Recently on Facebook, a dear Christian Friend shared a painting
of Jesus Christ. We all know that no one knows what Jesus
Christ looked like in His earthly ministry - so no one can paint
a true picture of Him. However, there are some paintings which
fit the mental and spiritual image we have in our own minds
about Him and how we would picture Him.
The image which was shared on Facebook carried the message: "I bet you won't share this - because you're too embarrassed to have Jesus on your wall."
When I saw this graphic image and message on Facebook, my first thought was, "That look more like a Star Wars character than anything I would imagine looking like Jesus Christ." And, when I investigated further - guess what? That image did indeed come from a Star Wars Fan Base group page titled "A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Not So Far Away." This is that image:
Jesus Christ told us, in the Bible, that there would be false christs trying to lead us astray. While we know He had many others in mind at that time, i.e., Gnostics, Judaizers, power seekers wanting to use the Jews knowledge of their coming Messiah to control them, and so many others down through the millennia. And, yes, He even knew about those who would idolize movie stars and media images, such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.
And, He knew there would be false religions and false religious leaders who would deny Him, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses - and some who would pronounce a false Jesus Christ, a created being, such as the Mormon church. We, as Christian believers, must be in the Word of God (Acts 17:11) testing all teachers and seeking the true Jesus Christ, Son of God, as defined in the Christians' User Manual He gave us, the Bible. If we stay within the Word of God we cannot go wrong.
That Scripture passage came to mind when I saw this Star Wars Jesus. I know that many Christians believe it is wrong to have any paintings or depictions of Jesus Christ, believing those to be idols and against the Second Commandment found in Exodus 20:
Once again, I will state emphatically that NO ONE knows what Jesus Christ looked like in His earthy ministry. But some have tried to paint their image of Him. Around 1500 AD, Michelangelo was busy creating sculptures and paintings of images he imagined would reflect Christ. But, those are only his reflections of Christ.
One of the most recognized in the world today is The Head of Christ, a 1940 portrait painting of Jesus of Nazareth by American artist Warner Sallman (1892-1968). I have several of those prints and have one hanging in my home today. I don't worship it nor do I kneel down to it - and I do not make any claim that it is a true representation of our Lord. Yet, like holding my Bible in my hand to read, when I look at the painting it does remind me that Jesus Christ, the true Jesus Christ, is my Lord and Savior - and my very Best Friend.
I have photos of my wife in my home also. Why? Because she is my second-best Friend. I don't worship nor kneel down to her photos. But, I will admit that they do make me smile and give me a warm feeling when I look at them.
Warner Sallman (1892 – 1968) was a Christian painter from Chicago. He created commercial advertising images and worked as a freelance illustrator. He is best known for his portrait, Head of Christ, which has sold more than 500 million copies. In 1994, the New York Times wrote he is likely to be voted the "best-known artist of the century."
When I see the photo below "The Great Shepherd" by Simon Dewey - I cannot help but think of the 23rd Psalm:
What did Jesus Christ really look like? No one knows - and I am sure that God established it this way so that no one would be worshiping His image instead of worshiping Him. That, in my heart, is the true intent of Exodus 20:4-5, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; . . ."
Yet, if we try to imagine what Jesus did look like during His earthly ministry - what evidence do we have to suggest His appearance? Was He white, brown, black, yellow, red? Was He dark skinned or light skinned? Was He tall, dark, and handsome, muscular and fit as a fiddle? We will not know until we see Him one day, when we will then be like Him (1 John 3:2).
But, we do have some clues. From science, we know that our skin color is determined by the amount of melanin pigment in our skin.
So, since Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Nimrod, took place in the Middle East - we have to assume that their level of skin melanin was normal, the average for all mankind at that time. Not too long after Noah's flood, after about 3 or 4 generations in Ham's line, Nimrod was born. Fast forward a few years and Nimrod, who had become a leader of people, decided they should build a tower, or temple, which would reach into heaven.
