Idols and icons

What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons?

By COGwriter

Many who profess Christianity attend church services that have a variety of supposedly Christian idols and icons in the buildings. Many who profess Christ tend to wear or even revere crosses as a symbol for Christians.

Does any of this come from the Bible? What did the early Church teach about these type of things? What about the second commandment? Is the prohibition against idolatry actually the 'second' of the ten commandments?

This article will provide some Old Testament and New Testament quotes related to idols and icons. It will also show writings from early (mainly 2nd century) church writers which will help demonstrate what the early church really understood about this.

Additionally, it will provide some information on when idols and icons were considered acceptable for the majority who profess Christ.

A related sermon is available: The Second Commandment, Idols, and Icons.

God's Position on Images From The Old Testament

Nearly everyone familiar with the Bible should be familiar with this passage of the ten commandments from Exodus 20:3-5:

You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them (NKJV throughout, unless otherwise noted).

However, some do not seem to be as familiar with this passage from Deuteronomy 4:15-19. Here a Catholic translation of it:

15 Keep therefore your souls carefully. You saw not any similitude in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire: 16 Lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude, or image of male or female, 17 The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of birds, that fly under heaven, 18 Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of fishes, that abide in the waters under the earth: 19 Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all the nations, that are under heaven. (Douay-Rheims)

In other words, God is saying that one of the reasons He did not want to be seen was that He felt the people might think that they should make any idol or icon. Notice that He also said no image of any male or female.

See also Isaiah 44:9:

9 Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.

This prohibition against idols was not limited to idols of foreign gods. God is also quite displeased with images that are supposed to direct worship to Him as this passage from Exodus 32:7-8 shows:

And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "

The Bible shows that God did not want His people to bow down before images that humans made:

1 'You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 26:1)

The children of Israel were apparently not even allowed the possession of icons as Joshua 7:13 seems to show:

13 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the LORD God of Israel: "There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you."

Thus all forms of idols and icons were prohibited by God in the Old Testament. Also notice that God says those with idols are like idols in that they have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them (Psalms 135:15-18).

Furthermore, notice that in the future, God will get rid of all idols:

The LORD alone will be exalted in that day, But the idols He shall utterly abolish (Isaiah 2:17-18).

Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also destroy the idols, And cause the images to cease..." (Ezekiel 30:13).

God's Position on Idols as Shown in The New Testament

Idols were discussed by many New Testament writers.

Jesus taught:

14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam...to eat things sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:14).

20 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allow...My servants to...eat things sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20).

Jesus also taught:

24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).

And the truth is that God does not want to be represented by things made by man. And the truth is that since no one knows what Jesus (or God the Father for that matter) looks like--all ICONIC REPRESENTATIONS OF GOD ARE NOT SPIRIT are not true. This is part of why all idols and icons are wrong.

Notice something from the Book of Acts:

28... For we are also His offspring.' 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. (Acts 17:28-29)

29 Being therefore the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of art, and device of man. 30 And God indeed having winked at the times of this ignorance, now declareth unto men, that all should every where do penance. (Acts 17:29-30, Douay-Rheims)

Christians ARE NOT to represent God with icons or idols.

The following verses concern Paul and his writings on this subject:

Now while Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols...Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said...'God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything' (Acts 17:16,22,24-25).

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four footed animals and creeping things (Romans 1:22-23).

But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is...an idolater (I Corinthians 5:11).

Neither... idolators...will inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9-10).

And do not become idolaters as were some of them...Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry (I Corinthians10:7,14).

And what agreement has the temple of God have with idols? (II Corinthians 6:16).

Now the works of the flesh are evident...idolatry (Galatians 5:19,20).

For this you know that no...idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Ephesians 5:5).

Therefore put to death...covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5).

...you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (I Thessalonians 1:9).

Paul is clear, true Christians do not have idols, there are to be none in a church, idolatry is a work of the flesh, and Christians are to turn from idols to God.

Notice what the Original Rheim's New Testament teaches:

6:16. And what agreement hath the temple of God with Idols? For you are the temple of the living God. as God saith, Then I will dwell, and walk in them, and will be their God: and they shall be my people. 17. For the which cause, Go out of the midst of them, and separate yourselves. saith our Lord, and touch not the unclean: and I will receive you...

