Besides the hieroglyphics of Egypt and the orgies of Tammuz, there was another form of superstition still, which in Jerusalem, then almost wholly given to idola- try, had its distinguished patrons. " Turn tliee yet again," said his celestial guide to the prophet, "and thou shalt see greater abominations than these" (ver. IG). So he brought him " unto the inner court of the Lord's house, and behold, at the door of the temiile of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five-and- twenty men, with their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces towards the east: and they wor- shi]iped the sun towards the east." Perhaps of all the varieties of superstition which had crept in among the Hebrews in that period of general decline, none display- ed such flagrant dishonor to the God of Israel as this (Clem. Alexandrinus, Strom, vii, 520); for, as the most holy place was situated at the west end of the sanctu- ary, it was imi)ossil)le for these twenty-five men to pay their homage to the rising sun without turning their backs on the consecrated place of the divine presence ; and accordingly this fourth circle is introduced last, as if their employment formed the climax of abominations — the worst and most woful sign of the times. Could stronger proofs be wanted that the Lord had not for- saken Israel, but was driven from them ? This was the lesson intended, and actually accomplished by tlie vi- sion; for while the prophet was made aware by this mystic scene of the actual state of tilings among his de- generate countrymen at home, he saw himself — and in- structed the pious circle around him to see — a proof of the long-suffering and the just severity of God in defer- ring to answer tlieir fervent and long-continued prayers for the emancipation of their country. — Kitto. See Sun.
Image-worship, the adoration of artificial repre- sentations of real or imaginary objects. See Idolatry.
I. Imai/e-worship amonff the Jews. — It has always been a tendency of the human mind, untaught by true revelation, to embody the invisible deity in some visible form, and especially in the human form. This led to representations of God, or of the gods, as conceived by the mind, in painting or statuary, imder all kinds of shapes, such as men, monsters, animals, etc. In the course of time these representations came to be consid-
ered as being themselves the gods, and to be worshipped in temples and on altars. Tlie Jews, as worshijipers of one God, were by the law of Moses forbidden t(^ make any image of Jehovah ; but the people, corrupted by the example of the Egyptians, compelled Aaron to erect a golden calf in the Desert. After their entrance into Ca- naan, as the worship of Jehovah was not yet fully organ- ized and accessible to all, they made use in their house- hold devotions of images of the Invisible, and that prac- tice became quite general ; but, as the civil and religious organization of the Jews became more de^'elopcd, this practice fell gradually into disuse, and it was no longer tolerated under David and Sulomon. After the separa- tion between Judali and Israel, Rehoboam restored the use of images in the latter kingdom for political motives, erecting golden calves in Dan and Bethel. In the king- dom of Judah the worship of images found, however, but few partisans. After the captivity of Babylon we find no traces of it.
II. In the Chiistian Church. — Images were unknown in the worship of the primitive Christians ; and this fact was, indeed, made the ground of a charge of atheism on the part of the heathen against the Christians. The primitive Christians abstained from the worship of im- ages, not, as the Romanists pretend, from tenderness to heathen idolaters, but because they thought it unlawful in itself to make any images of the deity. Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Origen were even of opinitin that, by the second commandment, painting and engrav- ing were unlawful to a Christian, styling them evil and wicked arts (Tertullian, de Idol. c. iii ; Clem. Alexand. Adnwn. ad Gent. p. 41; Origen, contra Cekum, vi, 182), Some of the Gnostic sects, especially the Basilidians (q. V.) and the Carpocratians (q. v.), made effigies of Christ, St. Paul, etc. See Gnostics. This example of professed philosophers was not without its influence on the Church, and it was seconded by a similar usage among the Man- ichajans (q. v.), and by the stead}' pressure of heatlien ideas and habits upon Christianity. Emblems, such as the dove, the fish, the anchor, vine, lamb, etc., engraved on seals, formed the first step ; then came paintings representing Biblical events, saints or martyrs, etc., which were placed in the vestibule of the church. Yet this practice was mifavorably regarded by the sjniods of the 4th century. When, however, in the same cen- tury, Christianity was proclaimed the religion of the state, many distinguished persons embraced it, and its ceremonial became more imposing ; and in the 5th cen- tury the use of painting, scidpture, and jewelry became general for the decoration of the churches. This re- sidted in the adoption of a regular system of sj^mbolic religious images. Paulinus of Nola (q. v.) was chiefly instrumental in introducing tliese practices in the West, and, as the images were at first chiefly used in books intended for the instruction of the poor and the laity [see BiBLiA Pauperuji], who were too ignorant to read, they probably did more good than harm at the time; but as the teachers of the Chiu-ch became gradually more accommodating in their relations with the hea- then, holding out greater privileges to them, and allow- ing them to retain their old usages while conforming to the outward forms of Christianitj-, the worship of im- ages became so general that it had to be repeatedly checked by laws. In the Gth century it had grown into a great abuse, especially in the East, where images were made the object of especial adoration : they vrere kissed, lamps were burned before them, incense was offered to them, and, in short, they were treated in every respect as the heathen were wont to treat the images of their gods. Some of the heads of the Church encouraged these practices from motives of policy, while the more enlightened and evangelical portion strongly opposed them. This gave rise to the Iconoclasts (q. v.).