After reading this, I was reminded of David wanting to build a temple for God. The exchange is pretty interesting. David goes to God and says he wants to build a magnificent house for him. You can practically hear God's incredulity when he responds, "All the world is my footstool, but you want to build a house for me?"
And yet, they had already built a house for the Lord in the tabernacle (which had images in it of course) and the Lord's glory came and dwelt in that tabernacle as a foreshadowing of the Incarnation: "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) among us. And the Lord still directs and inspires the making of the Temple, again as an image (icon) of His coming in the flesh.
David's fervour for God was evident, yet even way back then God was concerned about this fervour being expressed through some physical manifestation of humanity's own hands. And sure enough, they invariably made it about themselves.
You are right that this is man's natural inclination in the fallen world. The Jewish people were extremely prone to idolatry, but they were still being brought out of idolatry. But there is a key distinction between them and Christians. The Jewish people were given nothing but shadows of God. Even Moses did not behold God face to face, but was hidden in a rock when the glory of the Lord passed by. But now, we have seen the True God made man. Idolatry was such a danger because in the absence of being able to depict the truth, they would depict a lie. Now we depict God made man and it is the very truth itself.
Jesus called this out when he criticized them for believing their offerings were more important than the altar and that the gold was more important than the sanctity of God inhabiting the temple.
the altar being a physical thing....
Actually, Jesus said a lot about the physical vs the spiritual and usually in the context of the physical being a distraction from the spiritual, like the Pharisees criticizing the apostles for not washing their hands before eating. They got satisfaction from exploiting this physical, outward display of holiness precisely because it was observable to everyone.
Here is the real problem. Jesus does not eschew the physical at all. We must first understand that God created the universe good (man being very good). The fall does not make what was good into something evil. How could God become man if these things were evil? And so God uses the physical world for our salvation. He made clay from the ground and anointed the eyes of the man born blind, the hem of his garment brought about the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. In the Old Testament we read about the bones of Elisha raising a man from the dead. In Acts we hear about miracles attributed to shadows and handkerchiefs. Can Christians still be Pharisaical, of course. But we should not avoid all things physical. Beauty and image are important for us, but it is important that they be true.
He cautioned his followers to be wary of leaders who wear fancy clothing. The reason is because these people have a skewed sense of what is important; their desire to appear fashionable, wealthy, respectable, or cool, etc is evidence of this skewed perception of importance. A practical result of this is that their judgment will be skewed.
We likewise would caution people to flee vanity. People will sometimes argue against the vestments worn by Orthodox clergy, but the Old Testament clergy were commanded to wear fancy clothes because in that they gave a glimpse into the Kingdom of God. Every vestment word is a reminder to the clergy and to the people of God and His care for us, and they are only put on with prayer. And to go just a little further, the vestments that I wear in Church are fancy, but they cost less than the suit I got married in. It is not about appearing wealthy or fashionable, but portraying the beauty of our Lord.
After returning from being sent out two by two, the apostles excitedly boasted to Jesus that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus follows up with a curious little admonition saying, "Do not rejoice that you have power over the devils, but rather that your name is written in the book of life."
They'd had a taste of the power and it had already started going to their head. Subtle, yet still, Jesus felt it worth nipping in the bud anyway.
They were very much a work in progress at that point, as we all are. We all need such reminders from time to time to humble ourselves. Nothing has changed in that regard.
At every turn, Jesus wanted us to understand that we need to stop making it about ourselves. He literally commands us to say, "I have only done what is my duty to do."
This is the call that the Church makes to us all the time. Come to an Orthodox service sometime, and speak to the people there. This is very much alive in Orthodoxy. We are not to make anything about us, but about God. If you see something that you don't think points the people to God, ask about it, I guarantee it does even if it is not obvious how.
Now, look again at those sentences about iconography from the post I quoted. In particular, this one, "I would make sure that the person understands that it is not just a picture to you and that it should be treated with a certain degree of respect."
I mean, this person is essentially saying, "The thing I made isn't just a thing I made; it's a holy conduit to God and should be treated with the respect it deserves."