7:1 HAVING therefore these promises, my dearest, let us cleanse ourselves from all iniquities of the flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 2:6:16-17, 7:1, Original Rheims NT)

Christians are NOT to defile themselves with idols.

The Apostle John, the last of the original apostles to die and the last writer of the New Testament, wrote:

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols (I John 5:21).

14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam...to eat things sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:14).

20 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allow...My servants to...eat things sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20).

20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk (Revelation 9:20).

8 But ...idolaters...shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

15 But outside are...idolaters (Revelation 22:15).

John warned the church to keep away from idols and that idolaters will be punished. Thus, those who practice original Christianity would seem to not tolerate idols.

And if God actually wanted people to make icons or idols of any kind, He clearly could have had the writers of the New Testament include some type of drawing and/or instruction to make them. Instead, all the writings of the New Testament that discuss them, oppose idols of various kinds.

It should be mentioned that the Greek word often translated as "cross" in the New Testament, staros, means a pole, and not a cross. Furthermore, notice that in the second century, Polycarp of Smyrna wrote:

Let us then continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, “who bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians, Chapter VIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1 as edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson (American Edition, 1885; Reprint Hendrickson Publishers, 1999, pp. 33-36)

The teaching of the faithful was that Jesus was killed on a tree pole, not necessarily any type of modern cross.

It should be noted that no Christian in the New Testament is ever described as carrying an idol, having any in worship services, or wearing a cross (see also What is the Origin of the Cross as a 'Christian' Symbol?). This is not to say that all who own a cross are active idolators, but that the historical facts should give people pause to ask themselves if they should.

Furthermore, notice more from the New Testament:

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ (Colossians 2:8).

18 ... knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers (1 Peter 1:18).

Thus faith does not come by seeing icons, but comes from HEARING THE WORD OF GOD and not traditions of men. Not from items made with gold or silver.

Idols and icons are just a small part of the traditions of men that should not be part of Christianity (see also Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings). Christ NEVER taught that idols or icons were acceptable.

While the New Testament shows that idols are not really anything, caution is advised even when doing what is allowed. Notice:

4 Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

7 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. (1 Corinthians 8:4-13)

Idols are nothing, but caution is advised even in practices that are allowed as encouraging any form of idolatry is prohibited.

First or Second Commandment?

The Church of Rome currently teaches that the prohibition against idols is part of the first commandment, and is not a separate commandment. Presumably this is to attempt to justify the use of idols in their worship.

Yet, this is a change.

The first century Jewish historian Josephus wrote:

The first commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that we ought to worship him only. The second commands us not to make the image of any living creature to worship it. (Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews - Book III, Chapter 5, verse 5)

Not only have the Jews long considered that the command against idols was a separate, and the second commandment, this was also the view of early Christians.

As late as the early third century, even Clement of Alexandria realized this as he listed most of the ten commandments (the "ten words" or the "Decalogue"). Here are the first two he listed:

The first commandment of the Decalogue shows that there is one only Sovereign God...

The second word intimated that men ought not to take and confer the august power of God (which is the name, for this alone were many even yet capable of learning), and transfer His title to things created and vain, which human artificers have made. (Clement of Alexandria. Stromata, Book VI, Chapter 16)

Furthemore, the Eastern Orthodox church teaches:

The Second Commandment

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them." "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Ex. 20:4-6. (Mastrantonis G. The Ten Commandments. Copyright: © 1990-1996 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7115 accessed 12/29/16)

There should be no doubt that the prohibtion against idols was considered to be the second commandment.

God Does Not Want to be Judged Based on Physical Appearance

The Bible says God is not seen:

20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20)

God also warns about judging based on sight:

24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. (John 7:24)

6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him!"

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:6-7)

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

All of God's commandments are righteousness (Psalm 119:172), and God's word and law should be the basis of judgment--and it is opposed to idols (e.g. 1 John 5:21).

Notice also something that Solomon stated:

27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! (1 Kings 8:27-28)

Certainly no idol or icon conveys the truth about God.

Thus, since all idols and icons do NOT represent the truth about God, He does not want them used by His true followers (cf. John 4:24).

2nd Century Church Writers on Idols and Images

After John died, his disciple, Polycarp of Smyrna became perhaps the most well-known Christian leader in the second century.