We see several problems by this time. If you recall, in Genesis 1:26-28 God created man in His image and told them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. Yet here the sons of Noah - Ham, Japheth, and Shem - and all their people were still clustered together in the land of Shinar, settled in, and deciding to pull a Lucifer trick - and build a tower into heaven.
God steps in once again to make a correction in His creation:
We know from Biblical history that Ham's descendants migrated toward Africa and because of the hot and harsh environment, for protection against the harsh sun, their bodies produced more melanin pigments - resulting in darker skin colors.
Japheth's descendants migrated into what has become Europe, a much milder and cooler environment, and their bodies produced fewer melanin pigments - resulting in lighter skin colors.
And, Shem's descendants populated the Middle East where this all began. Their melanin pigments stayed basically in the normal or middle range - resulting in tones of brown skin colors.
Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Jesus Christ, all happened in the Middle East. And, we know that Jesus Christ came to earth as the Incarnate God in the lineage of Shem. Therefore, Jesus Christ would have been brown skinned.
What else can we know about Jesus Christ? The average height of Jewish men in His day was about 5'1" to 5'6" tall. Researchers using the Shroud of Turin (which we know is very, very questionable) shows Him to be 5'11" to 6'0" tall. In the Bible we are told that King Saul was tall and handsome. We are told of the giant, Goliath, 9 foot tall. We are told, in Luke 19, that Zacchaeus was so short that he had to climb a tree to be able to see Jesus. But nowhere in the Bible do we read of Jesus being taller, standing above the crowd in physical stature. So, we must assume that He was of average height - about 5'1" to 5'6" tall.
Because He was a carpenter, I believe he would have had a well toned, healthy looking body, maybe somewhat muscular. I know that looking at Him a person would have seen love, compassion, true understanding, and affection. So, that is how I would picture Jesus Christ - an average looking man, with a well toned, somewhat muscular brown body, who exuded love and compassion. And, that is why I have always liked the paintings I show in my collage below.
Now, let me explain the second image in my collage - of Him coming from the tomb. Several years after I became a Christian believer in 1987, my mom had a stroke and was in the hospital in my Alabama hometown. I went home and, for about a week, stayed with her at the hospital. One day we were watching a Christian television show and talking about Jesus Christ. I told her that Jesus Christ will always forgive anyone who sincerely asks, telling her,"It does not matter what sins we have committed, we could have killed ten people - but if we sincerely ask, He will forgive us and receive us into the family of God."
Her answer shocked me. At that time my mom was about 70 years old and she answered me, "I did not know that." Wow, she had been going to church with my step-father for over 20 years - and did not know that she could be forgiven? Later, looking into the church they attended, I found that it was a cult church, not a Christian church. That explains why she did not know the true Jesus Christ.
Then mom told me, "I wish I could see Jesus." Believing that she wanted a picture, an artist depiction, of Jesus - I got in the car and went to buy one for her. Now, keep in mind that my hometown is in the Shoals area of north Alabama - an area I have often described as the "Belt Buckle of the Bible Belt." There are two dominant church denominations there: Baptist and Church of Christ. And both find it some level of heresy to have a graphic image of Jesus Christ.
I drove to several Christian bookstores on the south side of the Tennessee River (Sheffield, Tuscumbia, Muscles Shoals) and found nothing, nada! Then I went north of the river to Florence. Search as I might, I could not find ANY Christian bookstore which sold pictures of Jesus Christ. Discouraged, I began to drive back toward the hospital. But when I drove past the Mars Hill Bible School (K-12) in Florence, I decided to look in their bookstore.
There I spoke with a nice young lady who explained that they did not have any pictures of Jesus Christ - but they did have a set of Grade School Christian charts. When I saw the chart set envelope, it had that image of Christ coming from the tomb on the outer cover. It was perfect. I bought it and the lady allowed me to use their paper cutter to trim the image from the envelope. I gave her all the flip charts to use in one of their classes - got in my car and drove to the local K-Mart to buy a frame. Joyfully I drove back to the hospital - mission accomplished!
