Image worship

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As worship of images ( Ikonodulie ) refers to both the pictorial representation of divine beings and forces, as well as connected to God or the gods of created beings ( angels , saints , or symbolic animals, totems ), as well as the associated worship these images, sculptures and icons .

Iconolatry (“worship of images”) and idolatry or idolatry (“ idolatry ”) are to be distinguished from iconoduly (“image worship”) , although polemics directed against image worship (see iconoclasm ) are often referred to as iconolatry or even idolatry .

etymology

Etymologically , the origin of the term must be distinguished from icon and idol ; Greek εἰκών eikṓn is the "portrait", the "image" or the "likeness" (corresponds to Latin imago ); εἴδωλον eídōlon , on the other hand, is the “shadow image ”, the “illusion” or in the New Testament the “replica” and the “ idol ”, adopted in Latin as idolum .

definition

A distinction is made between an immediate, a realistic and a symbolic understanding of the images:

  1. Equation: In the first case there is a direct connection between the venerated and the image, which as vera ikon is partially equated with the venerated. This interpretation has been rejected in Christianity at least since the Second Council of Nicaea , even if some such ways of thinking can still be found in popular belief today. Such images, like everything earthly, have a finite lifespan and, when destroyed, trigger grief in the admirer. Often such images were deliberately destroyed by non-worshipers.
  2. Image: A realistic image relationship is assumed between what is revered and what is depicted; Anointing , cladding, or making sacrifices indicate such understanding.
  3. Symbol: In contrast, there is the worship of symbolic images, in which a fundamental difference between the two is thought; the venerated image here represents what is venerated; it does not have to be objective or "represent" something.

The view of the Christian churches worshiping images ranges between the second and the third variant.

Cultural history

A worship of images and, in particular, an object worship can already be observed in prehistoric times. Cave paintings from the ancient and pictorial creations from the Neolithic have a religious character. In ancient times, idols, mostly small clay figures or wooden figures, were the central object of domestic divine worship. During the Bronze Age , idolatry was widespread throughout the Mediterranean, the Middle East and also on mainland Europe and, depending on the culture, took on characteristic forms such as the well-known Cycladic idols or the Brettidols of Cyprus. Idols were between the house floor plans, in grave sites but also in sanctuaries found. The design can be objective ( votive figures of the cultures of the Balkans) as well as abstract ( slate idols , anthropomorphic pole idols made from tree trunks) or of a symbolic and attributive nature ( Thorhammer ), but either has a mythological background or is ritually related to the idol's function Fertility and other cults.

The Zoroastrianism , the Baha'i and Islam (the Sunnis more than the Shiites ) reject the worship of images from the same motives as from the Mosaic Judaism.

Hinduism

The Hinduism has a particularly diverse imagery; mythological interpretations and cosmological relationships ( mandalas ) are pronounced . While the early Vedic ritual took place outdoors and without images, this changed around the turn of the century and a rich world of images developed. Devout Hindus go to the temple to have the sight of God through a symbol or statue in which the spiritual presence of the deity is assumed, or they have a small house altar with an image or symbol. Looking ( darshan ) leads to contemplation and meditation , the aim of which is to go beyond the level of the visual.

Visualization often plays an important role as it makes it easier for the believer to access the divine. In the pilgrimage center Tirumala Tirupati, for example, ceremonies such as bathing, ointments and meals of Shri Venkatateshvara , or his stone statue, are celebrated; the same thing happens in other temples large and small. Images of gods are also often the focus of daily domestic pujas (worship).

The pictorial representations are anthropomorphic; to illustrate their powers, they are often depicted as having multiple heads and multiple arms. The iconography is closely linked to Indian mythology and gives the believer indications of the spiritual meaning and the work of the divine. The Puranas provide information about the respective shape . For example, at the beginning of the second chapter of Devi Bhagavata , one of the most important books on the goddess, a verse describes the goddess Mahalakshmi, who is a form of Durga :

“I take refuge in Mahalakshmi, the destroyer of Mahisasura (the buffalo demon), who sits in a lotus flower the color of coral, she holds in her eighteen hands the prayer beads, ax, club, arrow, lightning, lotus flower, bow , Jug, stick, shakti, sword, shield, shell, bell, wine goblet, trident, noose and the Sudarsana throwing disc. "

In this figure with many arms, however, Hindus see no contradiction to the ultimate formlessness. In the fourth chapter, after defeating the buffalo demon Mahisasura, the heavenly devas praise her as the embodiment of the Supreme, the formless Brahman . This hymn from the 4th chapter of the Devi Mahatmya is sung in India every year on the holidays of the goddess in autumn and played on the radio. An excerpt:

“O Devi , you are Bhagavati, the highest wisdom, which is the cause of salvation. You are the highest knowledge of the wise who hope for salvation. You are the soul of Brahman. You are the source of the pure hymns in the Vedas . You are Bhagavati who embodies the three Vedas. [...] You are the food that sustains life. "

But the worship of the divine in signs is also very common. Hindus rarely worship Shiva in an anthropomorphic form. At the center of worship is usually the linga (meaning sign) or, often found on street altars, the trident, another important emblem for Shiva. The popular statue of the goddess Kali in the Kalighat Temple in Calcutta (officially Kolkata) is made of a black stone that was miraculously discovered and in which, according to legend, the goddess would like to be worshiped. Equipped with face, tongue and clothing, this stone now represents the divine. Believers from all parts of the subcontinent come here to worship Kali in this form.

Also in the ritual worship service, the puja, it is clearly recognizable: The worship is not for the image or emblem itself, but for the ultimately formless supreme in it. The priest calls this person as Shiva, Vishnu or Durga and asks to be present in the portrait during the ceremony. In a short meditation the priest imagines the divine as being present in the heart, either personally or in symbol. In some pujas a flower, held in front of the heart, is the outward sign of its presence: the priest holds the flower under his nose and imagines how the divine passes from the heart through the breath to it, and then puts it in front of it the portrait on the altar. Another possibility is the “Pran-Dan”, the “giving life”, in a Shakti- Puja, the worship service in honor of the goddess : With a small tuft of grass and a few grains of uncooked rice in his fingers, the priest touches the heart area of ​​the statue , or the picture. In addition, he says prescribed prayers, which make the Murti "alive" and through which the goddess is then thought to be actually present.

The production of the statues, the so-called “murtis”, is still not the same in traditional handicrafts as the production of any other figure. For example, there are certain regulations for alloys for metal statues, and the production of the mold in which the murti is to be made becomes a sacred act with prayer.

Though portrait worship is widespread, many Hindu thinkers have also been critical of it. For example, a very well-known group in Shaivism , the "Lingayats", founded in the twelfth century, strictly reject the veneration of images. During the time of British colonial rule, movements arose in India that wanted to help the old Vedic ideal of imagery to break through again, such as the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj . However, apart from a thin middle class, they could not prevail. The mystic Ramakrishna , who was a priest in the great Kali temple Dakshineshwar in the middle of the nineteenth century , called the statues of the gods "dolls" which one no longer needed when one was spiritually adult. Even so, he accepted statues as an aid to the believer.

Buddhism

The Buddhism initially refused any form of images and image worship. There were only symbolic representations for Buddha. In the course of its history, Tibetan Buddhism in particular developed a rich world of images; According to the teachings of the Buddha, however, the representations should serve less for idolatry than for meditation and are to be understood as an aid to this.

Judaism

In Judaism there is the so-called Mosaic ban on images . The Hebrew term tərāfim (“Terafim”), (singular and plural), translated as “house god”, is very likely the Hebrew form of the Hittite-Hurrian term tarpiš “demon”, “guardian spirit ” (corresponding to Akkadian šēdu ). The Septuagint gives tərāfim with εἴδωλον ("god image", "idol") or γλuπτός ("carved picture"), the Targumim with ṣlm , ṣlmnj ' ("images") or dm'jn ("figures"), which is the translation of the Hebrew tərāfim with "house god". Other derivatives such as from trp , "lazy" (Fohrer, BHH III, 1952), rp ' , "heal". or rəfā'im , “healer”, “spirits of the dead” (Tropper 1989, 334) are problematic in both etymological and factual terms. There is therefore a broad consensus to give preference to a derivation from Hittite or Hurrian tarpiš (Seybold, THAT, 1057; van der Toorn, Lewis, ThWAT VIII, 766; Lewis, DDD, 845). The term denotes the image of a god (idol). In ancient times, idols such as those found in excavations were mostly small clay or wooden figures, the central objects of domestic divine worship.

Christianity

Originally, Jewish Christianity - not least because of its Jewish roots - was reluctant to reluctant to worship images. The use of representational symbols - e.g. B. of cross , shepherd, lamb , fish, ship , palm, phoenix , pigeon, peacock - on the walls of the apartments, on graves, sarcophagi and utensils seems to contradict the second commandment .

It was not until the Gnostics of the 2nd and 3rd centuries that we encounter obviously symbolic images of Christ. Like some other customs ( hymns, etc.), the decoration of the houses of God with pictures also penetrated the Orthodox Catholic Church from here. In the 4th century , for the first time, the properly understood image of divine things began to be discussed in Christian tradition. Some synods and church fathers still spoke out against the images of Christ and God the Father as being absolutely inadmissible. However, the subject of image worship was hardly a significant controversial topic at that time, neither for nor against there are many statements.

