Can I worship Jesus portrait ?

FireDragon76

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Something else I'd point out, that Calvin changed the common western ordering of the Ten Commandments. Lutherans and Catholics consider the prohibition on graven images simply an explanation of the 1st Commandment, to worship no other gods.
 
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JacksBratt

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Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

YjSe7v
Where did you find a picture of Jesus? This would be amazing if you have.

However, this is not possible. Nobody has a picture, sculpture, painting of Christ's likeness.

Second, was the "portrait" made by human hands? Can it heal, forgive, save? Of course not. Not any more than any other metal wood or plastic icon of any religion.

The whole idea is wrong. You cannot reduce Christ to an image, put on paper and framed by some fancy wood.

He is real, and lives in your heart, not on your wall in some two dimensional rendition of a guy with a beard and a far away look in his eyes.
 
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Dkh587

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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.


Some of the Israelites probably tried to justify worshipping the golden calf. We saw how well that worked out for them...

Worshipping a painting is sin.

Besides, most people who worship pictures of "Jesus" worship the white image of "Jesus". It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the white "Jesus" looks nothing like how he would have really looked, especially because he wasn't white!

So if you are worshipping a false white image with the name Jesus attached to it, and saying "I'm going to worship this image of my savior", how is it any different than the Israelites building a golden calf & saying "This is Yah who brought us out oF Egypt"
 
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All4Christ

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Some of the Israelites probably tried to justify worshipping the golden calf. We saw how well that worked out for them...

Worshipping a painting is sin.
I agree that worshipping a painting is a sin, and I am sure Gracia Singh would agree! Gracia never suggested that we worship a painting.

Remember, Gracia was answering this question:

"Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?"
 
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FireDragon76

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The whole idea is wrong. You cannot reduce Christ to an image, put on paper and framed by some fancy wood.

That's not what having an image of someone is about, at least not for those of us who are not iconclasts.

We see here the common Reformed tendency to deny that the finite can communicate anything of the infinite. That symbols communicate nothing of the thing symbolized. There is the danger here of reducing the hypostatic union of Christ's human nature with his divine nature as merely some kind of legal nominalism or union of goodwill (Nestorianism).

He is real, and lives in your heart, not on your wall in some two dimensional rendition of a guy with a beard and a far away look in his eyes.

Except the picture has everything to do with living "in your heart".
 
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Kit Sigmon

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Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

You can pray any where, you don't need any type of object in front of you...you free to pray...so enjoy the privilege because the time will come when it will be against the law for a Christian to freely worship.

Remember to pray for the persecuted church!


YjSe7v

The title of your thread is Can I worship Jesus portrait?
the answer to that is... you should not worship a Jesus portrait or any other object.
 
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1John2:4

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Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

YjSe7v
Why would you want to that? What is your objective?

“You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
 
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ToBeLoved

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Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

YjSe7v
No.

God's Word tells us that we should not have anything that creates a visual likeness of God or even think of God in a visual sort of way.

Exodus 2:4
4 “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.

This is more detail.

Question: "Is it wrong to have pictures of Jesus?"

Answer:
When God first gave His Law to mankind, He began with a statement of who He is: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2) with a warning that Israel was to have no other God but Him. He immediately followed that by forbidding the making of any image of anything “in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:4) for the purpose of worshiping or bowing down to it. The fascinating thing about the history of the Jewish people is that they disobeyed this commandment more than any other. Again and again, they made idols to represent gods and worshiped them; beginning with the creation of the golden calf during the very time God was writing out the Ten Commandments for Moses (Exodus 32)! Idol worship not only drew the Israelites away from the true and living God, it led to all manner of other sins including temple prostitution, orgies, and even the sacrifice of children.

Of course, simply having a picture of Jesus hanging in a home or church does not mean people are practicing idolatry. It is possible that a portrait of Jesus or a crucifix can become an object of worship, in which case the worshiper is at fault. But there is nothing in the New Testament that would specifically forbid a Christian from having a picture of Jesus. Such an image could well be a reminder to pray, to refocus on the Lord, or to follow in Christ’s footsteps. But believers should know that the Lord cannot be reduced to a two-dimensional image and that prayer or adoration is not to be offered to a picture. A picture will never be a complete image of God or accurately display His glory, and should never be a substitute for how we view God or deepen our knowledge of Him. And, of course, even the most beautiful representation of Jesus Christ is nothing more than one artist’s conception of what the Lord looked like.

As it is, we don’t know what Jesus looked like. If the details of His physical appearance were important for us to know, Matthew, Peter, and John would certainly have given us an accurate description, as would Jesus’ own brothers, James and Jude. Yet these New Testament writers offer no details about Jesus’ physical attributes. We are left to our imaginations.

We certainly don’t need a picture to display the nature of our Lord and Savior. We have only to look at His creation, as we are reminded in Psalm 19:1–2: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” In addition, our very existence as the redeemed of the Lord, sanctified and made righteous by His blood shed on the cross, should have Him always before us.