When I went into her room and put the framed picture of Jesus on her bed stand, I told her, "Mom, here is a picture of Jesus for you."
Once again, her answer floored me, "No, I meant that I wish I could really see Jesus." I was deflated, after all the driving and shopping I had done to get her a picture - then to realize that I had misunderstood her. But, loving mother that she was, she kept my picture of Jesus with her until the day she was promoted into heaven six years later. Now I have that picture hanging on my wall in my home office.
You might notice that I told you my mom had been in a cult church for 20 years. That is true. But, by the grace of God a few years later I was able to introduce her to a Baptist pastor and Bible study and she was saved. I WILL see her again one day - for eternity!
So, is it a heresy to have a painting which depicts an artist's view of Jesus Christ?
You will to decide that for yourself. For me, it is not. Yet, the apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 14:13-23 and again in 1 Corinthians 8 that we should not be a stumbling block to our brethren, to those less mature or those who this may take strong offense.
On the other hand, after his first missionary journey to the Gentiles, Paul returned to Jerusalem to resolve the issue of the law of physical circumcision for the Gentiles. The Jewish Christian church leaders, goaded on by the Pharisees, insisted that all people, Jew and Gentile, could not be saved without physical circumcision. We read in Acts 15 about the heated debates between Paul and the Jerusalem leaders.
Finally, when the issue of circumcision for salvation was resolved, we are told that the Jerusalem church leadership sent a letter to the Gentile church Paul had planted in Antioch:
While the Jews in the Christian church still felt it was right to them that they be circumcised, it was right and necessary for them.
Yet, for the Gentiles, to whom God had not given this law - not being circumcised was right for them.
In the same way, YOU have to decide for yourself what God has put in your heart about the paintings of Jesus images. If you feel that having such a painting is worship and is wrong for you - then, for you it is wrong.
On the other hand, if it is just a reminder that we should be daily seeking the wisdom, guidance, and love of the true Jesus Christ - let the Holy Spirit within you be your Guide.
Let me close with this example. About 20 years ago we were in a Bible study. Pastor Sam Lacanienta was standing in front leading us in our study. At one point he needed to use both hands to illustrate a point. To do that he dropped his Bible on the floor.
Apparently he noticed concern on some faces because his Bible was laying on the floor. So he offered this explanation, "Some of you may have been offended when I lay my Bible on the floor. Why? We do not worship the physical book - we worship and study what is written, using ink and paper, within that book. His Holy Word is sacred; His Holy Word is His full revelation to us, to all mankind. But, it is the message shared in His revelation which is sacred - not the physical paper and ink used to bring it to us."
It is my belief that we should view the paintings of Jesus Christ in the same way. Those are just canvas and paint representations of the artist's view of Jesus Christ - to be viewed, to be reminders - but NEVER to be worshiped. Let YOUR conscience be your guide.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
The image which was shared on Facebook carried the message: "I bet you won't share this - because you're too embarrassed to have Jesus on your wall."
When I saw this graphic image and message on Facebook, my first thought was, "That look more like a Star Wars character than anything I would imagine looking like Jesus Christ." And, when I investigated further - guess what? That image did indeed come from a Star Wars Fan Base group page titled "A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Not So Far Away." This is that image:
Jesus Christ told us, in the Bible, that there would be false christs trying to lead us astray. While we know He had many others in mind at that time, i.e., Gnostics, Judaizers, power seekers wanting to use the Jews knowledge of their coming Messiah to control them, and so many others down through the millennia. And, yes, He even knew about those who would idolize movie stars and media images, such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.
And, He knew there would be false religions and false religious leaders who would deny Him, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses - and some who would pronounce a false Jesus Christ, a created being, such as the Mormon church. We, as Christian believers, must be in the Word of God (Acts 17:11) testing all teachers and seeking the true Jesus Christ, Son of God, as defined in the Christians' User Manual He gave us, the Bible. If we stay within the Word of God we cannot go wrong.