Even though the Roman Catholics and Orthodox leaders consider that Polycarp was an important saint, note what Polycarp wrote in the mid-second century:

I exhort you, therefore, that ye abstain from covetousness, and that ye be chaste and truthful. "Abstain from every form of evil." For if a man cannot govern himself in such matters, how shall he enjoin them on others ? If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen. But who of us are ignorant of the judgment of the Lord? (Polycarp. Letter to the Philippians, Chapter XI. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1as edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885).

Thus, Polycarp says that those who practice idolatry, even if they profess Christ, will be judged as a heathen! He also tied that commandment in with the one against covetousness.

In the early-mid second century there was an apologist named Marcianus Aristides who wrote the following to the emperor:

But it is a marvel, O King, with regard to the Greeks, who surpass all other peoples in their manner of life and reasoning, how they have gone astray after dead idols and lifeless images. And yet they see their gods in the hands of their artificers being sawn out, and planed and docked, and hacked short, and charred, and ornamented, and being altered by them in every kind of way. And when they grow old, and are worn away through lapse of time, and when they are molten and crushed to powder, how, I wonder, did they not perceive concerning them, that they are not gods? And as for those who did not find deliverance for themselves, how can they serve the distress of men?

But even the writers and philosophers among them have wrongly alleged that the gods are such as are made in honour of God Almighty. And they err in seeking to liken (them) to God whom man has not at any time seen nor can see unto what He is like. Herein, too (they err) in asserting of deity that any such thing as deficiency can be present to it; as when they say that He receives sacrifice and requires burnt-offering and libation and immolations of men, and temples. But God is not in need, and none of these things is necessary to Him; and it is clear that men err in these things they imagine (Marcianus Aristides. TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK AND FROM THE SYRIAC VERSION BY D. M. KAY. Apology of Aristides the Philosopher, Chapter XIII. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9. Edited by Allan Menzies, D.D. American Edition, 1896 and 1897. Online Edition Copyright © 2005 by K. Knight).

It should be noted that Marcianus Aristides argued against the concept that it was acceptable to believe that the idols only represented God--he clearly teaches that God was not to be worshiped with idols.

Melito also wrote against idols. Melito was a bishop of Sardis and is considered to be a saint by both the Catholics of Rome and the Eastern Orthodox.

Here is what Melito wrote around 170 A.D.:

We are not those who pay homage to stones, that are without sensation; but of the only God, who is before all and over all, and, moreover, we are worshippers of His Christ, who is veritably God the Word existing before all time (Melito. Translation by Roberts and Donaldson. From the apology addressed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Online version copyright © 2001 Peter Kirby. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/melito.html 11/18/06).

For there are some men who are unable to rise from their mother earth, and therefore also do they make them gods. from the earth their mother; and they are condemned by the judgments of truth, forasmuch as they apply the name of Him who is unchangeable to those objects which are subject to change, and shrink not from calling those things gods which have been made by the hands of man, and dare to make an image of God whom they have not seen...

Who is this God? He who is Himself truth, and His word truth. And what is truth? That which is not fashioned, nor made, nor represented by art: that is, which has never been brought into existence, and is on that account called truth. If, therefore, a man worship that which is made with hands, it is not the truth that he worships, nor yet the word of truth..."

There are, however, persons who say: It is for the honour of God that we make the image: in order, that is, that we may worship the God who is concealed from our view. But they are unaware that God is in every country, and in every place, and is never absent, and that there is not anything done and He knoweth it not. Yet thou, despicable man! within whom He is, and without whom He is, and above whom He is, hast nevertheless gone and bought thee wood from the carpenter's, and it is carved and made into an image insulting to God. To this thou offerest sacrifice, and knowest not that the all-seeing eye seeth thee, and that the word of truth reproves thee, and says to thee: How can the unseen God be sculptured? Nay, it is the likeness of thyself that thou makest and worshippest. Because the wood has been sculptured, hast thou not the insight to perceive that it is still wood, or that the stone is still stone? The gold also the workman: taketh according to its weight in the balance. And when thou hast had it made into an image, why dose thou weigh it? Therefore thou art a lover of gold, and not a lover of God...

