Fine Arts and Images
Today we continue our look at Creativity & Communication in the Biblical Anthropology series.
When we think about “art”, we’re often thinking about the fine arts like painting and sculptures. Which, for the Christian, might bring to mind “images” from the second of the Ten Commandments –
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exodus 20:4
If God is literally telling us not to ever make any image of anything, that would restrict our art significantly!
The translation “carved image” is accurate – this would be an image carved of wood or stone.
This has been a huge controversy in church history, particularly when it comes to pictures or sculptures depicting God, or other religious images such as angels or saints. The arguments became very complicated. Some suggested that a sculpture was sinful, but a two-dimensional icon was all right. I even remember hearing – could someone find the source for me? – that at one point there was a “nose-pinch” test. If the image was three-dimensional enough that you could pinch its nose, it was a sinful image.
I’m not going to get into all of that today! But there are some people who have argued that we shouldn’t have any visual art at all that represents anything in the creation. No photos, no paintings, nothing.
But context is a wonderful thing, and the next verse does clarify what this commandment is all about:
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me…
Exodus 20:5
God isn’t talking about any image, but a religious image that you would bow down to – an idol. Deuteronomy also clarifies the issue:
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:8-10
It is prohibited to worship an idol, says Moses. If you serve an idol, that’s a sin. In fact, even if you bow or kneel to an image, you’re breaking this commandment –
…that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them…
Joshua 23:7
The problem is not the sculpture in itself. But the problem is the sculpture when it is created as an object of worship.
It’s also a sin to create an image representing the true God. You might remember that the Israelites had a name for their golden calf idol – it was “Yahweh” (Jehovah). But the Holy Spirit said through Moses:
Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth..
Deuteronomy 4:15-18
These verses don’t condemn art in general, but idolatry, and physical representations of the invisible God to worship.
But there’s another reason why we know that the second commandment is not against art in general. The Tabernacle.
The Tabernacle, according to God’s own instructions, was filled with works of art.
For example, do you remember what was above the Ark of the Covenant? “Two cherubim of gold”. A cherub is a kind of angel.
It makes you wonder – did God describe what cherubim look like to the artist? Maybe – but of course they are spiritual creatures. Real cherubim aren’t made of gold. This was, in the end, an artistic representation of something spiritual.
A study of the Tabernacle – and the Temple – is a fascinating look at how God views art. Let’s take some time in the next part of our study to look closer at the kinds of art that we see in the Old Testament.