Matthew 24:23-26, "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it."
That Scripture passage came to mind when I saw this Star Wars Jesus. I know that many Christians believe it is wrong to have any paintings or depictions of Jesus Christ, believing those to be idols and against the Second Commandment found in Exodus 20:
Exodus 20:4-5, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me."
Once again, I will state emphatically that NO ONE knows what Jesus Christ looked like in His earthy ministry. But some have tried to paint their image of Him. Around 1500 AD, Michelangelo was busy creating sculptures and paintings of images he imagined would reflect Christ. But, those are only his reflections of Christ.
One of the most recognized in the world today is The Head of Christ, a 1940 portrait painting of Jesus of Nazareth by American artist Warner Sallman (1892-1968). I have several of those prints and have one hanging in my home today. I don't worship it nor do I kneel down to it - and I do not make any claim that it is a true representation of our Lord. Yet, like holding my Bible in my hand to read, when I look at the painting it does remind me that Jesus Christ, the true Jesus Christ, is my Lord and Savior - and my very Best Friend.
I have photos of my wife in my home also. Why? Because she is my second-best Friend. I don't worship nor kneel down to her photos. But, I will admit that they do make me smile and give me a warm feeling when I look at them.
Warner Sallman (1892 – 1968) was a Christian painter from Chicago. He created commercial advertising images and worked as a freelance illustrator. He is best known for his portrait, Head of Christ, which has sold more than 500 million copies. In 1994, the New York Times wrote he is likely to be voted the "best-known artist of the century."
When I see the photo below "The Great Shepherd" by Simon Dewey - I cannot help but think of the 23rd Psalm:
Psalm 23:1-6, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever."
"The enduring image of Christ as our shepherd has been portrayed in countless ways throughout history. I love the 23rd Psalm and the peace and comforts it brings. I wanted the warm colors in this painting to symbolize the warmth we can feel in knowing that He is watching over us. Just as he is our Shepherd, He has asked us to be his under-shepherds in watching over His flock. My hope is that you can feel the love and caring he has for each of us and the gentle and peaceful way he wants us all to watch over each other." ~ Simon Dewey
What did Jesus Christ really look like? No one knows - and I am sure that God established it this way so that no one would be worshiping His image instead of worshiping Him. That, in my heart, is the true intent of Exodus 20:4-5, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; . . ."
Yet, if we try to imagine what Jesus did look like during His earthly ministry - what evidence do we have to suggest His appearance? Was He white, brown, black, yellow, red? Was He dark skinned or light skinned? Was He tall, dark, and handsome, muscular and fit as a fiddle? We will not know until we see Him one day, when we will then be like Him (1 John 3:2).
But, we do have some clues. From science, we know that our skin color is determined by the amount of melanin pigment in our skin.
Our skin color is caused by the pigment melanin, and this is controlled by two pairs of genes that geneticists refer to using the letter designations Aa and Bb, where the capital letter represents dominant genes and the small letters represent recessive genes. A and B, being dominant, produce melanin in good quantity while recessive a and b produce only a minor amount of melanin. Hence, our coloration depends upon the number of black and white alleles we received from our parents. The color genes express themselves in only one place – specialized skin cells called the melanocytes – that produce granules of melanin that are delivered to neighboring cells.
Eve was made from Adam's rib and was thus a clone of Adam [Genesis 2:21-22]. They would therefore have had identical genes for melanin production. If they were both AABB, they would have been Negroid and produced children of only the darkest of Negroid coloration. If this were the case, the world's population today would be entirely Negro. In fact, only about 10% of the world's population is Negro, so we can be certain that our first parents were not of the AABB combination.
By the same argument, if Adam and Eve had both been aabb, all their children would have been aabb meaning that all their descendants would be the lightest Caucasoid possible – there would be no other colors. Clearly, this is not the case, so by a process of deduction we can conclude that Adam and Eve were heterozygous, each having two dominant and two recessive genes, AaBb. They would thus have been middle-brown in color and from them, in one generation, the various shades of brown would have been produced.
