Wheat and Chaff

From Calvin, I read this: (Institutes, vol. 1, chapter 11 part 9)

9. ANY USE OF IMAGES LEADS TO IDOLATRY*
Adoration promptly follows upon this sort of fancy: afor when men
thought they gazed upon God in images, they also worshiped him in them.
Finally, all men, having fixed their minds and eyes upon them, began to
grow more brutish and to be overwhelmed with admiration for them, as if
something of divinity inhered there, Now it appears that men do not rush
forth into the cult of images before they have been imbued with some
opinion too crass-not indeed that they regard them as gods, but because
they imagine that some power of divinity dwells there. Therefore, when
you prostrate yourself in veneration, representing to yourself in an image
either a god or a creature, you are already ensnared in some superstition.

Then I saw this:

Director Mel Gibson’s graphic portrayal of the death of Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ" is already on its way to breaking box office records. At the same time, the movie seems to be spawning a renewed interest in Christianity.
This past weekend, more than 12,000 people waited in line in St. Louis to catch a glimpse of relics on display in a rare exhibit showcasing fragments of artifacts said to be linked to the final days of Christ.

Perceptive, that John Calvin.