IDOLATRY -- the Anglican doctrine of

Adelphoi,

For your kind consideration and possible reponse,

IDOLATRY -- the Anglican doctrine of

What in 2003 are the perils of idolatry facing Christians in the high secularised western world?

Before beginning an answer (and inviting your comments) let us take a look back into our history.

"Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image.thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them." (Exodus 20)

This Commandment has always been taken by Anglicans as a moral Command from God. Thus it applies everywhere in all circumstances. (The problem as we shall see, is how rightly to interpret it!)

It was understood by the Early Church of condemning and forbidding all forms of pagan worship and any attempt by the Church to make representations (statues & the like) of God, Christ or even the Apostles and the Virgin Mary.

It was understood by the English Reformers of the 16th century as not only condemning and forbidding all forms of pagan worship but also all the "traditional" medieval images, carvings, pictures, crucifixes and statues of parishes churches. The most accessible, authentic denunciation of the outward forms of inherited medieval religion is found in "An Homily against Peril of Idolatry and Superflous Decking of Churches", which is in the second Book of Homilies (referred to in the Thirty-Nine Articles) and is thus part of the doctrine of the Church of England under Elizabeth I.

If we receive this Homily as delivering the doctrine of the C of E [and of the Anglican Communion] in 2003 then we have to say that virtually all parishes churches and cathedrals in the West [or "North"] and many also in the rest of the world place those who enter them in "the peril of idolatry." The Homily does not teach that the presence of images and icons absolutely and always causes those who use them not merely to venerate but also to worship them, but it insists that the dangers of so doing and falling into idolatry are so great that the risk should not be taken and thus they should all be removed from churches immediately.

Let us, for the sake of discussion, accept the position of the Homily that in the context of pagan idolatry (in which the Israelites/Jews and then the Early Church were situated) the perils of idolatry are most real for the ethos of that time was aggressively towards treating representations as if they were the real thing.

Let us also, for the sake of discussion, accept that that the inherited traditional religion of the Ecclesia Anglicana (the Church of England) was plenteously rich in images, statues, carvings and a multitude of representations of deity, angels, apostles, saints and martyrs and thus, to the Protestant Reformers, was totally at odds with the 2nd commandment of the Ten. (For details of all this rich imagery see the excellent study by Eamon Duffy, "The Stripping of the Altars. Traditional Religion in England 1400 - 1580" Yale Univ Press.)

In the context of the plentiful use of images, crucifixes, carvings of many kinds, and the like, in all parishes churches and cathedrals, the only way forward for the morally intense reforming preachers, was to warn of the perils of idolatry and to work for the removal of all such from places of worship. And this was achieved in general terms by the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth 1.

Today, the context in which we seek to worship God in the West is certainly not the inherited traditional religion of the Medieval Centuries. It is a secularised society, which has been deeply affected by the Enlightenment, Modernism & Post-Modernism, by the massive building achievements of major roads and skyscrapers, of technological and scientific progress in a multitude of different forms, of the pervading power of the media, as well by the human rights and the self-worth aspects of modern culture.

In other words, we are not like the Early Church or like the Church in the 16th century in being surrounded by religious images, icons and statues. Rather we are surrounded by massive constructions of concrete, steel and glass, and we receive colour images via computer and TV screen of a desacralized world. We are in peril of idolatry when we watch the superstars of sports and the entertainment industry; we are in peril of idolatry when we are absorbed by the love of money or capital or stocks/shares; we are in peril of idolatry when we over admire and trust in the might of national war-making ability and strength. And so on.

So I do not think that for the average Anglican (or these days Southern
Baptist) church there is much of a peril of idolatry in having a Crib at Christmas, a donkey on Palm Sunday, a Cross for Good Friday, and candles here and there. Such things can these days be aids to the imagination in making a good atmosphere and creating in the mind's eye the biblical narrative, that is being read from the sacred Scriptures. I can see that where there is an excess of statues, icons and the like, (as in some very traditional Catholic, Orthodox and Anglo-Catholic churches) there is the danger for some people of confusing the veneration of the image with the adoration/worship of Almighty God (and thus I can see that regular teaching needs to be given by clergy and teachers on the right use of icons, images and visual aids to imagination and understanding in Christian worship). I can also see that for many people surrounded by concrete, steel and glass a beautifully appointed church can be a real help in switching gear as it were and become attune to the transcendent dimensions of our life.

What we need I think is a new Homily, written for us in the West in 2003, that solemnly, powerfully, clearly and eloquently warns us of the perils of idolatry facing Christians via the Media, the secularised culture, the claims and intentions of governments (especially that of the USA) and the powers of technology and science. Meanwhile I think that we can all from Baptist to Anglican to Methodist & Pentecostal benefit from the Christmas Crib, the Cross as the universal sign of Christianity, and other simple yet profound visual aids to the entry into the sacred and into the felt presence of the transcendent yet present living God, the Lord.

St John the Evangelist's Day, Dec 27, 2002.



The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon