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Religious images in Christian theology have a role within the liturgical and devotional life of adherents of certain Christian denominations. The use of religious images has often been a contentious issue in Christian history. Concern over idolatry is the driving force behind the various traditions of aniconism in Christianity.
Although no single biblical passage contains a complete definition of idolatry, the subject is addressed in numerous passages, so that idolatry may be summarized as the strange worship of idols or images; the worship of polytheistic gods by use of idols or images; the worship of created things (trees, rocks, animals, astronomical bodies, or ...
Lutheran places of worship contain images and sculptures not only of Christ but also of biblical and occasionally of other saints as well as prominent decorated pulpits due to the importance of preaching, stained glass, ornate furniture, magnificent examples of traditional and modern architecture, carved or otherwise embellished altar pieces ...
The regulative principle of worship is a Christian doctrine, held by some Calvinists and Anabaptists, that God commands churches to conduct public services of worship using certain distinct elements affirmatively found in scripture, and conversely, that God prohibits any and all other practices in public worship.
In monotheistic religions, aniconism was shaped by theological considerations and historical contexts.It emerged as a corollary in which people believed that God was the ultimate power holder, and people who practiced it believed that they needed to defend God's unique status against competing external and internal forces, such as pagan idols and critical humans.
Moses Indignant at the Golden Calf, painting by William Blake, 1799–1800. Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. [1] [2] [3] In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the BaháΚΌí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic God as if it were God.
Church leaders defended images of Christ on the basis that they were representations of the true incarnation of God and clarified the relationship between an image and the one depicted by the image. The principle of respected worship is that, in honoring an image, the honor is to paid not to the image itself, but the one who is portrayed.
A religious image is a work of visual art that is representational and has a religious purpose, subject or connection. All major historical religions have made some use of religious images, although their use is strictly controlled and often controversial in many religions, especially Abrahamic ones.