Program Notes

October 3, 2004
Icons in the Orthodox Faith - Part 2

Intro

a. Sayings of the Fathers: St. Macarius the Great of Egypt - again, on humility.
Macarius was a 4th century monk, recluse (he lived alone in the desert after the
fashion of St. Anthony) and a wonderworker who emphasized the need to be
humble and not judge anyone - even the very worst of sinners.
This is the mark of Christianity--however much a man toils, and however many
righteous deeds he performs, to feel that he has done nothing, and in fasting to
say, "This is not fasting," and in praying, "This is not prayer," and in
perseverance at prayer, "I have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning
to practice and to take pains"; and even if he is righteous before God, he should
say, "I am not righteous, not I; I do not take pains, but only make a beginning
every day.
Discussion/comments
b. Summary of last week - Introduction to Icons
i.

Icons are a unique hallmark of the Orthodox Faith, you'll see them in the
Church and in Orthodox Christian homes, cars, portable - and we venerate,
kiss them, carry them in processions - so we need to have a scriptural
defense for the presence of icons in our lives and in our worship

ii.

In Exodus God commands us not to make any "graven image" of Him

who is invisible. The Israelites had a knack of worshiping idols and God
wanted to prevent this - although we know that Jewish history is filled
with examples of how they failed to obey Him.

iii.

We mentioned that God however, did permit and even instructed the Jews
to create images of created things in heaven and earth - the cherubim,
plants and animals (bulls) for the His tabernacle and His temple. So not all
images were forbidden, but depictions of the LORD Himself were
forbidden. We can conclude from this and other Scriptures that God's
creation is good and that man can actually learn something about God by
contemplating the creation.

We also mentioned that, even in non-Orthodox Churches, certain objects, and images are
used as religious symbols and are indeed given honor: Bibles, the Cross, the Dove (Holy
Spirit), the communion bread and wine. Christians are zealous to prevent these objects

and symbols from being desecrated or profaned by the unbeliever because of what they
represent. This is especially true of the written Word of Scripture - because all true
Christians believe that the Scripture is indeed a inspired, yet graven image of truth about
God. But we would affirm with St. Basil the truth that:
"What the word transmits through the ear, that painting silently shows through the
image."

The Image or Icon of God

a. While man was forbidden to create an image of the invisible God for
worship, we must remember that Man was created in the image of God Adam and Eve are together clearly the Icon of God. As a matter of fact,
the Church teaches that all human beings are the icon of God
i.

"Then God said, let us make man in our image (icon), after our
likenessso God created man in his own image." (Icon)
(Genesis 1:26 and 27)

ii.

The Icon of God has been marred however, in that Adam and Eve
sinned. Fallen, sinful Man is still in the image of God, but
tragically, it is not the original image. IN the OT, God is dealing
with sinful man prior to the "Fullness of Time" - but when the time
comes - Christmas!

iii.

The Incarnation The eternal Mystery of God is realized when

God himself makes Himself into a human being, in order to show
us the original image and save us so that we can become what we
were intended to be. Nearly everything the Church does and says
flows from this fact: Christ IS the image of the Father. He is the
perfect Icon of God. And God is Human.
1. Christ is the icon of God: "He is the image (icon) of the
unseen God." (Col. 1:15)
2. "He is the radiant light of Gods glory and the perfect copy
of his nature." (Hebrews 1:3).
3. "Philip said, Lord, let see us the Father and then we shall
be satisfied To have seen me is to have seen the Father, so
how can you say, let us see the Father." (John 14:8-11)

iv.

Affirming the Incarnation affirming that the God-Man Jesus

Christ is the perfect icon of God the Father, is perhaps the
primary litmus test of Orthodox Christianity.

1. 1 John 4:2,3 - By this you know the Spirit of God. Every

spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God - this is the spirit
of Antichrist
v.

In the Orthodox Church, the Icon is the celebration of the

Incarnation and a witness against the Antichrist. In short, to the
same degree that God, in the second commandment, emphatically
prohibited the Jews from any futile attempt to create a material or
visual likeness of Himself, the Orthodox Church, by the Holy
Spirit, now encourages the creation, presence and veneration of
icons as a celebration and testimony to God's incarnation as
material man.

b. This honor is also extended to include the commemoration of His image

and likeness in the heroic men and women of the Church, the Saints, the
prototypes of His sanctification and holiness unto salvation. St John of
Damascus wrote:
"If you make an image of Christ, and not of the saints, it is evident that
you do not forbid images, but refuse to honour the saints. You are not
waging war against images but against the saints themselves." (The
Defence of Icons)

