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by John Murray, February 23, 2004 The question of the propriety of pictorial representations of the Saviour is one that merits examination. It must be granted that the worship of Christ is central in our holy faith, and the thought of the Saviour must in every instance be accompanied with that reverence which belongs to His worship. We cannot think of Him without the apprehension of the majesty that is His. If we do not entertain the sense of His majesty, then we are guilty of impiety and we dishonor Him. It will also be granted that the only purpose that could properly be served by a pictorial representation is that it would convey to us some thought or lesson representing Him, consonant with truth and promotive of worship. Hence the question is inescapable: is a pictorial representation a legitimate way of conveying truth regarding Him and of contributing to the worship which this truth should evoke? We are all aware of the influence exerted on the mind and heart by pictures. Pictures are powerful media of communication. How suggestive they are for good or for evil and all the more so when accompanied by the comment of the spoken or written word! It is futile, therefore, to deny the influence exerted upon mind and heart by a picture of Christ. And if such is legitimate, the influence exerted should be one constraining to worship and adoration. To claim any lower aim as that served by a picture of the Saviour would be contradiction of the place which He must occupy in thought, affection, and honour. The plea for the propriety of pictures of Christ is based on the fact that He was truly man, that He had a human body, that He was visible in His human nature to the physical senses, and that a picture assists us to take in the stupendous reality of His incarnation, in a word, that He was made in the likeness of men and was found in fashion as a man. Our Lord had a true body. He could have been photographed. A portrait could have been made of Him and, if a good portrait, it would have reproduced His likeness. Without doubt the disciples in the days of His flesh had a vivid mental image of Jesus’ appearance and they could not but have retained that recollection to the end of their days. They could never have entertained the thought of Him as He had sojourned with them without something of that mental image and they could not have entertained it without adoration and worship