Question and Answer
Portraits of Christ
Question:
Where can I find your position paper on the use of pictures of Christ.
Answer:
So far as I know, the OPC does not have a position paper relating to the pictures of Christ. Lest I should speak without knowledge, I consulted two members of our Committee on Christian Education. Neither of them knows of "position papers." The OPC does not produce position papers. Matters of that sort are dealt with in our secondary standards or as related to matters brought before General Assemblies. Decades ago, I was a member of that committee. I recall that the issue was debated, but no action coming to a General Assembly is on record according to the Index of the Minutes of the General Assembly
But I can say positively that neither the Committee on Christian Education nor Great Commissions Publications publish materials with so-called pictures of our Lord. The reasons are very obvious: Though Jesus was man, yet He is God incarnate in human flesh. And the Second Commandment forbids all material representations of God in worship. Moreover no one living knows what our Lord looked like. So we avoid all physical representations of Christ.
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"Questions and Answers" is a weekly feature of the OPC website. The answers come from individual ministers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church expressing their own convictions and do not necessarily represent an "official" position of the Church, especially in areas where the Standards of the Church (the Scriptures and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms) are silent.
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