case of Christ not only His imagined form but His cross became objects of reverence​—even, for simple minds, magic talismans. A natural freedom of fancy among the people turned the holy relics, pictures, and statues into objects of adoration; people prostrated themselves before them, kissed them, burned candles and incense before them, crowned them with flowers, and sought miracles from their occult influence. . . . Fathers and councils of the Church repeatedly explained that the images were not deities, but only reminders thereof; the people did not care to make such distinctions.”

Today, many who use religious icons would similarly argue that images are merely objects of respect​—not worship. They might claim that religious paintings are legitimate​—even indispensable—​aids in worshiping God. Perhaps you feel the same way. But the question is, How does God feel about this? Could it be that veneration of an icon really amounts to worshiping it? Can such practices actually pose hidden dangers?

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What Is an Icon?

Unlike statues widely used in Roman Catholic worship, icons are two-dimensional images of Christ, Mary, “saints,” angels, characters and events of the Bible, or events in the history of the Orthodox Church. Usually, they are painted on portable wooden boards.

According to the Orthodox Church, “in Icons of the Saints, the pictures do not look like pictures of ordinary flesh and blood.” Also, on icons “perspective is back to front”​—the picture does not get narrower as it goes into the distance. Usually “there are no shadows, or ways of showing day and night.” It is also believed that the wood and paint of an icon can “become filled with God’s presence.”

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The use of images can be traced to pagan practices

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Worship God “in Spirit”

“To whom could you liken God? What image could you contrive of him?”​—ISAIAH 40:18, “THE JERUSALEM BIBLE”

PERHAPS you are sincerely convinced that using icons is acceptable in worshiping God. You may feel that this draws you closer to the Hearer of prayer, who is invisible and may seem impersonal and abstract.

But are we totally free to choose our own method of approach to God? Should not God himself be the final authority on what is acceptable and what is not? Jesus explained God’s view of the matter when he said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)a Those words alone preclude the use of icons or any other sacred objects.

Yes, there is a specific kind of worship that Jehovah God accepts. And what is that? On another occasion, Jesus explained: “The hour will come​—in fact it is here already—​when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.”​—John 4:23, 24.

Can God, who “is spirit,” be represented by a material image? No. Regardless of how imposing an icon may be, it can never match the glory of God. So an image of God could never be a truthful representation of him. (Romans 1:22, 23) Would a person be ‘worshiping in truth’ if he approached God through some man-made icon?

A Clear Bible Teaching

God’s Law forbade making images as objects of worship. The second of the Ten Commandments decreed: “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.” (Exodus 20:4, 5) The inspired Christian Scriptures also command: “You must keep clear of idolatry.”​—1 Corinthians 10:14.

True, many insist that their use of images in worship is not idolatry. Orthodox Christians, for example, often deny that they actually worship the icons before which they bow, kneel, and pray. An Orthodox priest wrote: “We pay respect to them because they are holy objects, and because we reverence what the Icons depict.”

Still, the question remains: Does God approve the use of icons for the purpose of even so-called indirect veneration? Nowhere does the Bible authorize such a practice. When the Israelites set up an image of a calf, allegedly for the purpose of venerating Jehovah, he expressed his strong disapproval, saying that they had apostatized.​—Exodus 32:4-7.

The Hidden Danger

Using tangible objects in worship is a dangerous practice. It can easily tempt people to worship the object rather than the God the object is supposed to represent. In other words, the icon becomes a focus for idolatry.

That happened with a number of objects in the days of the Israelites. During their trek in the wilderness, for example, Moses made a copper snake. Originally, the representation of the snake on a pole served as a means of healing. Those punished with a snakebite could look at the copper snake and receive God’s help. But after the people settled in the Promised Land, they seem to have turned this standard into an idol, as if the copper snake itself had the power to heal. They burned incense to it and even gave it a name, Nehushtan.​—Numbers 21:8, 9; 2 Kings 18:4.

The Israelites also tried to use the ark of the covenant as a charm against their enemies, with disastrous results. (1 Samuel 4:3, 4; 5:11) And in Jeremiah’s day, the citizens of Jerusalem cared more about the temple than they did about the God worshiped there.​—Jeremiah 7:12-15.

The tendency to worship things in place of God is still very much alive. Researcher Vitalij Ivanovich Petrenko said: “The icon . . . becomes the object of worship and in danger of idolatry . . . One must admit that this is an essentially pagan idea brought into icon-worship through the popular beliefs.” Similarly, Greek Orthodox priest Demetrios Constantelos says in his book Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church: “It is possible for a Christian to make an icon the object of worship.”

