Program / Course 21: Liturgical Theology / Lesson 5.1
What you will learn
- Describe the use of incense in the tabernacle and temple and the biblical texts that link it with prayer.
- Explain what the sources say about incense in early Christian worship and why dating its use is difficult.
- State how Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed Christians treat incense.
- Say what a person may do with incense at home and what claims about it should be avoided.
The big idea
Incense is a fragrant smoke that rises, and Scripture uses it as a picture of prayer going up to God. It was burned daily in the tabernacle and temple of Israel. Early Christians seem to have avoided it, partly because it was used in pagan sacrifice, and its regular use in Christian worship is clearly attested only from the fourth century. Today it is common in Orthodox and Catholic churches and in some Anglican and Lutheran ones, and it is rejected by most Reformed and free churches. In every tradition that uses it, incense is a sign and not a charm.
Key terms
- Incense
- A resin, gum or other substance, such as frankincense, burned to give off a sweet smoke.
- Censer (thurible)
- A metal vessel on chains in which incense is burned on hot charcoal and carried or swung in worship.
- Censing
- The act of offering incense toward an altar, a book of the Gospels, icons, clergy or people.
- Altar of incense
- The small altar before the veil in the tabernacle and temple, described in Exodus 30:1-10.
- Frankincense
- A resin from trees in Arabia and East Africa, one of the gifts of the Magi (Matthew 2:11) and a main ingredient in biblical incense.
- Abrogated
- Set aside or ended. Some Protestants say the temple ritual, including incense, was abrogated by Christ.
- Benediction
- In Catholic and some Anglican use, a service in which the consecrated host is shown and incense is offered.
Background
Exodus 30:34-38 gives a recipe for sacred incense and forbids its use for ordinary purposes, and Exodus 30:1-10 commands an altar of incense in the tabernacle where Aaron was to burn it each morning and evening. Luke records that Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple while the people prayed outside (Luke 1:8-10). The Psalmist prays, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense” (Psalm 141:2), and Revelation describes golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4). Malachi 1:11 speaks of incense offered to God’s name among the nations.
The first Christians lived in a world where incense was burned before idols and before the emperor’s image, and some Christians died rather than burn it. Tertullian, around the year 200, wrote that Christians do not buy incense for sacrifice and do not use it at burials, which suggests that it was not in regular use in worship in his region. Evidence for regular liturgical incense becomes clearer in the fourth century, for example in the account of Egeria of the services at Jerusalem. Scholars caution that silence in earlier sources does not prove absence, and that the evidence is thin.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The Orthodox use
Orthodox services use incense often. The priest or deacon censes the altar, the icons, the clergy and the people at Vespers, Matins and the Liturgy, and on many other occasions. The meaning given is that it is an offering of prayer, a sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence and a sweet fragrance of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15). The Orthodox also bless incense with a prayer at the censing, which asks God to receive it as a sweet-smelling offering. Many Orthodox families keep a small censer at home for evening prayers and burn it before the icons.
Step 2: The Catholic use
In Catholic worship incense may be used at the Mass, especially at a solemn celebration, and in processions, funerals and Benediction. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal allows it at the entrance, the Gospel reading, the offertory and the elevation of the Eucharist. It is optional, and many parishes use it only on major feasts. The church teaches that incense signifies reverence and prayer rising to God, and honor given to the persons and things incensed, as in the censing of the altar, which stands for Christ.
Step 3: Anglican and Lutheran use
Incense disappeared from most English churches in the sixteenth century. It returned in the nineteenth century in Anglo-Catholic churches, which was often controversial, and today it is used in some Anglican parishes and not in others. Some Lutheran churches use it, especially at Vespers or on feasts, and others do not. Lutheran confessions do not condemn it as a matter of freedom, since it is not forbidden in Scripture. It is a matter of local custom and conscience in these traditions.
Step 4: The Reformed and free-church objection
Reformed churches generally do not use incense. They argue that the temple ritual, including incense, was a shadow of things to come and was fulfilled in Christ, according to the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 8:5; 10:1). They also hold that worship should include only what Scripture commands for the church, the regulative principle, and that there is no New Testament command to burn incense in Christian assemblies. Baptists and most free churches do not use it. Their reply to the appeal to Revelation is that the incense in that book is a symbol for prayer and not a model for ritual, and that the Bible’s own interpretation of incense as prayer shows that real prayer is what God wants.
Step 5: Incense at home
A person may burn incense at home during prayer as a custom, if their tradition allows it, with attention to safety and to the health of others, since smoke can harm those with breathing problems. No church teaches that incense has power by itself, to drive away evil or to bring results, and a person should be cautious about sellers who say so. Blessing incense and censing in the liturgy belong to the church’s rites. A person who prefers a quiet room without incense lacks nothing that any tradition requires.