Again, there are persons who say: Whatsoever our fathers have bequeathed to us, that we reverence. Therefore, of course, it is, that those whose fathers have bequeathed them poverty strive to become rich! and those whose fathers did not instruct them, desire to be instructed, and to learn that which their fathers knew not! And why, forsooth, do the children of the blind see, and the children of the lame walk? Nay, it is not well for a man to follow his predecessors, if they be those whose course was evil; but rather that we should turn from that path of theirs, lest that which befell our predecessors should bring disaster upon us also. Wherefore, inquire whether thy father's course was good: and, if so, do thou also follow in his steps; but, if thy father's course was very evil, let thine be good, and so let it be with thy children after thee. Be grieved also for thy father because his course is evil, so long as thy grief may avail to help him. But, as for thy children, speak to them thus: There is a God, the Father of all, who never came into being, neither was ever made, and by whose will all things subsist...

And then shall those who have not known God, and those who have made them idols, bemoan themselves, when they shall see those idols of theirs being burnt up, together with themselves, and nothing shall be found to help them (Melito. Translation by Roberts and Donaldson. A DISCOURSE WHICH WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF ANTONINUS CAESAR, AND HE EXHORTED THE SAID CAESAR TO ACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH GOD, AND SHOWED TO HIM THE WAY OF TRUTH. Online version copyright © 2001 Peter Kirby. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/melito.html 11/18/06).

Notice that Melito taught against the use of images/idols/icons AND then taught NOT to accept them even if it was handed down by fathers (in other words, do not rely on traditions that say that idols are correct). Since Melito is considered to be both a saint and a 'father' of the Church by those Roman Catholics and Orthodox, then they should heed what he said.

Melito also knew that the Apostle Paul wrote:

2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Corinthians 4:2-4)

Yet, sadly many in Melito's day and this present time have accepted idols and other doctrines that are not manifestations of the truth. They try to justify idols deceitfully as far as the word of God and often true early Christian history is concerned

About the same time that Melito was around, Theophilus also was a church writer. Theophilus of Antioch is not only considered to have been a saint by the Catholics and Orthodox, he also is in the Orthodox list of successors from the apostles. Here is a little bit of what he wrote about idols:

The divine law, then, not only forbids the worshipping of idols, but also of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, or the other stars; yea, not heaven, nor earth, nor the sea, nor fountains, nor rivers, must be worshipped (Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus, Book 2, Chapter XXXV. Translated by Marcus Dods, A.M. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume II. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

And concerning piety He says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I am the LORD thy God" ...Of this divine law, then, Moses, who also was God's servant (Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus, Book III, Chapter IX. Translated by Marcus Dods, A.M. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Other second century writers, though they were probably not in the true Church of God, such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Athenagoras, and Tertullian also wrote against idols.

Notice that Irenaeus actually wrote that when God was going to call Gentiles (basically quoting quoting Isaiah 17:7-8), that they would no longer have or worship idols:

And that these promises the calling from among the Gentiles should inherit, to whom also the new testament was opened up, Isaiah says thus:

These things saith the God of Israel: In that day a man shall trust in his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel: and they shall not trust in altars, nor in the work of their own hands, which their fingers have made.

For very plainly this was said of such as have forsaken idols and believed in God our Maker through the Holy One of Israel. And the Holy One of Israel is Christ: and He became visible to men, and to Him we look eagerly and behold Him; and we trust not in altars, nor in the works of our hands.

(Irenaeus, St., Bishop of Lyon. Translated from the Armenian by Armitage Robinson. The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Chapter 91. Wells, Somerset, Oct. 1879. As published in SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO, 1920).

The Catholic Encyclopedia calls Athenagoras a "Christian apologist of the second half of the second century." Here is some of what he wrote:

Because the multitude, who cannot distinguish between matter and God, or see how great is the interval which lies between them, pray to idols made of matter, are we therefore, who do distinguish and separate the uncreated and the created, that which is and that which is not, that which is apprehended by the understanding and that which is perceived by the senses, and who give the fitting name to each of them—are we to come and worship images? If, indeed, matter and God are the same, two names for one thing, then certainly, in not regarding stocks and stones, gold and silver, as gods, we are guilty of impiety. But if they are at the greatest possible remove from one another— as far asunder as theartist and the materials of his art— why are we called to account? (Athenagoras the Athenian. A Plea for the Christians, Chapter 15. Translated by B.P. Pratten. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0205.htm>).

