Analyzing and Discussing Liturgical Use of Visual Arts and Paganism Essay

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Liturgical Use of Visual Arts and Paganism

Christian art's rich history goes as far back as the 3rd century A.D. Ever since the first paintings were done on catacomb walls, Christians have endeavored to use visible means for expressing the invisible Almighty. Despite Christianity's origins lying in Judaism, which forbids such imagery, the Incarnation concept made it essential to image God's human face in Jesus. The intent was never portraiture. However, an image capable of opening the soul, mind, and heart in a manner that livened up an understanding and faith was critical for several centuries. Through it, the Church successfully established itself as a major "patron of the arts." The previous pope, Pope Benedict XVI (formerly, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) draws on Christian iconography's richness; since the tradition, he is in deep appreciation of demonstrates that the Gospels are preached via both spoken words and imagery. Artists of every era have provided the main facts pertaining to the secret of deliverance to believers' wonder and contemplation, by representing them using the brilliance of color and the precision of beauty. Art indicates how, in the modern-day culture of imagery, in particular, sacred images are able to express a lot more than can be expressed in words, in addition to being a highly dynamic and effective means of conveying God's message. Within Christian places of worship and the experiences of small worshipping communities, images will be able to reinforce the Gospel's appreciation among followers of Christ more than ever before (McCarthy 2011; Webber n.d; Dillenberger 1986).

For assessing the significance of scriptural visual arts in Liturgy and Church service, the foremost thing to do is define Liturgy, followed by revealing the existence of art in creativity of the Old as well as New Testaments, which provides them some measure of divine authority when linked to God. The term 'liturgy' implies the combination of rites through which individual civilizations express their relationship with the Lord, generating art; in fact, it is art. In certain cultures, creativity in liturgical service was regarded as God's gift (Verdon 2007). The New Testament cites St. Paul as stating that Jesus is the unseen God's image (Colossians 1:15), or the invisible Father's incarnate "icon" and, consequently, these kinds of images are all the more significant. Imagery within the Old Testament was symbolic of the Lord's presence, while within the New Testament, the concept of art is a declaration that God's Kingdom is nearby. When employed in the liturgical context, art becomes an encounter in the same way as one encounters Jesus in Christian sacraments that were regarded as images by early theologians. This strong theological exegesis offers a sturdy foundation for imagery utilization by the oldest Christian church for encouraging development and propagation of God's message. Now that a sound argument has been provided for religious imagery's existence and continued uses, this paper will particularly address three concepts of art in Christianity, together with their application in liturgical and Church service. Firstly, it will explore the oldest recorded Christian art found in catacombs, particularly in the kingdom in Rome, attempting to account for how this 'under-the-ground' art form could serve clergymen in proclaiming God's message. This investigation into early Christian history will briefly discuss the issue of idolatry. Secondly, the paper will deal with visual imagery use, for assessing and understanding their current use. Lastly, this paper will evaluate icon use as prayer aids and in Liturgy (Moore 2010).

Narrowly, one can state that the Bible does not contain any art, although its King James Version refers to art thrice: Acts 17:29, Chronicles 16:14, and Exodus 30:25. Interestingly, the latter two references are relating to the apothecary's skill. It is only in the verse of Acts that visual art is referred to: "For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" (Acts 17:29). But, if one expands art's meaning, it will become clear that the Scripture is awash with colorful imagery, from start to end. It is abundant in its graphic descriptions of people, events, and landscapes, composed in words that easily appeal to readers' minds (Moore 2010).

Idolatry

Prior to examining Biblical visual arts, a brief discussion of the topic of idolatry is essential. The issue springs from the Exodus' report which states that, while Moses went away to Mount Sinai for a considerable period of time to converse with his Lord, the Israelites, upon becoming bored, decided to fashion a calf of gold and worship it (Exodus 32:1-10).

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By doing so, they disobeyed God's command of not making for themselves carved images of earthly or heavenly things to serve or to which they would bow down (Exodus 20:4-5).

