Images Within Lutheran Liturgical Living

When considering the ways in which Lutherans tend to adorn their churches and homes with liturgical imagery, one might wonder why some Christians don’t use crucifixes, icons, or Christian art in the same way that Lutherans generally do. Some Lutherans might even wonder why some of their fellow Lutherans would want to have religious images displayed on their home altar or why it matters that Lutheran churches are decorated with realistic crucifixes and ornate images of Jesus, not just plain crosses.

The answer comes from an ages-old debate in the Lutheran Church centering around the role of images and their religious use. In fact, this debate stretches back not only to the Reformation era but even further to the Second Council of Nicaea that met in the 700s. In order to understand the reasons why images are important in the Lutheran Church and why so many Lutherans use them as part of their liturgical living practices, one must first understand the origins of this debate and the arguments presented on both sides of it throughout history.

Historical Context

The Second Council of Nicaea, which met in 787, attempted to resolve the issue of iconoclasm that had become prominent in the previous century. Iconoclasm, or image destroying, was encouraged in 726 by Byzantine Emperor Leo III, who declared that Christian must not worship icons of Christ and the saints and that all images should be ruined so that inadvertent worship could not happen.

At its meeting the council agreed with Emperor Leo that icons should not be adored or worshiped (which was reserved only for God) but disagreed with him insofar as it held that icons and Church images should not be destroyed but instead treated with reverence and veneration because of the Scriptural and theological truths they depict as well as their usefulness in teaching about the Bible.

Despite the Church’s uniform decision, this first-millennium critique of images would reappear within Reformation discourse when Luther’s Wittenberg colleague, Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt, would again adopt iconoclastic views in his radical reform of worship and religious practice. Based on his interpretation of the Second Commandment—according to the Reformed numbering, that one should make no graven images—Karlstadt started instructing Christians to destroy every religious image they encountered. In a short period of time, Karlstadt and his followers destroyed stained glass windows, statues, carved altarpieces, and many other historical landmarks in and around Wittenberg, all in the name of iconoclasm.

Luther and Images

Luther, who was hiding in Wartburg Castle at the time, re-entered society for the sole purpose of confronting Karlstadt. In his Invocavit sermons, Luther instructed his congregants not to use violence or force to enact change but instead to use the Word of God. He sought to teach the Lutherans in the area the reasons why the decision of the Second Council of Nicaea could be upheld and how religious images ought to be used for good within the Church and considered as tools for instruction and aids to devotion.

Addressing Karlstadt’s concern regarding idolatry, Luther admitted he could understand his colleague’s point of view. However, he insisted that the issue of images lay in whether someone was worshiping the images, not with the images themselves. Luther argued that since there are no Biblical laws against creating statues, pictures, or artwork, there should be no problem with their existence. He continued to bring the matter up in his teachings and writings, including the treatise “Against the Heavenly Prophets” (1525), in which he denounced the enforced removal of images, stating that the alternative to such images might be the use of “shameless worldly things.”

With Luther’s views before him, Karlstadt decided to go off and situate himself squarely against the Reformer and the rest of the Church. Karlstadt went on and became connected with other Reformation movements, including the Anabaptists. Even today, the Anabaptists continue to forbid the use of religious images in home and church contexts, and in some sects like the Amish photographs are strictly prohibited. Baptists, Presbyterians, and most Reformed churches also joined Karlstadt in his thoughts and his calls for reforms, forbidding the use of religious images—something you still see reflected in their liturgy and practice. If one enters one of their spaces of worship, you will generally see it stripped bare and void of any pictorial references to Christ and his works.

Images and Their Use Within Liturgical Living

This background not only explains why Lutherans can feel confident in their use of images within the Church and home but also demonstrates why such images are important to keep around and to defend, especially to others inside and outside the Church who might not understand their purpose. After all, these religious images have played an important part in both personal and communal faith and piety for thousands of years.

Christianity has always found it important to reflect its themes in art and has been a major patron of the arts since its origin, as seen in the historic connections between the Church, money, and artists. In the grand scheme of things, it is only recently that art has become concerned with far more than religious matters. Christians have long felt the need to support the arts and to encourage artists who dedicated their lives to the creation of religious subjects.

The purpose of these images has generally been to remind Christians of their faith, of their Lord Jesus, and of the many saints who have gone before us to the eternal Kingdom and to rest with God. Just like Lutherans’ celebration of saints’ days and the feasts and festivals of the Church Year, these images of Christ and the members of his body can help Christians alive today to thoughtfully reflect and meditate upon stories of the faith that might encourage us in our relationship with God.

Further, because printed access to the words of God has long been limited within the history of the Church, artistic depictions and church decorations like stained glass, statues, and icons were used to teach stories from the Bible, keeping to a certain format in the ways in which they depicted their subjects. They passed down the traditions of the Church and instructed Christians about the details of their stories, such as images that portray Mary wearing blue or the martyrs holding their symbols and the instruments of their martyrdom (e.g. St. Stephen holding stones, St. Lawrence holding a gridiron, St. Lucia holding her gauged-out eyes in the palm of her hand).

Examples of Images and Their Uses

So what are some good ways in which to utilize the gift of religious imagery in your and your household’s liturgical living practices?

