The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum We Reflect What We Worship

I find the crux of the matter in this paragraph:

"Even making an image in which the God of Israel was believed to be present (as likely in Ex 32:1–9) was forbidden for the following reasons: first, God had not revealed himself in any form to Israel, and to portray him to any degree in the form of any part of the creation is to misrepresent him and thus to commit idolatry (Deut 4:12–16, 23–25). Second, images of God were also not allowed in order to maintain a continuing consciousness among God’s people that there is a distinction between the Creator and the finite creation, which “cannot even remotely accord with the absolute, transcendental character of the God of Israel.” Third, images were also prohibited to maintain a continuing consciousness among the Israelites that their God is different from and incomparable to the pagan gods (Is 40:18–26), whose presence could be transferred to particular images in the form of created things, whereas God’s presence could never be localized or captured in this manner."

I remember sorting through these issues of images with you when The Passion of the Christ was all the rage. (that was 2004!)