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Share | 1" What is an Icon# Related Articles An Icon is an image %usually t5o dimensional& of Christ6 the Saints6 Angels6 important "iblical e7ents6 parables6 or e7ents in the history of the Church' Webmaster’s Picks The Iconic and Symbolic in St' Gregory the !ialogist %4ope of 8ome ca' .9:;/:-&6 spoke of Icons as being Orthodox Iconography Scripture to the illiterate: Cherubim and Arks Google Results <(or 5hat 5riting presents to readers6 this a picture presents to the unlearned 5ho behold6 since in it e7en the ignorant see 5hat they ought to follo5= in it the General Information: Icons Iconography illiterate read< %>pistle to "ishop Serenus of $arseilles6 NPNF 2, ?ol' @III6 p' .,&' The Iconic and Symbolic in Orthodox Iconography To those 5ho 5ould suggest that this is no longer rele7ant in our enlightened age6 A !iscourse in Iconography Institute for "y#antine and let them consider the rather large functional illiteracy rate 5e ha7e6 and the fact $odern Greek Studies that e7en the most literate societies al5ays ha7e a si#able illiterate segment''' their %I"$GS& :: Art ''' young children' The (unctions of Icons A )ord About *$onastery Icons* Icons also lift up our minds from earthly things to the hea7enly' St' Aohn of The !octrine of the Orthodox !amascus 5rote6 <5e are led by perceptible Icons to the contemplation of the Church: Orthodoxy in the di7ine and spiritual< %PG 9-:B+/Ba&' And by keeping their memory before us )orld through the Icons6 5e are also inspired to imitate the holiness of those therein Keywords used: iconography and icons depicted' St' Gregory of Cyssa %ca ,,:;,9.& spoke of ho5 he could not pass an Icon of Abraham sacrificing Isaac <5ithout tears< %PG -/:.0+&' Commenting on 1 + , - . / 0 1 this6 it 5as noted at the Se7enth Dcumenical Synod6 <If to such a !octor the picture 5as helpful and dre5 forth tears6 ho5 much more in the case of the ignorant and simple 5ill it bring compunction and benefit< %NPNF2, ?ol B-6 p' .,9&' or urther Reading: The (unctions of Icons6 by !r' Constantine Ca7arnos' Ch' , from Orthodox Iconography. A !iscourse in Iconography6 by St' Aohn of Shanghai and San (rancisco $" %o &rthodo' (hristians )ray to Icons# Christians pray in the presence of Icons %Eust as Israelites prayed in the presence of Icons in the Temple&6 but 5e do not pray to the image' *" %o Icons work miracles# To put this Fuestion in proper perspecti7e6 let*s consider a fe5 other Fuestions: !id the Ark of the Co7enant 5ork miracles %e'g' Aoshua ,:B.ff= Bst Samuel -;/= +nd Samuel BB;B+&G !id the "ron#e Serpent heal those bitten by snakes %Cumbers +B:9&G !id the 4rophet >lisha*s bones raise a man from the dead %+nd Hings B,:+B&G !id St' 4eter*s shado5 heal the sick %Acts .:B.&G !id aprons and handkerchiefs that had touched St' 4aul heal the sick and caste out e7il spirits %Acts B9:B+&G The ans5er to these Fuestions are6 Ies6 in a manner of speaking' Ce7ertheless6 to be precise6 it 5as God 5ho chose to 5ork miracles through these things' In the case of the Ark and the "ron#e serpent6 5e ha7e images used to 5ork miracles' God 5orked a miracle through the relics of the 4rophet >lisha6 through the shado5 of a Saint6 and through things that had merely touched a Saint' )hyG "ecause God honors those 5ho honor 2im %Bst Samuel +:,:&6 and thus takes delight in 5orking miracles through his Saints6 e7en by these indirect means' The fact that God can sanctify material things should come as no surprise to those familiar 5ith Scripture' (or example6 not only 5as the Altar of the Temple holy6 but anything that touched it 5as holy as 5ell %>xodus +9:,0&' To reEect the truth that God 5orks through material things is to fall into Gnosticism' So yes6 loosely speaking6 Icons can 5ork miraclesJbut to be precise6 it is God 5ho 5orks miracles through Icons6 because 2e honors those 5ho ha7e honored 2im' +" %o &rthodo' (hristians Worshi) Icons# What,s the di--erence between .worshi). and ./eneration.# Orthodox Christians do not 5orship Icons in the sense that the 5ord <5orship< is commonly used in modern >nglish' In older translations %and in some more recent translations in 5hich the translators insist on using this 5ord in its original sense&6 one finds the 5ord <5orship< used to translate the Greek 5ord proskyneo %literally6 <to bo5<&' Ce7ertheless6 one must understand that the older use of <5orship< in >nglish 5as much broader than it is generally used today6 and 5as often used to refer simply to the act of honoring6 7enerating6 or re7erencing' (or example6 in the old book of common prayer6 one of the 5edding 7o5s 5as <5ith my body I thee 5orship6< but this 5as ne7er intended to imply that the bride 5ould 5orship