THE inspired Solomon, who applied his heart “to know and to search and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly,” bears the following testimony in the Book of Ecclesiastes:—“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” It is plain that the “inventions” to which he refers are such as are not in harmony with the moral uprightness in which the Most High created man at the beginning; they are evil devices, which lead men farther and farther away from the Fountain of blessedness—not discoveries of the wisdom and power of God in nature, which, rightly considered, lead us to adore Him more and more. Of those evil inventions the present age is full. Skill, that might be applied to nobler ends, is abused with a view to gratify misguided and carnal ideas of pleasure and instruction.
One of the latest of these presumptuous inventions is what has been described as a “wonderful series of cinematograph pictures, entitled ‘From Manger to Cross,’ and dealing with the most sacred episodes in the life of the Founder of Christianity.” These pictures consist of a moving representation, as if from life, of leading scenes in the earthly history of the Redeemer, from the announcement of His birth to His death on Calvary. It appears that these pictures were made in Palestine, and were taken from a series of acted performances of the most solemn incidents in the life and death of Christ. That there was something grossly irreverent in the exhibition of such pictures occurred to religious people of all creeds, and some decided protests have been made here and there against it. It is melancholy, however, to observe that certain leaders in religion, while evidently conscious that there was something wrong, took to the wretched plan of white-washing Satan. Not long since Lord Kinnaird opened his house in London for “a Conference on the subject, which was attended by a representative assembly of clergy of the Church of England, the Roman Catholic priesthood, and the various Nonconformist Churches.” The outcome of the Conference was that the Bishop of London and the Rev. F. B. Meyer, D.D., “jointly signed a letter to the management, asking that every effort should be made to emphasise the religious character of the pictures, that the music should be of strictly sacred character, utilising well-known hymns, and that no applause should be permitted.” Now, there appears to us something ridiculously weak and absurd in this line of action. These gentlemen make a great outcry about the necessity of reverence for Christ and divine things, and yet, at the same time, they raise not the least protest against the things that are most irreverent in this exhibition—the acting of Christ in His sufferings and death; they are only concerned about making the whole unhallowed business more easily swallowed by the public of all classes. We would expect no better of members of the Roman Catholic priesthood than the whitewashing process, but it is somewhat startling to find ministers of professed Protestant denominations in partnership with Papists in the work. At the same time, we are not so much surprised at the Bishop of London in this connection, seeing he is a very extreme Ritualist, as at Dr. Meyer, a Nonconformist, who professes to be in a more distinctly Protestant camp. Satan, however, is making such advances at the present day in the professedly Protestant world that the whole testimony for the truth seems to be laid level with the ground in quarters where better things might be expected.
Here, then, we have the exhibition of a scene which gives us a most melancholy view of a great deal of modern Protestantism, and shows us that it is little removed from rank Popery. Roman Catholics suppose that true religion can be fostered by a mere appeal to the natural senses and sentiments, and certain kinds of Protestants believe the same. Does any reasonable person think that, by gazing with the natural eye upon a pictorial representation of outward scenes in the life and death of Christ, a sinner will be born again and made a new creature in Christ? The thing is impossible in the nature of the case—the flesh can only bring forth the flesh—and the Holy Scriptures do not lead us to expect such a result by such means. They give us to understand that a sinner is born from above by the “incorruptible seed of the word of God” in the hand of the Holy Spirit, and that the new-born soul grows in the knowledge of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and in all heavenly graces, by the same instrumentality. “As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter ii. 3). “The word of truth” is the grand means which the Lord employs for the edification of His children, and not imaginary pictures. The latter may touch the feelings in a superficial way, and many are deceived by impressions thus made—imagining that they have become true Christians, while all the time they continue in the bond of iniquity. Let people be then warned against the fallacy of salvation or sanctification by pictures of man’s device.
Besides, the pictures referred to ought not to be in any sense. No picture of Christ in the days of His flesh, or of any of the scenes of His life of humiliation, has come down to us, and so men are largely proceeding upon their vain imaginations when they paint such a Person or such scenes. If the Most High had seen it necessary or desirable to give us these things, He would, no doubt, have supplied them. But He knew too well the idolatrous heart of fallen man, to provide such food for its entertainment. Still again, we think that a pictorial representation of Christ is a near approach to a breach of the Second Commandment. He is God as well as man, and His divinity cannot be represented on canvas. The tendency of human representations is to lead the mind of the unwary to ignore His glorious Godhead, and to regard Him as a mere man. Looking, then, at these pictures from all sides, we have abundant reason to condemn them as imaginary and irreverent—the fruit of daring presumption on holy ground.
As the present subject is in hand, we shall conclude with a word or two as to pictures in general. The opinion has sometimes been entertained that the Second Commandment forbids all pictures whatsoever. “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,” etc. The above is a mistaken interpretation. Let it be observed that this Commandment forms a part of the first table of the law, which contains man’s duties to God, as distinguished from the second, which embodies man’s duties to man. The subject of the Commandment is the worship of God, and the manner in which it should be observed, and not the question of making this or that work of art. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” etc. The words “unto thee” are emphatic, and point to service and worship. Besides, if we study the Scriptures elsewhere we shall see that the Most High Himself made use of figures and images to represent His thoughts to men. The ladder which Jacob saw, the cherubim above the mercy-seat, the likenesses of creatures which Ezekiel observed in vision, are examples of this. His works in nature also confirm this view. Every time the natural eye, which He has made, rests upon an object, a photo of that object is depicted on the retina. The mirror is also an example of the same thing. We cannot, therefore, give place to the idea that all pictures are unlawful. Many of them are useful and instructive. At the same time it must be said that multitudes in the present day are mad upon vain pictures. Our large cities are now marked by the growth of what are called “Picture Palaces,” and while some of the objects exhibited are quite harmless, others again are positively injurious to the sensibilities and morals of the sightseers. These “Palaces” are nurseries for the theatre, and ought to be avoided by young and old.