"This person" is me, so I will venture to give you a more accurate picture of what I mean rather than what you think I meant. If you had a conduit to God, wouldn't you think it deserves respect? When Uzzah reached out to stop the ark from falling, he was struck dead. When Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire, fire consumed them, and they weren't even given a normal burial. We treat the things of God with respect. So it seems that you either deny that, or you deny that these things are conduits to God. I suspect it is the latter more than the former. Icons bear the image of the person they depict, they connect us with those people. They are not somehow trapped in the icon, but they are made present just as a photograph of a loved one makes them present. These people may have departed from this life, their souls are no longer in their bodies, but they are alive in Christ and active in our lives. Moses, though dead, spoke to Christ on Mount Tabor, the dead don't cease to exist, and by God's grace they are able to act in our lives and so when we see their image it reminds us that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ who desire to be a part of our lives. I'm sure you disagree, but like a healing handkerchief, there are millions of examples of miraculous things happening by the intercession of Saints and through their icons.
This sentence is also concerning:
"If your friend will not do that, I think it would be better to get them some other piece of art. "
Interpretation : "This thing I made is so important that you can't have one unless you're prepared to think it is as important as I do." I just don't think iconography is leading this person to a holy attitude about his relationship to God.
I am an iconographer. I make icons as a vocation. I don't think they are the most beautiful and wonderful things in the world. Truth be told I am more able to see the faults in my work than the handiwork of God. So it is not out of pride that I say these things. It is because of the reality that they express. God became incarnate, and He continues to work in His creation. Icons are like the gospels themselves because they proclaim the good news of Christ's victory over sin, death and the devil. So do you think the Bible should be used as a decoration on a shelf, or as a coaster under your drink? No, you should read it! An icon is something we should look at, we should contemplate the truths contained therein, and we should use that as a call to prayer, to stand before our Creator and hear His voice. A person can certainly have an icon even if it is only a decoration, but they would be better off using it. The more opportunities we have for this that we don't take, the more we are held accountable for not heeding God's call. That is my point.
The insistence on treating these physical objects as though they have some kind of supernatural power is concerning in comparison to everything Jesus said about moving away from reliance on physical objects as signs of spirituality.
Again I point you to all of the physical things God has used. They are not gods themselves, or idols, but the power of God can be made manifest in the physical
I mean, exploitation of religious relics has made Christianity into a parody of itself where bread turns into the literal flesh DNA of Jesus inside the stomach (but turns back into bread if it is observed via any measuring instruments or is vomited back up) and where making a crucifix shape with your fingers scares the devil.
We certainly believe that bread and wine become the body and blood of our Lord, because He said so. We don't believe it happens in the stomach, we don't believe that it ever stops being the body and blood of Christ, even if vomited up. It is clear in the Scriptures that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically, and the entirety of Christian history attests to His words being literal. It is only in the 16th century that anyone thought otherwise.
In terms of the sign of the Cross, how could the Cross of our Lord be without power? Even before our Lord went to His voluntary crucifixion it had power. When the Israelites fought the Amalekites they were given victory by Moses' arms being held up in the form of the cross. When the Israelites were dying from snake bites the brass serpent was put up to heal them and Christ Himself draws the parallel to His crucifixion. When the waters of Marah were too bitter to drink they were sweetened by wood just as the bitterness of death was taken away by the wood of the cross. The lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, and so His cross has always been powerful against the adversary. Try it sometime, it works.
I think art is a great way to teach people about Jesus, but I understand comics are just a medium through which a message is communicated, the same as the pages of the bible.
The ink on paper isn't what's important. Even the words themselves aren't important. The message behind them is what matters. It would be the same thing with singing; if I had a great voice, it'd be right of me to use it to glorify Jesus, but I'm not gonna suggest that if people don't like my singing it's akin to sinning against God.
We don't believe that it is the matter of the icon -- the paint, the wood, the gold, etc. -- that are important, but rather the image itself. When two pieces of wood are held together in the form of the cross they call to mind our Lord's saving passion. Taken separately they are wood for the fire. By becoming man, Christ shows us that matter matters, but we still recognize that whatever grace is given through matter is from God, not from the things that are used for our benefit.
Saint John of Damascus wrote "Of old, God the incorporeal and formless was never depicted, but now that God has been seen in the flesh and has associated with human kind, I depict what I have seen of God. I do not venerate matter, I venerate the fashioner of matter, who became matter for my sake and accepted to dwell in matter and through matter worked my salvation, and I will not cease from reverencing mattter, through which my salvation was worked."
In conclusion, I'd say that iconography is just one more attempt at man making it about himself, i.e. "It deserves more respect than you're giving it!"
Nope. It's about really recognizing what God has done. It has nothing to do with us. But because God has done great and wondrous things for us, we should never fail to recognize these things and to cherish them with all our hearts.
