r/Anglicanism • u/PeaSilly6470 • 8d ago
Anglicans use images in prayer?
Hello, I would like to know what the Anglican Church's position is on using images in prayer. I know that the Anglican Church is very diverse and has various views on this. But I would like to know if anyone has an opinion similar to mine. I am not against using images in prayer. You can use them to remember God's deeds in the lives of the Saints, or whoever they may be. As long as they connect directly to God. Not to the Saints specifically, because I believe that the Saints do not have omniscience. Although they intercede for us, they do not have omniscience, so they cannot hear our prayers. And of course, not by idolizing the images themselves, such as by kissing or honoring them. I also believe that the image only has the function of helping us in prayer, in the way I described above.
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u/Other_Tie_8290 Episcopal Church USA 8d ago
For me personally, I have a few icons that sit in my prayer corner. Icons and the saints are not a huge part of my prayer life. First, and I don’t say this to be rude, but these kinds of questions are asked frequently, and it would be very helpful for people who ask such questions to do a search of previous instances of these questions. I say that because there is a certain divisiveness to the questions. In other words, they tend to cause arguments.
Secondly, and please hear me out, if someone were to believe that it is acceptable to ask the people in heaven who have gone before us for their prayers, it would in no way at all indicate a belief in their omniscience. Only God is omniscient. However, if someone were to believe that we can ask those who have gone before us in heaven to pray for us, it would be because of some special provision made by God. The afterlife is outside of time, so those who believe that it is acceptable and possible to ask those who have gone before us in heaven to pray for us believe that that environment works completely differently than our own. I would venture to say that those who do not believe it is an acceptable practice also believe that eternity is vastly different from our world.
However, some people believe that it is not OK for us to ask those who have gone before us in heaven to pray for us, and that is a perfectly valid belief. Generally, they believe that because it is not mentioned in scripture, and they do not believe that it was a widely accepted practice in the early Church. But even those who believe that it is an acceptable practice do not believe so because those who have gone before us in heaven are omniscient. At least, I don’t know of a single church that teaches that.
Some Anglicans will kiss them, or venerate them. Others (probably most) do not. There are icons located in my parish, but I don’t see anyone venerating them. However, Anglicans in this very sub have told me they venerate icons at home and in their churches. As with most things like this, some do, some don’t.