Is Veneration of Icons Idolatry?
That "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5 and Deuteronomy 5:9) might, at first glance, be seen as an absolute command or prohibition against worship of any kind of image (A. Fortescue, Veneration of Images, 1910, Volume VII). "For iconoclasts (image-breakers), every image could only be a portrait and a portrait of God was inconceivable in view of God's ineffable and unknowable qualities." Claim that icons were a sacred art was, iconoclasts argued, simply to clothe them in superstition and even heresy since they denied any presence of the person represented, the prototype, in his iconographic image. They could not see that the icon portrayed the visible of the invisible and the invisible in the visible (Evdokimov, 1972:193-194). Calvin, in arguing against the use of icons, said "the majesty of God is defiled by an absurd and indecorous fiction, when he who is incorporeal is assimilated to corporeal matter; he who is invisible to a visible image" (Institutes I.XI.2; Callihan, Credenda/Agenda, Vol. 6, No. 5). But God's command to Moses to build, according to the image shown to him on Mount Horeb, the tabernacle and all that it was to contain, including the cherubim cast in metal (Exodus 25:18; 26:1, 31), St. John of Damascus said, was an exception to the general rule, thus rendering the prohibition of images as not an absolute one" (Ouspensky, 1992:45-6). The prohibition of the image was to "forbid the chosen people to worship creatures in place of the Creator", and "to protect the spec...
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Fortescue, Adrian Veneration of Images, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Volume VII, 1910, Robert Appleton Company
Fortescue, Adrian Iconoclasm, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Volume VII, 1910, Robert Appleton Company
Fuller, Michael Atoms & Icons, A Discussion of the relationships Between Science and Theology, 1995, Mowbray
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John, St. of Shagnai & San Francisco From Orthodox Life, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jan-Feb 1980
Ouspensky, Leonid Theology of the Icon, Volumes I & II, 1992, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press
Ouspensky, Leonid The Meaning of Icons, 1997, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press & Lossky, Vladimir
Quenot, Michel The Resurrection and the Icon, 1998, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press
Williams, Rowan Lost Icons, Reflection on Cultural Bereavements, 2001, T & T Clark, Edinburgh
This image, and the detail that goes into it in the Torah’s description, loom large in the Jewish imagination, and our conceptualization of our community. As the Israelites move forward into the desert, surely they can rally behind this glorious homage to God’s greatness – surely they will be proud to march to the Promised Land behind this banner for holiness, the ultimate reminder of God’s presence. And within the Ark, the tablets themselves, perhaps the broken first set alongside the second set that Moses carved himself. What could be more powerful?
...avic conversion from paganism to Christianity, stressing the prominence of aestheticism in ritual, and validating the adoption of Christianity we are able to come to the conclusion that Vladimir’s successes in altering the Slavs to Eastern Orthodoxy. “Vladimir Christianizes Russia” effectively illuminates the supposedly positive sentiments felt towards the Slavic Christianization. This tale allows for the reader to see the glorification of Vladimir’s grand triumph in choosing Eastern Orthodoxy and delivering the Slavs to redemption. The success in demonstrating Vladimir’s achievement in delivering Russia to salvation allows for us to comprehend the importance of Christianity in the culture of Russia.
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The representation of divinity was clearly defined in Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists through its subject matter, technique, and style. Christ acts as the focal point, but the artist also used different subjects from the Old and New Testament to decorate the apse. Unlike the mosaics in the apse of Byzantine churches, the artist employed the technique of classical fresco painting. The artist also applied decoration to the figures with the hierarchy of scale, and through the geometric style in the drapery instead of maintaining a sense of realism.
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The most interesting theme of the entire history of Russia is the period in which the formation of Russian statehood takes place. Surprisingly, the events preceding Russia’s formation are among the least studied pages of our history. Written sources telling of the times are very meager, they are mainly found in the presentation of Byzantine chroniclers, who described the events, at times, in biased and contradictory terms. Of course, Byzantines viewed the Slavs as primarily restless, warlike neighbors and they are not particularly interested in their culture, their way of life or their customs. Therefore, to study the history of ancient Russia and paganism uses mainly archaeological and ethnographic research. Some events have shed light archaeological finds but their interpretation the sometimes given rise too many opinions and viewpoints. In a small drop of solid knowledge of accounting there is the whole ocean of assumptions and guesswork. Thus, the early history and culture of Eastern Slavs is no less enigmatic and mysterious, than the story of Atlantis. That is why I was attracted by the theme of “Myths of the ancient Slavs”.
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