The claim that icons are only aids to relative worship is highly questionable. Why? Well, is it not true that certain icons of Mary or of “saints” may be considered to be worthy of greater devotion and to be more efficacious than other icons representing the same long-deceased individual? For example, a certain icon representing Mary at Tínos, Greece, has its own devout Orthodox following, as opposed to the equally faithful devotees of an icon representing Mary in Soumela, northern Greece. Both groups believe that their own icon is superior, performing more impressive miracles than the other one, even though both represent the same long-deceased individual. Thus, in practice, people attribute real powers to certain icons and worship them.

Approaching the “Saints” or Mary?

What, though, about the veneration of individuals, such as Mary or “saints”? Jesus, responding to a temptation from Satan, referred to Deuteronomy 6:13 and said: “You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.” (Matthew 4:10) He later said that true worshipers would worship “the Father,” no one else. (John 4:23) Realizing this, an angel reprimanded the apostle John for attempting to worship him, saying: “Don’t do that . . . It is God that you must worship.”​—Revelation 22:9.

Is it proper to pray to Jesus’ earthly mother, Mary, or to particular “saints,” asking them to intercede with God in one’s behalf? The Bible’s direct answer is: “There is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus.”​—1 Timothy 2:5.

Safeguard Your Relationship With God

The use of icons in worship, being against the clear teaching of the Bible, cannot help people to win God’s approval and gain salvation. On the contrary, Jesus said that everlasting life depends upon our taking in knowledge of the only true God, becoming acquainted with his matchless personality as well as with his purposes and dealings with humans. (John 17:3) Icons that do not see, feel, or speak do not help one to know God and to worship him acceptably. (Psalm 115:4-8) That most important education is available only through a study of God’s Word, the Bible.

Besides affording no benefit, icon worship may be spiritually dangerous. How so? First and foremost, it can cause a breach in one’s relationship with Jehovah. Regarding Israel, who “angered him with abominable idols,” God foretold: “I will hide my face from them.” (Deuteronomy 32:16, 20, The New American Bible) Rebuilding their relationship with God meant their ‘spurning sinful idols.’​—Isaiah 31:6, 7, NAB.

How appropriate, therefore, the Scriptural counsel: “My little children, be on your guard against idols”!​—1 John 5:21, NAB.

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Helped to Worship “in Spirit”

Olivera was a devout member of the Orthodox Church in Albania. When the country outlawed religion in 1967, Olivera secretly continued her religious practices. She used most of her meager pension to purchase gold and silver icons, incense, and candles. She kept these hidden in her bed and often slept in a nearby chair for fear that they might be seen or stolen. When visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses in the early 1990’s, Olivera recognized the ring of Bible truth in their message. She saw what the Bible says about true worship being “in spirit,” and she learned how God feels about the use of icons. (John 4:24, The Jerusalem Bible) The Witness who studied the Bible with her noticed that there were fewer icons around each time she visited Olivera’s home. Finally, there were none. After her baptism, Olivera commented: “Today, instead of useless icons, I have Jehovah’s holy spirit. I am so thankful that his spirit does not need icons to reach me.”

Athena, from the island of Lesbos in Greece, was an extremely active member of the Orthodox Church. She was a member of the choir and scrupulously followed religious tradition, including the use of icons. Jehovah’s Witnesses helped Athena to realize that not everything she had been taught was in agreement with the Bible. This included the use of icons and crosses in worship. Athena insisted on conducting her own research regarding the origin of these religious objects. After digging deep into various reference works, she was convinced that the roots of those objects were not Christian. Her desire to worship God “in spirit” led her to get rid of her icons, despite their monetary value. Athena, however, was happy to take any loss in order to worship God in a spiritually clean and acceptable way.​—Acts 19:19.

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Icons as Art?

In recent years, Orthodox icons have been collected around the world. Collectors usually regard the icon, not as a sacred religious object, but as a work of art reflecting Byzantine culture. It is not unusual to find many such religious icons decorating the home or the office of someone who claims to be an atheist.

Sincere Christians, however, do not forget the primary purpose of the icon. It is an object of worship. While Christians do not challenge the right of others to own icons, personally they do not have icons in their possession, even as collector’s items. This in harmony with the principle found at Deuteronomy 7:26, The Jerusalem Bible: “You must not bring any detestable thing [images used in worship] into your house or you, like it, will come under the ban too. You must regard them as unclean and loathsome.”

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God did not tolerate the use of images in worship

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Knowledge from the Bible helps us to worship God in spirit