Initially, Luther was negative to images, on account that images were being used as the object of honor and veneration and that sculptures and paintings were extravagances that churches were indulging in.26 However, he reconsidered the question of images since he witnessed the iconoclastic riot in 1522 and changed his view into that image itself must not be equated with idol (Cf. Park 2007:102). For Luther, images are basically a small matter because his primary concern was justification through grace by faith. Nevertheless, these two topics are not irrelevant to each other as Luther points out that:
We must preach not merely against this particular misuse or danger, the worshipping of images. That is a very small matter. … But we must preach against the worst misuse of all, of which the papists are guilty to overflowing. I refer to the fact that they place images in the churches because they think they are thereby doing a good work and a service to God (Luther 1959a:259).
The point of Luther’s criticism is not the presence of images, but rather the spirit and reason of installing images in churches that are related to meritorious deeds to God. For Luther, visual images are adiaphora, something about which there is no judgment in principle, so one could exercise freedom (Cilliers 2012a:29; De Gruchy 2001:39). They can be either good or bad, but the reason is not inherent in and depends on images themselves. In later chapter of his life (since 1525), Luther even approves images on account that they may be of considerable help in preaching and teaching the good news, i.e. as educational tools. Images of the saints and of Christ and crucifixes should be allowed, as long as they are not worshipped, but used for memorial and witness just like the witness stones of Joshua (Josh. 24:26) and of
26 From a social angle, the iconoclasm of the sixteenth century can be seen as a public protest against the luxuries of the church. The elite clerical class lived in luxury at the expense of the lay people. The clergy and church recommended donation of extravagant arts and objects in the name of devotional piety, and they made a large profit through this. In the circumstances, iconoclastic movement arose among people with the cause of redistribution of wealth. It is Karlstadt who can be referred to as a figure of such cause (Cf. Dyrness 2001:54; Park 2007:99-100).
Samuel (1 Sam. 7:12) (Thiessen 2005:126). Works of art, he notes, can also be held for the reasons of pleasure and decoration.
Thereby Luther attacks his fellow Wittenberg Reformer Karlstadt and the Heavenly Prophets, who had started to destroy images in churches in Wittenberg during his absence: “To have images is not wrong. … we cannot prove it right to mutilate and burn them” (Luther 1959a:259). Luther opines that everything is exposed to misuse and therefore to idolatry; if that is the case, physical removal or destruction cannot be the answer to all the misuse, otherwise we would need to destroy even ourselves. He declares this in one of his sermons:
God has commanded us in Deut. 4 not to lift up our eyes to the sun, etc., that we may not worship them, for they are created to serve all nations. But there are many people who worship the sun and stars. Therefore we propose to rush in and pull the sun and stars from the skies. No, we had better let it be. Again, wine and women bring many a man to misery and make a fool of him; so we kill all the women and pour out all the wine. Again, gold and silver cause much evil, so we condemn them. Indeed, if we want to drive away our worst enemy, the one who does us the most harm, we shall have to kill ourselves, for we have no greater enemy than our own heart (Luther 1959b:85).
From this passage, it is clear that Luther focuses not on the elimination of external matters, but on the fundamentals of faith that keep our life intact. In his eye, the destruction of images cannot be the way to preserve our faith from all the decay. Rather, the destructive activity comes from the same mentality as idol worship, because it is another mode of the belief that images have divine power. In arguing against Karlstadt, Luther distinguishes between external images and internalized idols worshipped in the heart and criticizes that Karlstadt has failed to get rid of the true idols, the idols of the heart. These inner idols we create and desire for ourselves – for instance, mammon, power, good works as means of securing a place in heaven – are indeed dangerous idols we need to destroy. However, Karlstadt, as Luther (1958:84) critiques, “pays no attention to matters of the heart, has reversed the order by removing them from sight and leaving them in the heart”. What really need to be knocked down are not the outward material images, but the false images and idols
residing in the heart.
From the perspective of anthropology, Luther made another important and unique observation on the matter of images, that is, the fact that human beings always invoke (mental) images for comprehending something. Luther (1958:99-100) states:
God desires to have his works heard and read, … But it is impossible for me to hear and bear it in mind without forming mental images of it in my heart. For whether I will or not, when I hear of Christ, an image of a man hanging on a cross takes form in my heart, just as the reflection of my face naturally appears in the water when I look into it. If it is not a sin but good to have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes?27
Imagination is part and parcel of being human. Even if we approach the imageless, indescribable God, this imaginative way is unavoidable. When one hears the Word of God and reflects on it, one cannot but create an image of it in his or her mind. Take note here of how much God has appreciated this imaginative category of human beings in revealing Himself to them. As manifested in the Scripture, we find numerous images and metaphors for God such as King, Shepherd, Father, Mother, Servant, Lamb, Rock, Eagle, Fire, Light, etc. Therefore, we may have images as a form of languages. Images become a necessary and basic human category together with words.
In the thought of Luther and the Lutheran development, proclamation of the Word, the Sacrament, liturgy and the visual have formed a unity. Although a central role is given to the Word, faith is expressed through acts and tangible things. Liturgical and artistic traditions in the past are to be retained so long as they are not found to be contrary to Christian faith and freedom. On this account, the saints and the statues of saints were not basic issues for Luther; if properly understood, they may be cherished not as intercessors but as examples and models of faith. Luther wrote:
27 Compare Luther’s opinion on mental images with that of the Puritan, which is one of the influences on the Korean Presbyterian churches: In Puritan thought, mental images have been condemned as idolatry. Puritans have applied the proscription of idolatry of the second commandment not only to physical images and types but to mental dimensions of imagination as well (La Shell 1987:311).
Next to the Holy Scripture there certainly is no more useful book of Christendom than that of the lives of the saints, especially when unadulterated and authentic. For in these stories one is greatly pleased to find how they sincerely believed God’s Word, confessed it with their lips, praised it by their living, and honored and confirmed it by their suffering and dying. All this immeasurably comforts and strengthens those weak in the faith and increases the courage and confidence of those already strong far more than the teaching of Scripture alone, without any examples and stories of the saints (Quoted in Dillenberger 1987:66).
In this context it is worth remembering that Luther and Melanchton were significantly supported by the painter Lucas Cranach and his workshop. Their Reformation aims and ideas found artistic faces via Cranach’s works. Consider, for example, a broadsheet that he designed to support and illustrate the Reformers’ ideas (figure 12). In addition to this, the famous Reformation altarpiece by Cranach in the town church in Wittenberg bears testimony to the Reformers’ ideas of what it means to be the true church: the preaching of, and faith in, the crucified Christ, and the proper administration of the Sacraments (figure 13) (Thiessen 2005:126-127; cf. Pettegree 2002:470-477).
Figure 13. Source: https://www.artfinder.com/work/reformation-altarpiece-lucas- cranach-the-elder/