Crucifixes

First and foremost Lutherans love crucifixes—and for good reason. When you see the body of Christ on a crucifix, bloody and wounded, you can remember his sacrifice and gift to you. Without the cross and without Christ on the cross, there would be no salvation. A crucifix is the image immediately brought to mind when we hear the Apostle Paul’s divinely inspired words, “We preach Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23).

You might hear some criticize the image of the crucifix and some Lutherans even worry about it being too much of a “Roman Catholic” practice. Yet, the history of Lutheranism would tell you otherwise—demonstrating that the crucifix was a regular image and devotional tool during Luther’s life and throughout the golden age of the Lutheran Church. Additionally, if you were to visit most of the oldest LCMS church buildings in the United States, you would see that they frequently have elaborate and ornate crucifixes adorning their altars along with other unique images of Christ and the Apostles. Crucifixes and other images of Christ give us a visual reminder that God came to earth to be an actual man who lived and experienced life as we experience it.

Although there is nothing “wrong” with the use of an empty cross, the practice of using one often comes from non-Lutheran sources and some of the denominations mentioned above that are overly concerned with the elimination of idolatrous images within church and home. Contrary to popular belief, this empty cross does not symbolize the resurrection of Christ but merely displays the cross in the absence of Christ. Thus, the crucifix has remained a fixture within Lutheran churches, homes, and liturgical practice to this day and is still considered by many to be the foremost image at the heart of Christianity—displayed prominently and worn by Christians as necklaces or placed in the middle of the home and church altar or atop the doorposts in a Christian home.

Icons

Icons, which have been a staple of religious imagery in the Church since the beginning of Christendom, also play a role in Lutheran liturgical practice. Although Eastern-style icons are a relatively new addition to Lutheran practice (within the last century or so), they are still an important type of religious image. While the Lutheran Church is sure to staunchly disregard theologies that encourage the veneration of icons or the saints, Lutherans have still respected the use of icons in church and home as a form of “visual liturgy” or “visual theology.” We steer firmly away from the teachings of Eastern Christian traditions that these images are able to become sacralized through an act of consecration or understanding that the images are able to perform miraculous works or can be prayed to for protection and preservation.
However, Lutherans think that icons are unique in their ability to instruct in the faith. They are not just art in the same way that a religious painting is a realistic or symbolic depiction of a person, place, or event, as icons’ functions are meant to express the theological teaching of the church and to be used as a reminder of such teachings. When placed on a home altar or displayed in an area of the house that you visit often, an icon can help to turn your mind toward God and his love for his people, ever directing your thoughts towards him.

Further, icons often take us through the natural patterns of the Church Year and feature many of the characters and events of the liturgical calendar. One can use icons to display images of these things in the home and to represent our location within the broader annual liturgical cycle. We’ve included icons in many of our photos here on the blog and even suggest in our “How to Celebrate Name Days” article that you can bring some icons out during your commemoration of the names in your household.

Art

Other religious art can be useful to display in the home and church, too, especially when the image helps us to teach the faith to those in our midst. It is no surprise that we love Christian art here at All the Household and make sure to feature a variety of artistic renditions of the saints, events, people, and Scriptural passages in our exploration of the Church Year.

Many Lutheran churches and homes can benefit from having some images strategically placed around them, whether that is through a display on a home altar or theological bookshelf, as is popular in Western Christianity, or in places of significant common gathering such as above a dining room table or near the place where you say your family prayers.

Luckily, there is a wide variety of artwork available to Lutherans interested in adorning their home with liturgical pieces. Of course there are a plethora of historic prints available in the public domain that can easily be downloaded for free and printed to display in your home. There are also modern liturgical artists who have dedicated their life to the creation of aesthetic, Christian art and who make their living off of the support of patrons who support their work. Although statues or stained glass might be more expensive than most of us can afford to purchase for our spiritual edification, acquiring small pieces of imagery here and there can be a great way to level-up your liturgical living practice.

Conclusion

No matter your liturgical art preferences, we hope that learning a bit more about the religious context of imagery and the use of imagery in the Lutheran Church and home can encourage you in this aspect of liturgical living! In our experience, becoming more educated in matters of religious art and acquiring it for display in your life can certainly help you sink deeper into some other aspects of your spiritual journey. Not only can imagery make us happy and cause us to reflect upon what is beautiful and good in this life, but it can also help us give thanks to our Lord for his gifts, be of use in our religious instruction, and encourage us to consider the ways that images can be aids for our own prayer and devotion.

Sources:
1. Martin Luther. “Against the Heavenly Prophets.” 1525.
2. Jordan Cooper. “Lutherans and the Use of Images.” June 3, 2014. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/justandsinner/lutherans-and-the-use-of-images/
3. St. Pauls’ Evangelical Lutheran Church. “Crucifixes in the Lutheran Church.” https://stpaulsnewboston.org/crucifixes-in-the-lutheran-church-2/
4. Rev. Matthew Zickler. “Luther and the Iconoclasts.” June 9, 2016. https://lutheranreformation.org/history/luther-and-the-iconoclasts/

Images:
1. The Lutheran Mass depicted in the Nikolaikirche in Berlin, Martin Schulz, 1615.
2. Ghent Altarpiece, Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Belgium, 1432.
3. Calming the Storm, Rembrandt, Netherlands, 1633.
4. Road to Emmaus, Robert Zund, Switzerland, 1877.