Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Incarnation by Proclaimation and Scripture (Part 5)

The last argument in favor of the abrogation of images of Jesus position is that the word of God teaches that the way we are to communicate the doctrine of the incarnation is by verbal and written communication. John 1:1-3 teaches that the way the Apostles, who had a first hand experience of the incarnate Christ, communicate this truth to subsequent believers was by proclamation and writing . Peter says that we have something more sure than his own experience of the incarnation namely the prophetic word which teaches us about the incarnation (2 Peter 1:17-20) . According to Paul, who had seen the risen Christ, the primary way we are to communicate Christ and the Gospel message is not by pictures but rather by preaching (Rom. 10:14-18) . The Apostles, who had seen Jesus and who were inspired by God, proclaimed and wrote about the incarnation to the church. If that was true at that time in redemptive history then it should be all the more evident to us who have not even seen the incarnate Christ. Therefore, the way God ordained us to communicate the incarnation at this time in redemptive history is not through pictures, but through reading, writing, and preaching the word of God.

3 comments:

  1. How do you get from 'primary' to 'only'? The argument that "the primary way we are to communicate Christ and the Gospel message is not by pictures but rather by preaching" seems fine - the Scripture clearly asserts that; but that doesn't prove that we shouldn't have images of Jesus.

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  2. Nate--

    Didn't the Apostles also teach the proclamation of the incarnation in the Eucharist?

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  3. Kenny and MG,

    You both make good points here that defeat this argument. I have to be honest MG your use of Eucharist in all these arguments is very impressive and thoughtful.

    God Bless,

    NPT

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