Notice some of what Tertullian wrote:

The principal crime of the human race, the highest guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring cause of judgment, is idolatry...

God prohibits an idol as much to be made as to be worshipped. In so far as the making what may be worshipped is the prior act, so far is the prohibition to make (if the worship is unlawful) the prior prohibition. For this cause--the eradicating, namely, of the material of idolatry--the divine law proclaims, "Thou shall make no idol;"...All things, therefore, does human error worship, except the Founder of all Himself. The images of those things are idols; the consecration of the images is idolatry.

(Tertullian. On Idolatry, Chapters 1,4. Translated by S. Thelwall. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Furthermore, there is no evidence that any who professed Christ had idols/icons, such as what are seen in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, or even endorsed them in the second century. Thus, the early church was always against the use of idols and icons. Actually, they realize this as well as The Catholic Encyclopedia notes:

Long before the outbreak in the eighth century there were isolated cases of persons who feared the ever-growing cult of images and saw in it danger of a return to the old idolatry. We need hardly quote in this connection the invectives of the Apostolic Fathers against idols (Athenagoras "Legatio Pro Christ.", xv-xvii; Theophilus, "Ad Autolycum" II; Minucius Felix, "Octavius", xxvii; Arnobius, "Disp. adv. Gentes"; Tertullian, "De Idololatria", I; Cyprian, "De idolorum vanitate"), in which they denounce not only the worship but even the manufacture and possession of such images. These texts all regard idols, that is, images made to be adored (Fortescue A. Transcribed by Tomas Hancil. Veneration of Images. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII. Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

Furthermore, notice an accusation against those who professed Christ in the second/third century (date uncertain):

Why have they no altars, no temples, no acknowledged images? (Minucius. Octavius. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, Chapter 10. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

It should be noted that no Christian prior to the late second or early third century is ever described as carrying an idol, having images in any worship services, or even wearing a cross (though some apostates started to advocate crosses in the second and third centuries).

Green Trees and Wreaths

In modern times, as well as back in the second and third centuries (and well before), green trees and wreaths were used as part of pagan worship practices.

Notice that the wreaths were specifically condemned by Tertullian:

The Minervalia are as much Minerva's, as the Saturnalia Saturn's; Saturn's, which must necessarily be celebrated even by little slaves at the time of the Saturnalia. New-year's gifts likewise must be caught at, and the Septimontium kept; and all the presents of Midwinter and the feast of Dear Kinsmanship must be exacted; the schools must be wreathed with flowers; the flamens' wives and the aediles sacrifice; the school is honoured on the appointed holy-days. The same thing takes place on an idol's birthday; every pomp of the devil is frequented. Who will think that these things are befitting to a Christian master, unless it be he who shall think them suitable likewise to one who is not a master? (Tertullian. On Idolatry, Chapter X. Translated by S. Thelwall. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

But "let your works shine," saith He; but now all our shops and gates shine! You will now-a-days find more doors of heathens without lamps and laurel-wreaths than of Christians. What does the case seem to be with regard to that species (of ceremony) also? If it is an idol's honour, without doubt an idol's honour is idolatry. If it is for a man's sake, let us again consider that all idolatry is for man's sake; let us again consider that all idolatry is a worship done to men, since it is generally agreed even among their worshippers that aforetime the gods themselves of the nations were men; and so it makes no difference whether that superstitious homage be rendered to men of a former age or of this. Idolatry is condemned, not on account of the persons which are set up for worship, but on account of those its observances, which pertain to demons (Tertullian. On Idolatry, Chapter XV. Translated by S. Thelwall. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition Copyright © 2004 by K. Knight).

Green trees and wreaths remain modern idols that most who profess Christ seem to find acceptable. The Bible warns against them, never tells Christians to use them, and none were part of the practices of the early Apostles and their followers.

Since God warns against them, how can these pagan-compromised innovations please God?

The obvious answer is that they do not. Notice the following passages from the Holy Bible:

2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. (Deuteronomy 12:2-4)

2 'You must completely destroy all the places where the nations you dispossess have served their gods, on high mountains, on hills, under any spreading tree; 3 you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, burn their sacred poles, hack to bits the statues of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. 4 'Not so must you behave towards Yahweh your God. (Deuteronomy 12:2-3, New Jerusalem Bible, a Catholic version)

The truth is that pagan holidays were not part of the earliest traditions of the church.  The use of wreaths and evergreen trees reminds us that people are often unwilling to worship God as He intended.