Christian reformers carefully analyze church history and Scripture, rejecting all illustrative (or didactic) as well as cultic (or devotional) applications of visual arts in the context of worship. They only allowed careful application of decorative artwork. Their opposition to liturgical or cultic application of visual arts starts with the 2nd commandment. They believe Christians need to hold on to this ideology, stating that the Almighty's glory gets corrupted via impious falsehood if one attaches any form to him. They identify no less than four key reasons to explain why the Lord has prohibited the creation of any visual images to represent Him: 1) Imagery implies his worded self-revelation is lacking. The Almighty forbids image-making in the 2nd commandment, as He elected to use words to reveal Himself. 2) Adopting imagery will result in idolatry. The practice of idolatry is innate to images; as physical forms prove inadequate in the representation of God. He asks (Isaiah 40:18); indeed, both are misrepresentative and inadequate. That is, they teach lies (Habakkuk 2:18). Mankind cannot capture the Almighty's "incomprehensible essence" in material form. 3) Image adoption in worship is a violation of the Scripture. In several ways, one can say that this concerns Reformers the most. Scripture outlaw's images. Nothing more needs to be said. Aside from the aforementioned passages, Christian Reformers Quote God's prophets, who constantly level devastating attacks on the practice of idolatry (e.g. Isaiah 40:18-20; 41:7,29; 44:12-17; 45:9; 46:5-7), as well as the Psalms that join in scorning imagery (e.g. Psalms 78:58; 96:5; 97:7; 115:4; 135:15). Sculpture or pictures will fail if they try to represent the Almighty. Silver, gold, or stone do not suffice in an attempt to represent Him. Human "thought" and "art" can do him no justice. 4) Lastly, images are a distraction. The sole visual aids the Church has been provided with by God himself are the living, symbolical ones -- the rituals of Christ's Supper and the baptism rite. Images that arise out of "human ingenuity" are just worldly things that distract worshippers' attention from God-ordained ways to grace: prayer, the word, and sacraments (Johnson n.d; Forrester and Gay 2009).

But numerous passages can be found in the very same Old Testament in which the Almighty commands us to construct images linked directly to His presence; of these, one was the previously-mentioned sanctuary (Exodus 25-26). The above clear contradiction may be counteracted as follows: God cannot be seen; His invisibility is, hence, why creating His image would be an impossible feat. Moreover, man is to worship only one God, and this lies at the argument's root. In Christianity, images aren't worshipped as such; rather, Christians revere them for whom or they represent. That is, Christians aren't worshipping these images but are merely using them as prayer devices, to aid them in becoming closer to the Lord on a spiritual level. In furthering the claim that Christian artworks if used properly do not equal idolatry, one is reminded that, according to legend, Jesus himself miraculously created the first Christian icon - a self-image (which wasn't made by hand) on a piece of cloth for healing Edessa's King Abgar (Tarasov and Milner-Gulland 2002). Though it has remained a subject of considerable controversy and debate, the Shroud of Turin could be another miraculous imagery of Jesus that was produced after his demise and subsequent entombment in the catacomb (Moore 2010).

Christian Art in the Roman Catacombs

Christian burials offer tangible proof of Western Christian art that may be traced back to catacombs of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, particularly in Rome. A few Church-owned cemeteries controlled by hierarchy portray biblical scenes. Meanwhile, other private crypts, usually owned by Roman gentry and other affluent families, included more personalized frescos that depicted individual beliefs, whether pagan or religious. The major part of surviving biblical imagery has sacramental themes, often of the Eucharist or baptism, with the former occasionally represented using the simple wine and bread, but more frequently using a banquet that represents, for instance, the Cana Wedding Feast (John 2: 1-11). These clearly show that Eucharist sacraments were a key liturgical theme right from the time of the Church's earliest origins (O'kane 2008). But the question that one must strive to answer….....

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