Im Still confused on the icon subject. So churches use them as a window to heaven? Im confused on exactly what that means... Also what caused the uprising of iconoclasts?
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I'm not quite sure what you are meaning here, Julina , when you say
why does the Nativity icon depict events that are not from any of the canonical gospels?
Is this a reference to the midwives which some Nativity Icons show ? I was told that this was to show Christ is man born of His Mother , and the midwives presence emphasise this
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The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father through Him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried;
On the the third day, He rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures ; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
He will come again in glory to judge the living and dead. And His kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father, with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, He has spoken through the prophets. I believe In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
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I'm not quite sure what you are meaning here, Julina , when you say Is this a reference to the midwives which some Nativity Icons show ? I was told that this was to show Christ is man born of His Mother , and the midwives presence emphasise this
yes, and there were other things too, like Jesus being born in a cave instead of a stable
yes, and there were other things too, like Jesus being born in a cave instead of a stable
The reason why there are scenes in the Nativity icon (and other icons as well) that are not directly taken from the canonical gospels is that the Orthodox Church does not view the gospels as the only source of truth. There are things like the ox and the ass that are not from the gospels but are a reference to Isaiah 1. Then there are things like the midwives that are depicted to show that Christ was every bit as human as any of us and needed to be attended to and cared for as any human child would. Many of the scenes in festal icons come from the hymns of the church, which in turn draw on scripture, but are not limited to scripture. As for Jesus being born in a cave, instead of a stable, this is based in a misconception. It never says in the Bible that Jesus was born in a shack made out of wood, it says he was laid in a manger, which is actually more like a trough for food, and animals were more often sheltered in caves than in structures that were specifically built to house animals.
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Im Still confused on the icon subject. So churches use them as a window to heaven? Im confused on exactly what that means... Also what caused the uprising of iconoclasts?
Referring to Icons as windows to heaven is a convenient metaphor, but I wouldn't take it too far. Icons are meant to depict heavenly realities more so than earthly realities. They are intended to focus our thoughts on the kingdom of heaven rather than on the things of this world. The look of icons is greatly influenced by their intended purpose. As such, icons are a way of gazing upon heaven, albeit in a way that will be surpassed when we see it for real when Christ returns.
Iconoclasm came about for a number of reasons. I think many people would like to think that Iconoclasm came about because of the OT prohibition of images, but I think this would be a very inaccurate depiction of Iconoclasm. Some of the drive to remove icons from the church had to do with genuine abuses. There is an account of some priests who had actually started to add chips of paint from icons to the Eucharist as though this would somehow make it holier. These abuses were a very legitimate cause for alarm. A desire to react against abuses and an increasing influence from Islam had a great influence on the development of the iconoclast movement. Ironically it was Scripture that was used to defend the use of icons.
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yes, and there were other things too, like Jesus being born in a cave instead of a stable
The cave is a metaphor. The ray of light that is in the middle of the icon permeates the darkness. Christ has enlightened the world which was dark with sin. Not everything in icons is literal, there are often metaphors used that do come straight out of scripture!
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The cave is a metaphor. The ray of light that is in the middle of the icon permeates the darkness. Christ has enlightened the world which was dark with sin. Not everything in icons is literal, there are often metaphors used that do come straight out of scripture!
I think it would be fair to say that the cave is both metaphorical and historical. Christ was likely born in a cave, not in a man-made structure. In our hymnography we refer to the cave as a gift from the earth itself to the Master of all Creation at the time of His Nativity in the flesh. It does symbolize the coming of the light of the world into the darkness, but it is meant to depict reality just as much as it is meant to depict the meaning of the event.
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