Those who truly believe Jesus’ words, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) will not observe compromised pagan holiday such as Christmas (see also What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days?) because it contains practices warned against in the Bible and was never enjoined upon true believers to practice.

3rd & 4th Century Church Writers on Idols and Images

In the early third century, Catholic theologian and bishop Hippolytus wrote:

16:1 They will inquire concerning the works and occupations of those are who are  brought forward for instruction. 2 If someone is a pimp who supports prostitutes, he shall cease or shall be rejected. 3 If someone is a sculptor or a painter, let them be taught not to make idols. Either let them cease or let them be rejected (Hippolytus. The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome. From the work of Bernard Botte (La Tradition Apostolique. Sources Chretiennes, 11 bis. Paris, Editions du Cerf, 1984) and of Gregory Dix (The Treatise on the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop and Martyr. London: Alban Press, 1992) as translated by Kevin P. Edgecomb http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus.html viewed 08/06/09)

Thus, the production of icons was still condemned in the third century. If they were accepted, he would have likely written that they need to change and produce icons and images for churches, but instead they are told to cease from their occupation.

In the early third century, a Catholic/Orthodox theologian, Origen wrote:

Christians and Jews have regard to this command, "You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve Him alone;" and this other, "You shall have no other gods before Me: you shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them;" and again, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." It is in consideration of these and many other such commands, that they not only avoid temples, altars, and images, but are ready to suffer death when it is necessary, rather than debase by any such impiety the conception which they have of the Most High God (Origen. Contra Celsus, Book VII, Chapter 64, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04167.htm 01/23/07).

Notice this defense against the "heathen" by the third century Catholic theologian Arnobius where he clearly teaches that his faith did not have statues, images, or even incense:

1...Having shown briefly how impious and infamous are the opinions which you have formed about your gods, we have now tospeak of their temples , their images also, and sacrifices, and of the other things which are nailed and closely related to them. For you are here in the habit of fastening upon us a very serious charge of impiety because we do not rear templesfor the ceremonies of worship, do not set up statues and images of any god, do not build altars...do not offer...incense...

3...we rear no temples to them, and do notworship their images; we do not slayvictims in sacrifice, we do not offerincense and libations of wine.

8...We have next to say something about statues and images, which you form with much skill, and tend with religious care,— wherein if there is any credibility, we can by no amount of consideration settle in our own minds whether you do this inearnest and with a serious purpose, oramuse yourselves in childish dreams by mocking at these very things. For if you are assured that the gods exist whom you suppose, and that they live in the highestregions of heaven , what cause, whatreason , is there that those images should be fashioned by you, when you have true beings to whom you may pour forth prayers, and from whom you may, ask help in trying circumstances? But if, on the contrary, you do not believe, or, to speak with moderation, are in doubt, in this case, also, what reason is there, pray, to fashion and set up images of doubtful beings, and to form with vain imitation what you do not believe to exist ? Do you perchance say, that under these images of deities there is displayed to you their presence, as it were, and that, because it has not been given you to see the gods, they are worshipped in this fashion, and the duties owed to them paid? He who says and asserts this, does not believe that the gods exist ; and he is proved not to put faith in his own religion , to whom it is necessary to see what he may hold, lest that which being obscure is not seen, may happen to be vain.

9. We worship the gods, you say, by means of images. What then? Without these, do the gods not know that they areworshipped, and will they not think that any honour is shown to them by you? Through bypaths, as it were, then, and byassignments to a third party, as they are called, they receive and accept your services; and before those to whom that service is owed experience it, you first sacrifice to images, and transmit, as it were, some remnants to them at the pleasure of others. And what greater wrong, disgrace, hardship, can be inflicted than to acknowledge one god, and yetmake supplication to something else — tohope for help from a deity , and pray to an image without feeling?...

10. And whence, finally, do you know whether all these images which you formand put in the place of the immortal gods reproduce and bear a resemblance to the gods? For it may happen that in heavenone has a beard who by you is representedwith smooth cheeks; that another is rather advanced in years to whom you give the appearance of a youth; that here he is fair, with blue eyes, who really has grey ones; that he has distended nostrils whom you make and form with a high nose. For it is not right to call or name that an image which does not derive from the face of the original features like it...