The Bible, the very Word of God, is also filled with non-physical descriptions of Christ that capture our imaginations and thrill our souls. He is the light of the world (John 1:5); the bread of life (John 6:32–33); the living water that quenches the thirst of our souls (John 4:14); the high priest who intercedes for us with the Father (Hebrews 2:17); the good shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep (John 10:11, 14); the spotless Lamb of God (Revelation 13:8); the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2); the way, the truth, the life (John 14:6); and the very image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Such a Savior is more beautiful to us than any piece of paper hanging on the wall.

In her book Gold Cord, missionary Amy Carmichael tells of Preena, a young Indian girl who became a Christian and lived in Miss Carmichael’s orphanage. Preena had never seen a picture of Jesus; instead, Miss Carmichael prayed for the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to each of the girls, “for who but the Divine can show the Divine?” One day, Preena was sent a package from abroad. She opened it eagerly and pulled out a picture of Jesus. Preena innocently asked who it was, and when she was told that it was Jesus, she burst into tears. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Why are you crying?” Little Preena’s reply says it all: “I thought He was far more beautiful than that” (page 151).
Is it wrong to have pictures of Jesus?
 
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jimmyjimmy

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Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

YjSe7v

The first issue that needs addressing is the person to whom you're praying. Jesus taught us to address the Father, not Himself, so why would you look at a "picture of Jesus" when your prayer is to be addressed to God the Father who no man has seen?
 
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Goatee

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The first issue that needs addressing is the person to whom you're praying. Jesus taught us to address the Father, not Himself, so why would you look at a "picture of Jesus" when your prayer is to be addressed to God the Father who no man has seen?

John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.
 
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ToBeLoved

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The first issue that needs addressing is the person to whom you're praying. Jesus taught us to address the Father, not Himself, so why would you look at a "picture of Jesus" when your prayer is to be addressed to God the Father who no man has seen?
I don't agree with this.

Of course Jesus prayed to the Father. But it is very clear that the apostles called Jesus, Lord and the Son of God. He is our Advocte and the way to the Father, why can we not pray to Jesus? He is God after all.

What did Jesus say:

26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

I will ask the Father and He will send you a Comforter. So why is Jesus intermeditory for them? He is our Advocate to the Father. Christ gives us His righteousness.

It is meant to be that way.
 
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1John2:4

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I still thinks it's idolatry no matter how you slice it. In the wilderness the Isrealites made a golden calf to go before them because they thought Moses had died. So what does it mean when God says "You shall have no other gods before me"? And what about Jeraboam when He also made golden calfs at Bethel. These folks were making them to help them to serve God. We sit back and say those silly Isrealites there they go again delving into idolatry I would NEVER do that, will they ever learn. Are we not doing the same, creating images out of wood and stone? Paintings, crosses, statues, fish bumper stickers, stars. I totally agree with Jimmy Jimmy "it's OK if you want to break the first 2 commandments"
 
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ToBeLoved

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[Staff edit]

I think, and I say think that the reason God says in Exodus not to do it is that God is infinate and all powerful. When we attach an image, even a portrait to God it makes Him seem more human or with more human-like characteristics. It says in the Bible that God is Spirit and we should worship Him in Spirit and Truth. So, I think that sort of agree's with what God said in Exodus.

Also in the Bible God has been other things, for example a fire so the Israelites could see and travel in the dark. So, I think maybe God wrote that in Exodus not to confuse God with fire or light.

I personally try not to do it. I try to see God as something that is too magnificent to imagine.

I also think the golden calf and worshipping it instead of God had something to do with it.

I see many reasons. Some others I have not mentioned here because I have limited time to write this.

Hope this helps.
 
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All4Christ

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But when looking at Jesus portrait, in my mind I am thinking about the Jesus who died for me,
I am worshiping the Jesus of the Gospels, I don't think it is wrong.
As long as you are worshipping Jesus, not the picture itself, it is perfectly fine, imho.
 
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Jesus_is_Saint

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I'll go against the majority here and say that it's fine. It's just a prop you use to help you focus and direct your attention to him. I have a picture of my wife and kids in my wallet, and my emotions relating to them are much stronger when I see their picture than when I only imagine them in my mind.

I don't understand why people here are taking issue with the fact that we don't know Jesus' exact physical appearance. The picture represents him to you and you recognise it as such. His spiritual significance is far more important than his exact physical appearance during his short time on earth.
Your answer is accurate,
we know that the portrait is not God,
it is just a medium to make your mind to focus on the real Jesus in Heaven.
As long as you are worshiping the true God, a cross or a portrait of Jesus doesn't matter.
 
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Jesus_is_Saint

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It is like, when you are studying overseas (30 years ago when no mobile phone or internet),
you miss your mother, and you have a photo of her,
when you are thinking of her, you take out her photo and look at it, and you feel that she is beside you, and feel better.
 
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Aryeh

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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.

This is a major point of the commandment against image worship.

Even if you knew what an entity or object - Christ in this case - looked like, it would make no sense to worship an image of Him when He Himself is a Living Image of Himself. And, if the entity or object is not living, then why pay homage and respects to things that are dead? We are children of the living God; dead bury (and worship) dead.
 
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