Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?
Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?
Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?
I do. Many Protestants would likely be wary of this, but most Catholics or Orthodox would likely see no problem.
God became flesh, and men bowed before Christ and cried "my Lord and my God!". So in light of the incarnation, I don't get why drawing near to Christ via artwork is such a big deal for many. Obviously Christ is not the painting. But He is represented by the painting, and if God had such a massive problem with people drawing near to His holiness and Majesty via sacred objects, it becomes a bit difficult, imo, to explain the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Incarnation, and 2,000 years of pre-Reformation Christian artwork.
I would say no because you have no idea what he looked like. So, you put up an image, and the reality is, it might as well be a golden calf because we have no idea what he looked like. Even if we did, by definition an idol is an "object of worship" or an "object from which we have expectation." God is very clear that we are not to mess around with that kind of stuff because it supplants Him as Lord. If we direct our praise or worship to an object rather than directly to Him we have crossed the line of idolatry.Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?
Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?
Is there a portrait that is approved?what portrait of Jesus?
And assumptions makes every one look badIt's an impossible scenario. There are no portraits of Jesus, only assumptions of His likeness.
This is the same difference. Bowing before God the Man was still worshipping God. God the Man was still God, not an object.
Artwork is artwork at the end of the day. Undeniably beautiful and by all means can evoke certain responses, but I still feel there is a distinction that's being lost in translation here... To worship the object itself is wrong because the object becomes an idol. That's my understanding anyway.