14... Those images which fill you with terror, and which you adore prostrateupon the ground in all the temples, are bones, stones, brass, silver, gold, clay, wood taken from a tree, or glue mixed with gypsum...

16... Blush , then, even though it is late, and accept true methods and views from dumb creatures, and let these teach you that there is nothing divine in images, into which they do not fear or scruple to cast unclean things in obedience to the laws of their being, and led by their unerring instincts.

17. But you err, says my opponent, and are mistaken, for we do not consider either copper, or gold and silver, or those other materials of which statues are made, to be in themselves gods and sacred deities; but in them we worship and venerate those whom their dedication as sacred introduces and causes to dwell in statues made by workmen. The reasoning is not vicious nor despicable by which any one — the dull, and also the most intelligent — can believe that the gods, forsaking their proper seats — that is, heaven — do not shrink back and avoid entering earthly habitations; nay, more, that impelled by the rite of dedication , they are joined to images Do your gods, then, dwell in gypsum and in figures of earthenware? Nay , rather, are the gods the minds , spirits , and souls of figures of earthenware and of gypsum ? And, that the meanest things may be able to become of greater importance, do they suffer themselves to be shut up and concealed and confined in an obscure abode? Here, then, in the first place, we wish and ask to be told this by you: do they do this against their will — that is, do they enter the images as dwellings, dragged to them by the rite of dedication — or are they ready and willing ? And do you not summon them by any considerations of necessity ? Do they do this unwillingly? and how can it be possible that they should be compelled to submit to any necessitywithout their dignity being impaired? With ready assent? And what do the gods seek for in figures of earthenware that they should prefer these prisons to their starry seats,— that, having been all but fastened to them, they should ennobleearthenware and the other substances of which images are made?

(Arnobius. Against the Heathen (Book VI), Chapters 1,3,8,9,10,14,16,17,18. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1886. Online Edition Copyright © 2008 by K. Knight).

Hence, even the early Greco-Romans strongly taught against veneration of bones, idols, statues, incense, and icons. These were simply never a part of the true church. They were not significantly even part of the Greco-Roman church until after Constantine and his mother Helena came on the scene. Now, Greco-Romans will venerate/worshop such things. Notice:

20 May 2017

For the first time in nearly 1,000 years bone fragments of Saint Nicholas are being moved from their Italian resting place, to be worshipped in Russia.

The 4th-Century saint is one of the most revered figures in the Russian Orthodox Church. After his death, Italian merchants brought his body from Myra, in modern-day Turkey, to Italy.

Some fragments of his ribs are kept in Bari, southern Italy. They are being flown on a specially chartered plane to Moscow on Sunday.

"This is an unprecedented event," said Alexander Volkov, a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39960384

Shortly after Constantine came into power and was was considered a Catholic-supporter, apparently Cyril of Jerusalem made up a false document to pretend that idols and shrines were used by real Christians in Jerusalem in the first century. Notice the following account by a modern Catholic scholar from a seventh century source:

Gregory  Asharuni (7th cent.) {supplied information} regarding the ordering of the functions and religious pilgrimages established in the 4th century in the different shrines. He says that St. Cyril bishop of Jerusalem (313-386) sent a request to bishop Peter of Alexandria to have the ancient lectionary compiled by St. James bishop of Jerusalem; Peter found it in the monastery of St. Anthony and sent it to the Holy City. With the diffusion of this news, probably, the idea was to insinuate that the functions established in Jerusalem in the church after the erection of the various shrines, went back to the time of St. James himself, although they were not practiced by those who occupied the mother church of Sion (Bagatti, Bellarmino.  Translated by Eugene Hoade.  The Church from the Circumcision. Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi, 13 Maii 1970. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari, 14 Junii 1970. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970.  Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, 1971, pp. 11-12).

Hence, false records were made up by Cyril to attempt to allow idolatrous shrines in Jerusalem!

And notice into the fourth century:

Palestine ecclesiastical authorities of the fourth century still held to the idea of the prohibition of sacred images ... In fact, one half century before ... Eusebius, replying to Constance, a sister of Constantine, who had asked him for an image of the Savious, had written that to paint holy images was a pagan custom (PG 20,1545) (Bagatti, Bellarmino.  Translated by Eugene Hoade.  The Church from the Gentiles in Palestine, Part 1, Chapter 1.  Nihil obstat: Ignatius Mancini. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 28 Februarii 1970.  Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, p.120).

