The question I will answer in this article is about the icons and the veneration of icons:
Why some people consider Orthodox as pagans, because they worship icons, since the first icon was painted by Luke the Evangelist in the 5th century, or there would be a contradiction here, because I do not think God would allow that same person, Luke, to guide a people to faith, meaning to the Word of God, but also to paganism (icons)?
The allegations, according to which St. Luke the Evangelist is the first iconographer is based on the testimony of Theodor Studite (6th century), which says that the Empress Eudoxia had sent a portrait of the Virgin Mary,
Theotokos, painted by Luke the Evangelist, to Pulcheria. The historical documents which could form the basis for this claim are absent. Evangelist Luke wrote in the first century there are two books written by him in the Bible: Gospel of Luke and Acts. Nowhere is mentioned in the Bible that he had painted the first icon. Maybe he tried to paint portraits, but not icons, the meaning of today, when people worship them and venerate them.
The worship of icons is considered contrary to God’s will because it is a direct violation of the second commandment of the Decalogue, which says:
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)(NASB)
Let us fear God and not arouse His jealousy.
Translated by Felicia Rotaru