her husband in the sense in 5hich <5orship< is commonly used no5' %(or more on the use of the >nglish 5ord <5orship< as it relates to Icons6 see: <)orship<G& Orthodox Christians do venerate Icons6 5hich is to say6 5e pay respect to them because they are holy obEects6 and because 5e re7erence 5hat the Christ the Light-Giver Icons depict' )e do not 5orship Icons any more than Americans 5orship the American flag' Saluting the flag is not exactly the same type of 7eneration as 5e pay to Icons6 but it is indeed a type of 7eneration' And Eust as 5e do not 7enerate 5ood and paint6 but rather the persons depicted in the Icon6 patriotic Americans do not 7enerate cloth and dye6 but rather the country 5hich the flag represents' This 5as the reasoning of the Se7enth Dcumenical Synod6 5hich decreed in its Oros the follo5ing: <Since this is the case6 follo5ing the royal path and the teaching di7inely inspired by our holy (athers and the Tradition of the catholic ChurchJfor 5e kno5 that it is inspired by the 2oly Spirit 5ho li7es in itJ5e decide in all correctness and after a thorough examination that6 Eust as the holy and 7i7ifying Cross6 similarly the holy and precious Icons painted 5ith colors6 made 5ith little stones or 5ith any other matter ser7ing this purpose %epitedeios&6 should be placed in the holy churches of God6 on 7ases and sacred 7estments6 on 5alls and boards6 in houses and on roads6 5hether these are Icons of our Kord God and Sa7ior6 Aesus Christ6 or of our spotless So7ereign Kady6 the holy $other of God6 or of the holy angels and of holy and 7enerable men' (or each time that 5e see their representation in an image6 each time6 5hile ga#ing upon them6 5e are made to remember the prototypes6 5e gro5 to lo7e them more6 and 5e are more induced to 5orship them by kissing them and by 5itnessing our 7eneration %proskenesin&6 not the true adoration % atreian& 5hich6 according to our faith6 is proper only to the one di7ine nature6 but in the same 5ay as 5e 7enerate the image of the precious and 7i7ifying cross6 the holy Gospel and other sacred obEects 5hich 5e honor 5ith incense and candles according to the pious custom of our forefathers' (or the honor rendered to the image goes to its prototype6 and the person 5ho 7enerates an Icon 7enerates the person represented in it' Indeed6 such is the teaching of our holy (athers and the Tradition of the holy catholic Church 5hich propagated the Gospel from one end of the earth to the other'< The Ae5s understand the difference bet5een 7eneration and 5orship %adoration&' A pious Ae5 kisses the $e#u#a on his door post6 he kisses his prayer sha5l before putting it on6 he kisses the tallenin6 before he binds them to his forehead6 and arm' 2e kisses the Torah before he reads it in the Synagogue' Co doubt6 Christ did like5ise6 5hen reading the Scriptures in the Synagogue' The >arly Christians also understood this distinction as 5ell' In the $artyrdom of 4olycarp %5ho 5as St' Aohn the Apostle*s disciple6 and 5hose $artyrdom 5as recorded by the faithful of his Church6 5ho 5ere eye5itnesses of all that it recounts&6 5e are told of ho5 some sought to ha7e the 8oman magistrate keep the Christians from retrie7ing the body of the 2oly $artyr <*lest6* so it 5as said6 *they should abandon the crucified one and begin to 5orship this man*Jthis being done at the instigation and urgent entreaty of the Ae5s6 5ho also 5atched 5hen 5e 5ere about to take it from the fire6 not kno5ing that it 5ill be impossible for us either to forsake at any time the Christ 5ho suffered for the sal7ation of the 5hole 5orld of those that are sa7edJsuffered though faultless for sinnersJnor to 5orship any other' (or 2im6 being the Son of God6 5e adore6 but the martyrs as disciples and imitators of the Lord 5e cherish as they deser7e for their matchless affection to5ards their o5n Hing and Teacher'''' The centurion therefore6 seeing the opposition raised on the part of the Ae5s6 set him in the midst and burnt him after their custom' And so 5e after5ards took up his bones 5hich are more 7aluable than precious stones and finer than refined gold6 and laid them in a suitable place= 5here the Kord 5ill permit us to gather oursel7es together6 as 5e are able6 in gladness and Eoy6 and to celebrate the birth;day Li'e' the anni7ersaryM of his martyrdom for the commemoration of those that ha7e already fought in the contest6 and for the training and preparation of those that shall do so hereafter< %The $artyrdom of 4olycarp B0:+;,= B1:B;,&' or urther Reading: (or a discussion of the 2ebre5 5ords %and to some extent6 the Greek 5ords& rele7ant to this discussion6 see this excerpt from the !heo ogica "ord#ook of the O d !esta$ent' Is ?enerating Icons IdolatryG6 by Timothy Copple