Quote:
|
Nor do I want the simplistic answer of "people will tend to use them in an idolatrous manner, because we all have sinful hearts". I don't buy it as being a necessity, and we on this board certainly would not accept the sister argument that allowing the sale and consumption of alcohol should be prohibited, because someone who is weak might be tempted to drink it unto drunkenness.
|
I think you steal a base here. God has called wine good and images of Him bad. That's the difference. Let's apply the same reasoning to another sin. If I were to say that you can't forbid pornography just because it might make someone sin, you would say that is ridiculous. A person is spiritually harmed merely by looking at pornography. Likewise, a person is spiritually harmed by looking at images of God and for much the same reason. Our minds are always on record and we often have little control over when certain scenes are replayed. They are often replayed out of the clear blue. Who has not had the experience of seeing a picture of Jesus (outside the context of Sunday Worship) and then picturing that image during personal devotions or Sunday Worship? I have.
Quote:
|
The second commandment is a commandment that pertains specifically to the issue of false worship. This really is incontestable. Traditionally in Reformed literature the application of the second commandment has focused on he issue of what is acceptable in the sphere of the service of worship in the Church. Scripturally, the condemnations of idolatry, where actual images are involved, all have to do with the practice of direct worship rather than art.
|
Yes, but if images of God outside of worship cause us to inwardly remember images of God inside of worship (whether Sabbath day, family, or personal), then the Westminster Divines were right to acknowledge that
all making of images of God are prohibited by the second commandment.
Quote:
|
I would like to see exegetical and theological interactions here, and not just someone cutting and pasting large portions of the Westminster Standards. I have them, I read them, I understand them. Nor do I want the simplistic answer of "people will tend to use them in an idolatrous manner, because we all have sinful hearts". I don't buy it as being a necessity, and we on this board certainly would not accept the sister argument that allowing the sale and consumption of alcohol should be prohibited, because someone who is weak might be tempted to drink it unto drunkenness. Just so you are aware, I have taken an allowed exception to some of the explication of the second commandment in Q109 of the WLC.
|
Let me guess. The making of images inwardly in our mind?