{"id":90337,"date":"2025-03-20T10:22:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=90337"},"modified":"2025-03-20T10:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:37:32","slug":"worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html","title":{"rendered":"Worshiping God Through Images (vs. Anglican Stearns #4)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Including the Biblical Case for Icons<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo credit<\/strong>: The Ark and the Mercy Seat<\/em>, illustration in Treasures of the Bible<\/em> by Henry Davenport Northrop, published by International Publishing Company, 1894 [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edward Josiah Stearns (1810-1890) was an Episcopal clergyman from Maryland and\u00a0author of several books<\/a>. His volume,\u00a0The Faith of Our Forefathers<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1879), was a reply to\u00a0The Faith of Our Fathers<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>(1876), by\u00a0James Cardinal Gibbons<\/a>\u00a0(1834-1921), one of the best and most well-known Catholic apologetics works, with an emphasis on scriptural arguments and replies to Protestant critiques of Catholicism. It had\u00a0sold over 1.4 million copies<\/a>\u00a0by the time of its 83rd edition in 1917 and was the most popular book in the United States until\u00a0Gone With the Wind<\/i><\/a>\u00a0was published in 1939. This volume highly influenced my own development as a soon-to-be Catholic apologist in the early 1990s: especially with regard to my usual\u00a0modus operandi<\/em>\u00a0of focusing on \u201cbiblical evidence\u201d for Catholicism.<\/p>\n

The words of Rev. Stearns will be in\u00a0blue<\/span>. I use RSV for biblical citations.<\/p>\n

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It is noteworthy that the Archbishop does not cite a single passage of Scripture in proof of image-worship. (p. 213)<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s clearly asserting that there is<\/em> no such passage. I can think of at least three:<\/p>\n

Exodus 33:9-10\u00a0<\/b>When Moses entered the tent,\u00a0the pillar of cloud would descend<\/em>\u00a0and stand at the door of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. [10] And\u00a0when all the people\u00a0saw\u00a0the pillar of cloud\u00a0<\/em>standing at the door of the tent,\u00a0all the people would rise up and\u00a0worship<\/em>, every man at his tent door. [worship of God through a cloud]<\/p>\n

2 Chronicles 7:3-4\u00a0<\/b>When all the children of Israel\u00a0saw\u00a0the\u00a0fire come down and the glory of the LORD\u00a0upon the temple,\u00a0they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and\u00a0worshiped and gave thanks\u00a0to the LORD<\/em>, saying, \u201cFor he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.\u201d [4] Then the king and all the people\u00a0offered sacrifice\u00a0before the LORD<\/em>. [worship of God through fire]<\/p>\n

1 Chronicles 16:4<\/strong> Moreover he appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD<\/em>, the God of Israel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One might retort that the ark of the covenant didn\u2019t represent God, so how could this passage refer to image-worship? It\u2019s because God was present above the ark in a visible cloud between the\u00a0 carved cherubim on its lid: what was called the \u201cmercy seat\u201d:<\/p>\n

Leviticus 16:2\u00a0<\/strong>and the LORD said to Moses, \u201cTell Aaron your brother not to come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, lest he die; for\u00a0I will\u00a0appear in the cloud\u00a0upon the mercy seat<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Numbers 16:42 (\u201cthe\u00a0cloud<\/em>\u00a0covered it, and the glory of the LORD\u00a0appeared<\/em>\u201c) and Deuteronomy 31:15 (\u201cAnd the LORD\u00a0appeared<\/em>\u00a0in the tent in a\u00a0pillar of cloud<\/em>\u201c), prove, in their use of \u201cappear\u201d in relation to a cloud that this is also the case in Leviticus 16:2. God doesn\u2019t just say that He will be \u201cpresent\u201d, but that He will \u201cappear\u201d in this cloud. Therefore, it\u2019s a third instance of God being worshiped through an image.<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 4:4<\/strong> . . . the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim<\/em> . . .<\/p>\n

Exodus 25:22<\/strong> There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim<\/em> that are upon the ark of the testimony . . . (cf. 30:6)<\/p>\n

Numbers 7:89<\/strong> And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat<\/em> that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim<\/em>; and it spoke to him<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The burning bush proves that God Himself was there in the bush that Moses saw. In other words, worshiping it was the same as worshiping God (which is the fundamental idea involved in icons, though they are venerated<\/em> \u2014 not worshiped or adored \u2014 when creatures are involved):<\/p>\n

