Idol Worship and Engraved Images in Christianity
The Second Commandment prohibits the making and worship of "graven images" (Exodus 20:4-5), a prohibition that has shaped Christian practice and sparked enduring theological debate about what constitutes idolatry and how believers may legitimately represent the divine [2]. The Hebrew term translated "graven image" refers to carved or engraved representations, while related terms encompass molten images, standing pillars, and various objects used in worship [10]. These prohibitions extended beyond foreign deities to include any attempt to worship the true God through physical representations.
The Biblical Foundation
Scripture consistently condemns idol worship across both testaments. Psalm 97:7 declares, "Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols" [1]. The prophet Habakkuk asks rhetorically, "What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?" [4]. These texts emphasize not merely the prohibition of foreign gods but the fundamental irrationality of representing deity through human craftsmanship.
The biblical definition of idolatry encompasses multiple practices: bowing down to images, worshipping images, sacrificing to them, swearing by other gods, and serving them [2]. Critically, the prohibition extends to "worshipping the true God by an image" [2]—a distinction that became central to later Christian controversies. Leviticus 26:1 makes this explicit: "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God" [10].
The Reformers' Interpretation
The Protestant Reformers insisted that the Second Commandment forbade not only the worship of false gods but any visual representation of God in worship. Calvin argued that once people "imagined that they beheld God in images, they also worshipped him as being there," leading to progressive spiritual degradation as "their eyes and minds becoming wholly engrossed by them" [5]. This represented a fundamental confusion about God's nature: "men do not fall away to the worship of images until they have imbibed some idea of a grosser description" [5].
Charles Hodge articulated the Reformed position systematically: "The worship of the true God by images, in the eyes of the Hebrews, has ever been considered as much an act of idolatry as the worship of false gods" [9]. He pointed to the golden calf incident as paradigmatic—when the Israelites said to Aaron, "Make us gods which shall go before us," they did not intend to renounce Jehovah but desired "a visible symbol of God, as the heathen had," yet this was "denounced and punished as an act of apostasy from God" [9].
Calvin urged that genuine conversion to God requires detesting and profaning images, citing Jehu's destruction of Baal's altars as exemplary: "The example given by him and by others of the same class ought to be followed by godly princes and magistrates, if they wish to give a genuine proof of their repentance" [6].
Early Christian Witness
The patristic church maintained similar convictions. Tertullian and other early fathers argued that Christians "do not consider those to be gods that are made with hands," on the ground that "it is not in conformity with right reason (to suppose) that images, fashioned by the most worthless and depraved of workmen...can be (regarded as) gods" [7]. Augustine celebrated Christianity's fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about overthrowing idolatry, noting the command to "utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images" [8].
Paradox of Sacred Art
Yet Scripture itself records extensive use of engraving and carving in constructing the tabernacle and temple, including decorative elements on priestly garments [3]. This apparent tension—between prohibiting images and employing skilled artisans for sacred spaces—has required careful theological distinction between decorative art and objects of worship, between representation for beauty and representation for veneration.
The prophetic literature envisions eschatological purification: "Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee" [11]. This vision of a worship purified from all idolatrous elements has animated Christian iconoclastic movements while also raising questions about the legitimate place of visual culture in Christian devotion.
Sources
- Psalms “Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods! -- Psalms 97:7”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Idolatry — Forbidden -- Ex 20:2,3; De 5:7. Consists in Bowing down to images. -- Ex 20:5; De 5:9. Worshipping images. -- Isa 44:17; Da 3:5,10,15. Sacrificing to images. -- Ps 106:38; Ac 7:41. Worshipping other gods. -- De 30:17; Ps 81:9. Swearing by other gods. -- Ex 23:13; Jos 23:7. Walking after other gods. -- De 8:19. Speaking in the name of other gods. -- De 18:20. Looking to other gods. -- Ho 3:1. Serving other gods. -- De 7:4; Jer 5:19. Fearing other gods. -- 2Ki 17:35. Sacrificing to other gods. -- Ex 22:20. Worshipping the true God by an image, & c. -- Ex 32:”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Carve — The arts of engraving and carving were much practised among the Jews. They were practised in connection with the construction of the tabernacle and the temple (Ex. 31:2, 5; 35:33; 1 Kings 6:18, 35; Ps. 74:6), as well as in the ornamentation of the priestly dresses (Ex. 28:9-36; Zech. 3:9; 2 Chr. 2:7, 14). Isaiah (44:13-17) gives a minute description of the process of carving idols of wood.”