- What does this tradition say the smoke signifies?
- Which texts of Scripture are cited, and do they command the practice or only describe it?
- What does the earliest Christian evidence show?
- Is the use of incense required, permitted or forbidden in this tradition?
- What is the strongest argument of those who do not use it?
- If I use it at home, what do I believe it does, and is that what the church teaches?
Examples
Censing at the Gospel
At a Catholic solemn Mass the deacon, before the Gospel is read, may incense the book. The people stand. The act honors the word of Christ. Many Orthodox services include a similar censing at the Gospel.
An evening censing at home
An Orthodox family lights a small piece of charcoal in a hand censer and walks through the rooms while praying a Psalm. The practice is a family custom approved by their church, with the priest’s blessing on the incense. It has no promise of results attached.
A Baptist question
A Baptist college student attends an Anglican evensong with incense and is troubled by the smell and the ritual. A friend explains that Anglicans see it as a sign of prayer ascending. The student can respectfully decline to use it and still understand the meaning.
Different perspectives
Orthodox
Incense is a continuous part of worship, grounded in Scripture and the tradition of the church. It expresses prayer and the fragrance of Christ and the presence of the Spirit.
Catholic
Incense is a sacramental sign that expresses honor and prayer, used at the discretion of the celebrant and according to the church’s rules. It is not necessary for the validity of any sacrament.
Anglican and Lutheran
Incense is an allowable ceremony, used in some places and not in others, and not a matter of division. Some Anglicans oppose it as a sign of rejected doctrines, and others value it.
Reformed and free-church
Incense belonged to the temple ritual that was fulfilled in Christ. The church’s worship should follow the New Testament pattern of word, prayer and sacraments, and so most do not use it.
Scholarly
Historians point to the third-century silence and fourth-century evidence, and warn against claims that incense was used from apostolic times. They also warn against claiming that it was borrowed from paganism, as it came into Christian use by way of Jewish Scripture and also Roman funerary and honorific practice.
Why it matters
Incense shows how a single biblical image, smoke as prayer, can be read as a command, as a symbol or as a type that has ended. It is a clear case for learning to separate Scripture, early evidence and later custom. It also shows that a ritual may be meaningful without being required, and that a person who does not use it can still understand it.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Incense has always been part of Christian worship.
Correction: The evidence for regular use is clearest from the fourth century. Earlier Christian writers such as Tertullian suggest that it was not in general use.
Misunderstanding: Incense drives away demons or purifies a place by itself.
Correction: No church teaches this. In Orthodox and Catholic use it is a sign of prayer, and prayers of blessing are made over it. Claims of power in the smoke itself are folk belief.
Misunderstanding: Protestants have no biblical reason to reject incense.
Correction: Reformed writers give reasons from Hebrews and the regulative principle. One may disagree, but the argument is a serious one.
Misunderstanding: Orthodox and Catholics burn incense to idols.
Correction: They teach that incense is offered to God and that honor to persons and things passes to God. Whether one accepts that, the teaching is clear.
Knowledge check
What biblical texts link incense with prayer?
Psalm 141:2 asks that prayer be set before God as incense, and Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4 describe incense as the prayers of the saints. Exodus 30 describes the altar of incense and Luke 1:9 shows Zechariah burning it while the people prayed.
What does the earliest evidence show about incense in Christian worship?
Tertullian around 200 suggests that Christians did not use it in worship or at burials. Clear evidence of regular liturgical use comes in the fourth century, for example from Egeria’s account of Jerusalem. Scholars caution that evidence is thin.
Why do most Reformed churches not use incense?
They argue that the temple ritual was a shadow fulfilled in Christ, as Hebrews teaches, and that worship should include only what Scripture commands. The New Testament does not command incense for the church.
What cautions apply to incense at home?
Attention to fire safety and to the health of others, and avoidance of claims that incense has power of its own. Church rites of blessing and censing belong to the church.
Think it through
- What is the difference between a symbol that is commanded and one that is permitted?
- Does the long Christian use of incense make it a good practice, or only an old one?
- How would you explain incense to a friend who has never seen it?
- How can you respect the objection of those who do not use it?
Independent assignment
Texts on incense
In your own notebook, write 300 to 500 words. List six biblical texts that mention incense. For each, say whether it describes, commands or uses incense as a symbol, and which tradition cites it and how. End with a short statement of which claim about incense you think is best supported and which is least. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Exodus 30:34 The command for incense in the tabernacle.
- Psalm 141:2 Prayer as incense.
- Revelation 5:8 The prayers of the saints as incense.
- Luke 1:9 Zechariah burns incense.
- 2 Corinthians 2:15 The fragrance of Christ.
- Timothy (Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church Read for the Orthodox services.
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion Read the passages on ceremonies and the old law.
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Read Exodus 30 in a Jewish translation.