{"id":7900,"date":"2026-03-10T03:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/?p=7900"},"modified":"2026-03-11T19:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:39:18","slug":"the-dispute-over-images-betweencalvinism-and-lutheranism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/?p=7900","title":{"rendered":"spring 2026 featured essay: The Dispute over Images between Calvinism and Lutheranism"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"7900\" class=\"elementor elementor-7900\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2447ca6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default qodef-elementor-content-no\" data-id=\"2447ca6\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e2f174f\" data-id=\"e2f174f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bacbd98 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bacbd98\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Spring 2026 featured Essay: The Dispute over Images between Calvinism and Lutheranism<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2e3b76b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default qodef-elementor-content-no\" data-id=\"2e3b76b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3a58982\" data-id=\"3a58982\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-628c2c9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"628c2c9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>by Irene Dingel<\/em><\/p><blockquote><p>Abstract<br \/>The prohibition of images as the second commandment of the Decalogue and the rejection of images in the church are considered one of the characteristics distinguishing Calvinism and Lutheranism that shaped the life of the congregations in the 16th century. In fact, the introduction of a Calvinist confession of faith was not only expressed by the introduction of the breaking of bread at Communion and the abolition of baptismal exorcism, but it also always brought about the removal of images from church interiors. However, even before the confessional groups formed, the treatment of images became a theological problem that could even lead to iconoclasm. Luther\u2019s debate with Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt in Wittenberg, Huldrych Zwingli\u2019s positions in Zurich, Jean Calvin\u2019s teachings in Geneva, and the Heidelberg Catechism show how the arguments of medieval theologians were either adopted or rejected. The Lutheran reactions to the Heidelberg Catechism and the later religious colloquies between Lutheran and Calvinist theologians show how the question of images gradually gained confessional relevance.<\/p><\/blockquote><p>\u201cWhat does God desire in the Second Commandment?\u201d So reads the ninety-sixth question of the Heidelberg Catechism.The answer follows: \u201cThat we should not falsely depict (verbilden) God in any way, nor worship him in any way other than what he has commanded in his word.\u201d In addition to the numbering of the Decalogue\u2019s commandments, with the prohibition of images as the second commandment, the handling of images in general became one of the features distinguishing Calvinism and Lutheranism. Martin Luther considered the prohibition of graven images to be classified under Jewish ceremonial laws and thus included in the First Commandment (against having or worshipping other gods).<\/p><p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DINGEL-LUT_40-1_Print-4.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does God desire in the Second Commandment?\u201d So<br \/>\nreads the ninety-sixth question of the Heidelberg Catechism..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","category-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7900"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7920,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7900\/revisions\/7920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}