- Habakkuk ““What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols? -- Habakkuk 2:18”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 27: God was visibly depicted to their eyes. 9. After such a figment is formed, adoration forthwith ensues: for when once men imagined that they beheld God in images, they also worshipped him as being there. At length their eyes and minds becoming wholly engrossed by them, they began to grow more and 98 more brutish, gazing and wondering as if some divinity were actually before them. It hence appears that men do not fall away to the worship of images until they have imbibed some idea of a grosser description: not that they actually beli”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, Vol. 2, section 18.35: which they will openly proclaim that they have renounced idolatry. For, since statues and images are instruments of idolatry and superstition, they who are truly converted to God detest and abhor them, and, as far as lies in their power, profane them as we read that Jehu did, who profaned the altars of Baal, and turned his temple into a common sewer. ( 2 Kings 10:27 .) The example given by him and by others of the same class ought to be followed by godly princes and magistrates, if they wish to give a genuine proof of their repentance; for, ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 4: Tertullian IV, Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen — CHAP. V.: Treating of the regulations respecting idolatry as being peculiar to Christianity, Celsus establishes their correctness, saying that the Christians do not consider those to be gods that are made with hands, On the ground that it is not in conformity with right reason (to suppose) that images, fashioned by the most worthless and depraved of workmen, and in many instances also provided by wicked men, can be (regarded as) gods. In what follows, however, wishing to show that this is a common opinion, and one not first discover”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — CHAP. XXVI.--OF THE FACT THAT IDOLATRY HAS BEEN SUBVERTED BY THE NAME OF CHRIST, AND BY THE FAITH OF CHRISTIANS ACCORDING TO THE PROPHECIES. (part 2): shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images."(1) But who shall say that Christ and Christians have no connection with Israel, seeing that Israel was the grandson of Abraham, to whom first, as afterwards to his son Isaac, and then to his grandson Israel himself, that promise was given, which I have already mentioned, namely: "In thy seed shall all nations be blessed"? That pre”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 44: the time of Moses until now. The worship of the true God by images, in the eyes of the Hebrews, has ever been considered as much an act of idolatry as the worship of false gods. 3. A third argument on this subject is, that the worship of 293 Jehovah by the use of images is denounced and punished as an act of apostasy from God. When the Hebrews in the wilderness said to Aaron, “Make us gods which shall go before us,” neither they nor Aaron intended to renounce Jehovah as their God; but they desired a visible symbol of God, as the heathen h”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 44: von Dr. Georg Benedict Winer, 3d edit. Leipzig, 1847, art. “Jehu.” In Leviticus xxvi. 1 , it is said: “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.” And Moses commanded that when the people had gained possession of the promised land, six of the tribes should be gathered on Mount Gerizim to bless, and six upon Mount Ebal to curse: “And the Levites shall speak and say unto all the men of Israel with”
- Micah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Micah 5:13: Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee,.... The former were such as were made of wood or stone; the latter statues, such as were molten or cast, and made of gold, silver, or brass; Such as the Jews sometimes worshipped, and are now found in the apostate church of Rome; but will have no place in the Christian churches, or those so called, in the latter day. The Jews indeed have had no idols or idolatrous worship among them since the Babylonish captivity; and the prophet here speaks, not of what would be found among them, ”