The Struggle for Truth in the Orthodox Church

a. Icons were a subject of controversy for many centuries following Christ's
Ascension. Not everyone - not even all the Church Fathers, felt that
painting icons and incorporating them into the life and worship of the
Church was the right thing to do.
There are two views of the origin of icons; the non Orthodox, or critical
view sees them as the Hellenising and paganising of Christianity, which is
dated from about the 4th century. Critics of Icons point to church fathers
who condemned images; such as Origen (186-255), Tertullian (160-240),
Eusebius (265-399) and Clement of Alexandria (150-216). They also point
to the Council of Elvira, in Spain 300-303 which forbade the use of
images in worship, but that was local to Spain and Southern Europe, and
not considered an ecumenical council of the whole Orthodox Church. The
Orthodox Church defends the early origin of icons by claiming many of
these people did not remain Orthodox and therefore do not represent the
teachings of the Church.
b. We do know that by the 4th century icons were used to aid the teaching of
theology and to combat heresy. Alpha and Omega (A W) appeared on

icons of Christ about this time in order to combat Arianism. Arianism had
taught that Christ was created before the creation of anything else. The
symbols are derived from The Book of Revelation 22:13
c. Many of the Greatest of the Church Fathers including Chrysostom, Basil,
Gregory and many others, affirmed the role of icons in the Church
(quotes?)
d. The Quinisext Council is also known as the Trullan Council, or Council in
Trullo or the 5th and 6th ecumenical councils, and marks the beginning of
icon theology. The most important ruling was canon 82. It forbade the use
of symbolic representations of Christ. For the first time the connection was
made between images of Christ and his incarnation. The theme of the
incarnation was to become the very foundation of all icon theology. Canon
82 reads:
"We decreed that henceforth Christ our God be represented in His human
form, and not in the ancient form of the lamb. We understand this to be the
elevation of the humility of God the Word, and we are made to remember his
life in the flesh."
The Council decreed that lambs or fish or other things in creation should no
longer be used as symbols to represent Christ. The reason for banning images of
Christ as a lamb, etc., was because the period of Old Testament pre-figurations of
Christ is now over, we have had the full revelation of God in human form.

The Iconoclasts and the Seventh Ecumenical Council

a. The issue of icons in the Church all came to a head in the early mid 8th
Century. Because of a variety of social, political and religious forces at
work in the Byzantine, Islamic and European nations, Icons were banned
and destroyed, people were persecuted and killed, and for over 100 years
the entire (Christian) civilized world wrestled with the question of icons.
(More Detail?)
i.

Most of the Old Testament Scriptures we have referenced and

mentioned were used to argue the iconoclast position: Exodus20,
Deuteronomy 21

b. Instrumental in the defense of the use of Icons during this period was St.
John of Damascus a sampling of his writings:
i.

"From the time that God the Word became flesh He is as we are in
everything except sin, and of our nature, without confusion. He has
deified our flesh forever, and we are in very deed sanctified
through His Godhead and the union of His flesh with it."

ii.

"Of old, God the incorporeal and uncircumscribed was never

depicted. Now, however, when God is seen clothed in flesh, and
conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do
not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became
matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out
my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honouring that
matter which works my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God.
How could God be born out of lifeless things? And if God's body is
God by union, it is immutable. The nature of God remains the
same as before, the flesh created in time is quickened by, a logical
and reasoning soul."

iii.

"If we made an image of the invisible God, [59] we should in truth

do wrong. For it is impossible to make a statue of one who is
without body, invisible, boundless, and formless. Again, if we
made statues of men, and held them to be gods, worshipping them
as such, we should be most impious. But we do neither. For in
making the image of God, who became incarnate and visible on
earth, a man amongst men through His unspeakable goodness,
taking upon Him shape and form and flesh, we are not misled. We
long to see what He was like. As the divine apostle says, "We see
now in a glass, darkly." (I Cor. 13.12) The image, too, is a dark
glass, according to the denseness of our bodies. The mind, in much
travail, cannot rid itself of bodily things. Shame upon you, wicked
devil, for grudging us the sight of our Lord's likeness and our
sanctification through it. You would not have us gaze at His saving
sufferings nor wonder at His condescension, neither contemplate
His miracles nor praise His almighty power. You grudge the saints
the honour God gives to them. You would not have us see their
glory put on record, nor allow us to become imitators of their
fortitude and faith. We will not obey your suggestions, wicked and
man-hating devil."