Thus, images were not part of worship in early Christianity.

Also notice the following:

Without temples, altars, or images, the Christians assembled in houses appointed for the purpose, and, in times of persecution, in solitary places (Gieseler, Johann Karl Ludwig.  A Text-book of Church History. Translated by Samuel Davidson, John Winstanley Hull, Mary A. Robinson. Harper & brothers, 1857, Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Feb 17, 2006, p. 161).

So, there simply were not altars, idols, nor saint worship (see All Saints' Day, the Day of the Dead, and All Souls' Day) or images that were part of original Christianity.

Yet, while many Catholics prefer the term 'venerate' to worship, the reality is that they are worshipping the dead. Notice the following, which admits that:

08/31/17

Saint Peter’s ancient tomb ...

Still nothing can be said about the origin of the relics or their authenticity, while those worshiped in St. Peter, in the place where the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles has been identified with certainty, are compatible with the bodily remains of a man who lived in the first century AD. New examinations and maybe a comparison between the different relics attributed to Peter within the city of Rome are scheduled, as the mystery continues. http://www.lastampa.it/2017/08/31/vaticaninsider/eng/the-vatican/rome-relics-attributed-to-peter-found-in-a-church-of-trastevere-GNeHbTZW9UtavZaLi9zxnK/pagina.html

Notice what the New Jerusalem Bible (a Catholic-approved translation into English) and the NKJV (a Protestant translation) shows:

10 ... God alone you must worship. (NJB)

10 ... Worship God! (Revelation 19:10, NKJV)

We are to worship God, not dead people considered to be saints nor idols.

When Did Idols Become 'Acceptable'?

The first individual associated with Christianity to utilize idols in worship may have been Simon Magus. And up until at least the early third century, these practices were normally condemned.

Here is some of what Hippolytus wrote about images and the followers of Simon Magus:

Simon then, after inventing these (tenets), not only by evil devices interpreted the writings of Moses in whatever way he wished, but even the (works) of the poets. For also he fastens an allegorical meaning on (the story of) the wooden horse and Helen with the torch, and on very many other (accounts), which he transfers to what relates to himself and to Intelligence, and (thus) furnishes a fictitious explanation of them...

The disciples, then, of this (Magus), celebrate magical rites, and resort to incantations. And (they profess to) transmit both love-spells and charms, and the demons said to be senders of dreams, for the purpose of distracting whomsoever they please. But they also employ those denominated Paredroi. "And they have an image of Simon (fashioned) into the figure of Jupiter, and (an image) of Helen in the form of Minerva; and they pay adoration to these." But they call the one Lord and the other Lady. And if any one amongst them, on seeing the images of either Simon or Helen, would call them by name, he is cast off, as being ignorant of the mysteries. (Hippolytus. Refutation of All Heresies (Book VI, Chapters XIV, XV). Translated by J. H. Machmahon. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1886. Online Edition Copyright © 2005 by K. Knight).

While idols were never acceptable to the New Testament writers or apparently most of those that professed Christ in the second/third century, eventually many decided that they wanted idols and icons. They also began to venerate dead Christians, their relics, and their tombs, but even then it was quite limited.

Notice the following:

There were Christians at the end of the third century who were in possession of pictures of Christ, but the Church fathers looked with scorn upon this practice. Eusebius plainly says to the Empress Helena that "such images are forbidden by the Jewish law and should not be found in churches." He continues: "Some poor woman brought me two painted figures like philosophers, and ventured to say that they represented Paul and the Saviour—I do not know on what ground. But to save her and others from offence. I took them from her and kept them by me, not thinking it right, in any case, that she should exhibit them further, that we may not seem idolaters to carry our God about with us." (Carus P. The Open court, Volume 22. The Open Court Pub. Co., 1908. Original from Harvard University, Digitized Mar 14, 2008, pp. 663-664).

It appears that Helena was converted to Christianity when she was 63 years of age.  As though to compensate for the years before her conversion, she set out in the year 324 with great zeal and fervor to build churches, to restore and adorn older ones and to find precious relics...She was elevated by her son to the position of empress of the world and mistress of the empire (Cruz JC. Relics.