These color differences were likely amplified following the business at the Tower of Babel [Genesis 11:1-9] when the human gene pool was divided. Loss of genetic information in an isolated population is well known and a problem to breeders of pure-bred dogs, horses, and other animals. It seems that one population group that migrated from the Tower of Babel suffered a greater loss of the genetic information required to produce the melanin and became the Caucasians. The bottom line is that Adam was not white or black but a good middle brown. (What color was Adam? http://www.creationmoments.com/content/what-color-was-adam)
So, since Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Nimrod, took place in the Middle East - we have to assume that their level of skin melanin was normal, the average for all mankind at that time. Not too long after Noah's flood, after about 3 or 4 generations in Ham's line, Nimrod was born. Fast forward a few years and Nimrod, who had become a leader of people, decided they should build a tower, or temple, which would reach into heaven.
We see several problems by this time. If you recall, in Genesis 1:26-28 God created man in His image and told them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. Yet here the sons of Noah - Ham, Japheth, and Shem - and all their people were still clustered together in the land of Shinar, settled in, and deciding to pull a Lucifer trick - and build a tower into heaven.
God steps in once again to make a correction in His creation:
Genesis 11:7-9, "'Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth."
We know from Biblical history that Ham's descendants migrated toward Africa and because of the hot and harsh environment, for protection against the harsh sun, their bodies produced more melanin pigments - resulting in darker skin colors.
Japheth's descendants migrated into what has become Europe, a much milder and cooler environment, and their bodies produced fewer melanin pigments - resulting in lighter skin colors.
And, Shem's descendants populated the Middle East where this all began. Their melanin pigments stayed basically in the normal or middle range - resulting in tones of brown skin colors.
Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Jesus Christ, all happened in the Middle East. And, we know that Jesus Christ came to earth as the Incarnate God in the lineage of Shem. Therefore, Jesus Christ would have been brown skinned.
What else can we know about Jesus Christ? The average height of Jewish men in His day was about 5'1" to 5'6" tall. Researchers using the Shroud of Turin (which we know is very, very questionable) shows Him to be 5'11" to 6'0" tall. In the Bible we are told that King Saul was tall and handsome. We are told of the giant, Goliath, 9 foot tall. We are told, in Luke 19, that Zacchaeus was so short that he had to climb a tree to be able to see Jesus. But nowhere in the Bible do we read of Jesus being taller, standing above the crowd in physical stature. So, we must assume that He was of average height - about 5'1" to 5'6" tall.
Because He was a carpenter, I believe he would have had a well toned, healthy looking body, maybe somewhat muscular. I know that looking at Him a person would have seen love, compassion, true understanding, and affection. So, that is how I would picture Jesus Christ - an average looking man, with a well toned, somewhat muscular brown body, who exuded love and compassion. And, that is why I have always liked the paintings I show in my collage below.
Now, let me explain the second image in my collage - of Him coming from the tomb. Several years after I became a Christian believer in 1987, my mom had a stroke and was in the hospital in my Alabama hometown. I went home and, for about a week, stayed with her at the hospital. One day we were watching a Christian television show and talking about Jesus Christ. I told her that Jesus Christ will always forgive anyone who sincerely asks, telling her,"It does not matter what sins we have committed, we could have killed ten people - but if we sincerely ask, He will forgive us and receive us into the family of God."
Her answer shocked me. At that time my mom was about 70 years old and she answered me, "I did not know that." Wow, she had been going to church with my step-father for over 20 years - and did not know that she could be forgiven? Later, looking into the church they attended, I found that it was a cult church, not a Christian church. That explains why she did not know the true Jesus Christ.
Then mom told me, "I wish I could see Jesus." Believing that she wanted a picture, an artist depiction, of Jesus - I got in the car and went to buy one for her. Now, keep in mind that my hometown is in the Shoals area of north Alabama - an area I have often described as the "Belt Buckle of the Bible Belt." There are two dominant church denominations there: Baptist and Church of Christ. And both find it some level of heresy to have a graphic image of Jesus Christ.