Even then, however, there was z. E.g. in Edessa an allegedly authentic picture of Christ, and soon other similar pictures were added, as well as depictions of Mary and other saints . For example, churches were decorated with depictions of the saints to whom the church was consecrated . Augustine complains about the worship of images, while Cyril of Alexandria (and in his wake also the Copts and other ancient oriental churches ) promoted the worship of images.

Pope Gregory I founded the worship of images around 600 as follows: The images are the books of the poor, from which they, who cannot read, draw their knowledge of sacred history. Long ago had Ikonodulie in the East and in the Mediterranean enforced. With the Franks, however, especially with Charlemagne and the bishops dependent on him, the rejection remained decisive. Bishop Serenus acted iconoclastically because he saw the danger that the holy images would only take the place of the idols.

In the course of the 6th century it became the prevailing and ecclesiastically approved custom to prostrate oneself in front of the pictures and (in the West) also statues, to honor them by kneeling down , kissing, lighting candles and incense , clothing with precious robes and adorning them with jewelry .

People began to make pilgrimages to especially famous pictures , to praise them and to give them gifts; the opposition to Judaism and Islam could lead to something specifically Christian in this image service. But this was also a motive to intervene for the Eastern Roman emperors, for whom such a rugged partition between the religions was undesirable in the political interest.

According to the photo-friendly sources that have survived, especially the Emperor Leo III. (717–741), Constantine V (741–775), Leo IV (775–780), Leo V (813–820) and Theophilos (829–842) were keen iconoclasts. They are said to have set themselves the goal of exterminating the image service. In recent research, however , many aspects of the Byzantine iconoclasm are assessed in a more differentiated manner . With Leo III. based on the sources, it is already questionable whether he even acted against the veneration of images. In the case of Constantine V, on the other hand, many processes were evidently presented in a distorted manner. Constantine V refused to worship images, but proceeded very moderately. Many political opponents of Constantine V were probably only declared to be martyrs of the friends of the pictures afterwards, while polemics were held against the emperor. Open resistance to the anti-image politics seems hardly to have arisen at first. John of Damascus , who lived outside the empire, and the empresses Irene and Theodora II , however, campaigned for the bishops at the Councils of Nicaea (787) and Constantinople (842) to pass the resolution that the images of Christ , the Virgin Mary , to whom angels and saints are to be venerated, but worship is owed only to the Trinity . The depicted should always be identified by labels.

The meaning of this dogma established at the Seventh Ecumenical Council is that the Christian worship of icons is not an adoration of the material image, but relates to what is depicted on the icon - that is, to the archetype of what is represented. By venerating the saints depicted on the icon tablets (and not the tablets themselves), the faithful ultimately honor the one God without whom there would have been no phenomenon of holiness. So the honor of a representation of a God honored saint is in its essence the worship of the providential effect of God in the world, but not idolatry.

This makes the worship of icons one of the dogmata of the Orthodox churches . The Latin Church joined this position despite the resistance offered by the Frankish Church under Charlemagne . Finally, especially in the Western Church, under certain circumstances the representation of God the Father was also considered legitimate; In the Eastern Churches, such images can only be found under the influence of Western Churches from around the 17th to 19th centuries, and practically not since the 20th century.

Hardly any artist in Christian iconography did without depictions of God. As the strongest theological argument is since John of Damascus , brought to bear that God even in the visible and tangible incarnation of God , the Old Testament figure ban - have abolished or at least radically relativized - which is indeed explicitly justified in the Old Testament with the invisibility of God.

Reformed , Baptist , Mennonite and some other Protestant churches occupy a special position in this context . They justify their attitude with the second commandment , "You shall not make an image of God for yourself and no representation of anything in the sky above, on the earth below or in the water below the earth." ( Ex 20.4  EU )

In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church and Martin Luther do not know this commandment, since they orientate themselves on the repetition of the Decalogue where the “pictorial commandment” appears as a sub-concept within the first commandment. Contribute towards the decision of Martin Luther , this part of the Ten Commandments in his small catechism entirely omit, was Carlstadt iconoclasm ( 1522 ), which was frightening for him in his social devastation.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leslie Brubaker: Inventing Byzantine Iconoclasm . London 2012.
  2. a b Encyclopedia of the Orthodox Icon. The basics of the theology of the icon. St. Petersburg 2007, p. 315.
  3. Dtn 5,6-21  EU
  4. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church , No. 2129-2132