Exodus 3:4-6<\/strong> When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, \u201cMoses, Moses!\u201d And he said, \u201cHere am I.\u201d [5] Then he said, \u201cDo not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.\u201d [6] And he said, \u201cI am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.\u201d And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The same idea is reiterated in references to \u201cface to face\u201d and the pillars:<\/p>\n

Exodus 13:21<\/strong> And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of\u00a0cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a\u00a0pillar of fire . . .<\/p>\n

Exodus 33:11<\/strong> Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. . . .<\/p>\n

Numbers 12:5<\/strong> And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. (cf. Ps 99:7)<\/p>\n

Numbers 14:14<\/strong> . . . thou, O LORD, art seen face to face, and thy cloud stands over them and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (cf. Neh 9:12)<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 5:4<\/strong> The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 31:15<\/strong> And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud . . .<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 34:10<\/strong> And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,<\/p>\n

Sirach 24:4<\/strong> I dwelt in high places, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rev. Stearns cites \u2014 in disagreement \u2014 Catholics explaining these teachings:<\/p>\n

St. Thomas Aquinas . . . says, \u201cThe same reverence is to be given unto the image of Christ and to Christ himself: and by consequence, seeing Christ is adored with the adoration of latria<\/em> (the highest kind of worship), his image is to be adored with the adoration of latria<\/em> also,\u201d . . . \u2014 Summ<\/em>. part 3, q. 25, art. 3. And Azorius says, \u201dIt is the constant judgment of theologians that the image is to be honored and worshipped with the same honor and worship wherewith that is worshipped whereof it is an image.\u201d . . . Jo. Azor. Institut. Moral,<\/em>, t. i. 1. 9, c. 6 . . .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such is the image-worship taught and practised in the Roman Church. (p. 206)<\/span><\/p>\n

Image-worship is a superstition of the heart, not of the head; hence its danger. (p. 211)<\/span><\/p>\n

I have just provided the biblical<\/em> rationale: none<\/em> of which Rev. Stearns seems to be familiar with. Live and learn . . . As usual, the Protestant contra-Catholic argument is insufficiently biblical to an alarming extent.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t even get in to highly related topics such as the fascinating biblical data regarding the angel of the Lord<\/a> and theophanies or christophanies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Photo credit<\/strong>: The Ark and the Mercy Seat<\/em>, illustration in Treasures of the Bible<\/em> by Henry Davenport Northrop, published by International Publishing Company, 1894<\/span> [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Summary<\/em>: Anglican apologist Edward Josiah Stearns claimed that image-worship of God is unbiblical. I produce three biblical passages \/ passage-clusters that prove otherwise.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Including the Biblical Case for Icons \u00a0 Edward Josiah Stearns (1810-1890) was an Episcopal clergyman from Maryland and\u00a0author of several books. His volume,\u00a0The Faith of Our Forefathers\u00a0(New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1879), was a reply to\u00a0The Faith of Our Fathers\u00a0(1876), by\u00a0James Cardinal Gibbons\u00a0(1834-1921), one of the best and most well-known Catholic apologetics works, with an emphasis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":90343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[19726,1074,3254,19703,3583,19732],"class_list":["post-90337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saints-purgatory-penance","tag-edward-josiah-stearns","tag-iconoclasm","tag-icons","tag-james-cardinal-gibbons","tag-religious-images","tag-worshiping-god-through-images"],"yoast_head":"\nWorshiping God Through Images (vs. Anglican Stearns #4)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anglican apologist Edward Josiah Stearns claimed that image-worship of God is unbiblical. 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Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Worshiping God Through Images (vs. Anglican Stearns #4)","description":"Anglican apologist Edward Josiah Stearns claimed that image-worship of God is unbiblical. 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I produce three biblical passages \/ passage-clusters that prove otherwise.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2025-03-20T14:22:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-20T14:37:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2025\/03\/Mercy-Seat.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html","name":"Worshiping God Through Images (vs. Anglican Stearns #4)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-20T14:22:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-20T14:37:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"Anglican apologist Edward Josiah Stearns claimed that image-worship of God is unbiblical. I produce three biblical passages \/ passage-clusters that prove otherwise.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2025\/03\/worshiping-god-through-images-vs-anglican-stearns-4.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Worshiping God Through Images (vs. Anglican Stearns #4)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/","name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","description":"Catholic biblical apologetics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e","name":"Dave Armstrong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Armstrong"},"description":"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}