SYMBOLISM,
I. Symbolism in General.
Definition (§1).
Symbolism Rooted in Human Nature (§2).
In the Old Testament (§ 3).
Comprehensiveness of Symbolism (S4). II. Christian Symbolism.
Symbolism as a Religious Need (§ 1).
Early Tendency toward Unification (§2).
Early Symbolism (§3).
Sources and Figures Employed (§ 4) .
I. Symbolism in General: By ecclesiastical symbolism is meant the system of interpretation by which all objects used in connection with divine worship are made to bear a twofold interpretation —
ECCLESIASTICAL.
Liturgical Sym-
Development of bolism (§5).
Examples of Liturgical Symbolism (§6).
Symbolism of Vestments and Insignia (§7).
Symbolism in Baptism (§ 8).
Consecration of a Church (§ 9). III. Symbolism in Art.
1. Relations of Art and Symbolism.
2. The Early Period. Primitive Forms (§ 1).
3. The Middle Ages. Trinity, Christ, Mary (§ 1).
The Church, Virtues, and Vices
(§ 2). Later Forms and Conceptions (§3).
4. Byzantine Art.
IV. Apologetics of Symbolism from the Roman Catholic Standpoint.
Symbolism Inevitable (§ 1).
Fundamental Analogy (§2).
Sacramental Analogies (§ 3).
Essential Valuation of Symbolism (§4).
Advanced Development (§ 2).
to the obvious natural meaning being added another based on some analogy with supernatural things. The Greek word symbole from which the word "symbolism " comes originally meant tallies, the two
Symbolism, Ecclesiastical
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
halves of a coin or other like object which any two contracting parties broke between them; hence the
derived sense of a token or ticket, and
i. Defini- consequently a distinctive mark or
tion. formula, in which sense the creeds of
religious bodies are known as symbols (see Symbolics). Symbolism is, within obvious limits, the science of the relations which unite God and his creation, the natural and the supernatural worlds; the science of the harmonies which exist between the different parts of the universe, constituting a marvelous whole, each part of which presupposes the other and throws light on the other. The belief of Plato that this world was nothing but the image of a divine exemplar recalls the words of Ecclesiasticus: " Look upon all the works of the most High; and there are two and two, one against another " (xxxiii. 15), or again, " All things are double, one against another; and he hath made nothing imperfect " (xlii. 24). In the words of Hugo of St. Victor (q.v.), one of the greatest of medieval symbolists, " a symbol is the comparison of the visible forms for the showing forth of the invisible " (In hierarchiam ccelestem, II., i. 941).
The history of symbolism in a broad sense is coextensive with that of humanity; the creation of man in God's image and likeness out of the clay of the earth, and of woman from a rib of man, are
given their symbolic meaning. Cain's
2. Sym- sacrifice of animal life by the side of
bolism Abel's offering of the fruits of the earth
Rooted in contained a symbolic reference to their
Human respective callings. The worship of
Nature, all races, as well as the idols of many
pagan religions, remained symbolic until the grossest materialism prevailed; and in the family and social fife of primitive peoples there was scarcely any important act but had its tinge of symbolism. " The truth is," says W R. Inge (Christian Mysticism, p. 259, London, 1899), "that the need of symbols to express or represent our highest emotions is inwoven with human nature, and indifference to them is not, as many have supposed, a sign of enlightenment or of spirituality. It is, in fact, an unhealthy symptom. We do not credit a man with a warm heart who does not care to show his love in word or act; nor should we commend the common sense of a soldier who saw in his regimental colors only a rag at the end of a pole." The most richly developed symbolism of ancient times, especially important by reason of its abundant influence on that of the Christian Church, was
found in the Mosaic system, in which,
3. In the consonantly with the whole character
Old Testa- of the old covenant, scarcely any re-
ment. ligious action took place without at
least the accompaniment of a symbolic meaning. To many of the prescribed rites and the objects to be used in them the signification was expressly attached at the time of their institution by divine command; but throughout the Old-Testament history there are numerous examples of action instinctively symbolic, after the manner of eastern peoples. Typical examples are the rending of Jeroboam s garment by the prophet Ahijah, to signify the separation of Israel and Judah (I Kings xi. 29) ;
Elisha's command to Joash to smite upon the ground with the arrows (II Kings xiii. 18); Jeremiah breaking the earthen bottle in the presence of the elders of Israel (Jer. xix. 1-11); and Ezekiel removing his household goods as a type of the captivity of Zedekiah (Ezek. xii. 3-16). There is, however, a great difference between such things as the two fundamental symbols, the Sabbath (q.v.) and the rite of Circumcision (q.v.), both representing the covenant of God with his people, and the extremely minute and fanciful interpretations put by the later students of the Law upon every detail of the temple worship — interpretations not surpassed in elaborate ingenuity by the most imaginative of medieval symbolists. Thus the Temple was interpreted as symbolic of human nature, and the two cherubim, the only images in it, of the concentration of all natural life; although Philo, attributing a cosmic meaning to the entire edifice, takes them as denoting the two hemispheres. The table with the showbread set forth the dependence of the people upon God for their sustenance. The seven-branched candlestick meant in Philo's scheme the seven planets, for later interpreters the congregation of the people of God. According to Josephus (Ant., III., vii. 7), every detail of the high priest's official vestments had its own special meaning. Thus the coat symbolized the earth and the upper garment heaven; the bells and pomegranates, thunder and lightning; the ephod, the four elements; and the interwoven gold, the glory of God. The breastplate in the center of the ephod set forth the relation of the earth to the universe; the girdle was the ocean, the stones on his shoulders the sun and moon, and the twelve jewels in the breastplate the signs of the zodiac, while the miter once more represented heaven.
It is impossible within the limits of this article to give any extended account of the world-wide practise of attaching an inner meaning to the simplest religious acts, as it is likewise to de- 4. Compre- scribe in detail the far-reaching naturehensiveness symbolism of the Middle Ages, which of Symbol- provided an emblematic meaning for ism. everything in the visible world, regarding it as " full of sacred cryptograms." A salient instance of this kind of labored search for analogical reference is the Physiologus or Bestiary (probably a product of the allegorizing school of Alexandria, but popular and influential down to late medieval times), in which various animals are supposed to typify moral or spiritual qualities. A complete survey of this kind of analogical teaching would lead far afield, out of the domain of theological learning into that of poetry — at least such poetry as Wordsworth's, who reproaches his Peter Bell for blindness to it:
A primrose by the river's brim A yellow primrose was to him — And it was nothing more;
who also says of himself, on the other hand,
To me the meanest flower that blows can bring Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
If this is true, in a greater or less degree, of all poets, it is not surprising to find it pointed out as a special method of the greatest of the medi-