I drove to several Christian bookstores on the south side of the Tennessee River (Sheffield, Tuscumbia, Muscles Shoals) and found nothing, nada! Then I went north of the river to Florence. Search as I might, I could not find ANY Christian bookstore which sold pictures of Jesus Christ. Discouraged, I began to drive back toward the hospital. But when I drove past the Mars Hill Bible School (K-12) in Florence, I decided to look in their bookstore.
There I spoke with a nice young lady who explained that they did not have any pictures of Jesus Christ - but they did have a set of Grade School Christian charts. When I saw the chart set envelope, it had that image of Christ coming from the tomb on the outer cover. It was perfect. I bought it and the lady allowed me to use their paper cutter to trim the image from the envelope. I gave her all the flip charts to use in one of their classes - got in my car and drove to the local K-Mart to buy a frame. Joyfully I drove back to the hospital - mission accomplished!
When I went into her room and put the framed picture of Jesus on her bed stand, I told her, "Mom, here is a picture of Jesus for you."
Once again, her answer floored me, "No, I meant that I wish I could really see Jesus." I was deflated, after all the driving and shopping I had done to get her a picture - then to realize that I had misunderstood her. But, loving mother that she was, she kept my picture of Jesus with her until the day she was promoted into heaven six years later. Now I have that picture hanging on my wall in my home office.
You might notice that I told you my mom had been in a cult church for 20 years. That is true. But, by the grace of God a few years later I was able to introduce her to a Baptist pastor and Bible study and she was saved. I WILL see her again one day - for eternity!
So, is it a heresy to have a painting which depicts an artist's view of Jesus Christ?
Exodus 20:4-6, "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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. . ."
You will to decide that for yourself. For me, it is not. Yet, the apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 14:13-23 and again in 1 Corinthians 8 that we should not be a stumbling block to our brethren, to those less mature or those who this may take strong offense.
On the other hand, after his first missionary journey to the Gentiles, Paul returned to Jerusalem to resolve the issue of the law of physical circumcision for the Gentiles. The Jewish Christian church leaders, goaded on by the Pharisees, insisted that all people, Jew and Gentile, could not be saved without physical circumcision. We read in Acts 15 about the heated debates between Paul and the Jerusalem leaders.
Finally, when the issue of circumcision for salvation was resolved, we are told that the Jerusalem church leadership sent a letter to the Gentile church Paul had planted in Antioch:
Acts 15:27-29, "We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
While the Jews in the Christian church still felt it was right to them that they be circumcised, it was right and necessary for them.
Yet, for the Gentiles, to whom God had not given this law - not being circumcised was right for them.
In the same way, YOU have to decide for yourself what God has put in your heart about the paintings of Jesus images. If you feel that having such a painting is worship and is wrong for you - then, for you it is wrong.
On the other hand, if it is just a reminder that we should be daily seeking the wisdom, guidance, and love of the true Jesus Christ - let the Holy Spirit within you be your Guide.
Let me close with this example. About 20 years ago we were in a Bible study. Pastor Sam Lacanienta was standing in front leading us in our study. At one point he needed to use both hands to illustrate a point. To do that he dropped his Bible on the floor.
Apparently he noticed concern on some faces because his Bible was laying on the floor. So he offered this explanation, "Some of you may have been offended when I lay my Bible on the floor. Why? We do not worship the physical book - we worship and study what is written, using ink and paper, within that book. His Holy Word is sacred; His Holy Word is His full revelation to us, to all mankind. But, it is the message shared in His revelation which is sacred - not the physical paper and ink used to bring it to us."
It is my belief that we should view the paintings of Jesus Christ in the same way. Those are just canvas and paint representations of the artist's view of Jesus Christ - to be viewed, to be reminders - but NEVER to be worshiped. Let YOUR conscience be your guide.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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