Learning to be Quick to Listen

Many of us have heard the common Protestant critique against the Catholic use of images and statues. It’s a critique that often draws on early Christian sources to argue that venerating images is a practice not rooted in ancient Christianity. But when we examine these sources more closely, we see that the arguments against images are often rooted in a very different context. For example, some early Christian arguments against images are based on a Platonic worldview that saw physical art as a deceptive imitation of reality. This is a philosophical position, not a biblical one. In fact, this type of reasoning would even condemn the magnificent art of the Solomonic Temple , which was explicitly commanded by God. Therefore, when we encounter these arguments, we must remember their philosophical origins and not assume they reflect a timeless, divinely inspired condemnation of all religious art. Furthermore, some critics will point to sources where early Christian apologists argue that ...