I'm sure this has been discussed but this simply to point to a link to an article I received in the mail yesterday which is also on the web. The article is by William Harrell, pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Norfolk VA. In his October 2005 Minister's Letter in The Congregational Record he writes Concerning Pictures of Jesus.
http://ipc.faithweb.com/ml/2005/ml_oct05.htm
Lord willing, I hope to have an extensive article by Dr. Richard Bacon on this subject, particularly as stated in Westminster Larger Catechism 109, in the 2006 Confessional Presbyterian. Under prep now. For the 2005 issue, on special through the end of November, see
http://www.cpjournal.com

__________________
Chris Coldwell, Lakewood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Member
• Naphtali Press: Presbyterian & Reformed Books
• The Confessional Presbyterian Journal
• The Blue Banner Archive

The Regulative Principle: Samuel Miller gives a succinct statement of this principle when he writes that since the Scriptures are the “only infallible rule of faith and practice, no rite or ceremony ought to have a place in the public worship of God, which is not warranted in Scripture, either by direct precept or example, or by good and sufficient inference.”

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"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

...so whether we simply make the image and/or venerate it, there is no difference, we still break the commandment.

If someone is simply caught in possession of cocaine and not actually found using it, are they not still breaking the law?

__________________
Jeremy Walsh
Grace Fellowship Church, Hazelton PA
Currently seeking another church.
Home: Wyoming, PA


'God be merciful to me, the sinner!'

Jesus is the icon of God. We are called to iconify Christ in our lives.

Bowing to them, praying to them, kissing them, etc. . . is idolatry.

But to limn the human Christ as art is no different than drawing a burning bush, or serpent on a pole.

We are image-bearers.

__________________
Misery induces despair, pride induces presumption. The Incarnation shows man the
greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which he required.
~ Pascal, Pensees 526

Invisible image bearers.

__________________
Jeff Bartel
Mechanical Engineer
Member - Trinity Reformed Church - RPCNA

"To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the Church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism" (The Reformation in England (London, 1962), Vol. 1, p. 98)

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Here is the thread. Images and the 2nd Commandment

I thought Paul Manata's Position was excellent.

__________________

(Norseman Moderator)

R. Martin Snyder
1689er
Harmony Baptist Church (Member)
PuritanCovenanter MSN Blog
PuritanCovenanter's MySpace Page

"Our object should not be to have scripture on our side but to be on the side of scripture; and however dear any sentiment may have become by being long entertained, so soon as it is seen to be contrary to the Bible, we must be prepared to abandon it without hesitation."
William Symington

Click to get:Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Do you mean in that thread, or afterwards when he recanted?

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

What did he end up believing?

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out
Christ's compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about
doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.

- Teresa Of Avila


"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

- Matthew 10:40-42

May Christians everywhere be Christ to those whom they encounter today. When others look at me, may they see Christ in me. When others hear me speak, may they hear Christ in me.

[Edited on 11-1-2005 by Saiph]

So can I have a painting of you in my house, Mark?

Just don't worship it.

That you cannot depict the humanity of Christ without depiciting His deity, which is a clear violation of the 2nd commandment. Ultimately, Acts 20:28 was what convinced Paul.

Are you sure that is the verse Fred ? ?

Act 20:28 `Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit made you overseers, to feed the assembly of God that He acquired through His own blood

Doesn't all creation depict some aspect of God's diety ?

The point is that the blood of Christ is described as "God's" blood. It defeats any attempt to say that you can depict simply a nature of Christ and not His Person.

I ran a search and tried to find the post (it was a single post and not a thread), but could not. If Paul is around, maybe he can point it out.

The post in question can be found here. And you call yourself an Administrator! Just Kiddin'

__________________
Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Attending CCRPC, Member of TRBC
Reformers & Puritans -lllll- Puritan Pub
Board Rules - Signature Rules - Suggestion Box

I call myself an administrator

[Edited on 11-1-2005 by Bladestunner316]

__________________
Nathan Olaf Brandal
First Baptist Church of Kirkland

"Man is nothing: he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him to will and to do his good pleasure"
GEORGE WHITEFIELD TO JOHN WESLEY

My Blog

Thanks. I could not get the search to work, because I was reversing the search term and the member box.

But that is what I get for trying to post from a Presbytery meeting.

You don't know how many times I've done that Fred. I never seem to learn.

[Edited on 11-1-2005 by Jeff_Bartel]

I have failed in the art of the PB "search engine" several times; but never had the pleasure of surfing the web during the meeting of a church court.

It was great! Wireless is the best!

To provide one other key piece of information: I went solely as an observer; it is not my Presbytery.

Look at this!

[Edited on 11-2-2005 by Jeremy]

[Edited on 11-2-2005 by Jeremy]

Here's one:



Remember, don't worship it!