icxn

Bραδύγλωσσος αἰπόλος μαθητεύων κνίζειν συκάμινα
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lacks hope
That icon portrays Christ just after He was flogged, struck on the face and ridiculed by the soldiers who dressed Him in a purple robe and crowned Him with thorns. The Greek words on the right read “Behold the man,” the very same words Pilate used when He presented Him to the people. The character of this man and which the icon loudly proclaims is that of endurance amidst sufferings. So if anything, hope is what this icon teaches as the Apostle says: “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4).
 
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StillGods

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I dont think any picture can capture Jesus but I do think this one shows a lot of love and joy
laughingBaby.jpg
 
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ViaCrucis

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Icons serve different purposes. I can't help but look at a crucifix and see the immense and infinite love of the Lord poured out for all. When I see an icon of Christ Pantokrator I see the One who is both Sovereign over the universe and the One who invites us to share with Him. In the icon of the Anastasis I see the victorious Lord who, in His great love, conquers hell and death and rescues the whole host of humanity.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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ViaCrucis

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Also, if you are curious to know what Jesus' humanity looked like, find a real ethnic Jew. Don't depict God...

"Ethnic" Jews come in all colors of the human phenotypic spectrum, from white Ashkenazi Jews to black Ethiopian and Yemenite Jews. Jesus would have most likely looked like what indigenous Middle Easterners still look today, that is, brown.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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ViaCrucis

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What length constitutes "long" hair?

Whatever the person finger-wagging about long hair thinks constitutes long hair. It's always subjective and arbitrary, because there is no objective standard for what constitutes "long hair" and "short hair".

I once met someone who claimed that depicting Jesus with shoulder length hair was an attempt to make Him seem effeminate, because men with long hair always look like women. To which I responded by posting pictures of Genghis Khan and Charlemagne.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Ignatius the Kiwi

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Even before images of Christ were common place within the Church pagans mocked Christ. Celsus dedicated an entire book to it which then had Christians respond to it some centuries after. If on this basis that something could be used for mockery, should we not use words either when talking about Christ?

As for images not being historical, why do they need to be historical? The point of most eastern Iconography is to avoid attention to detail and convey the deeper truths. Jesus likely didn't look like he does in the Pantocrator but that conveys his humanity and his divinity. Most other iconography has that purpose as well and needs to be interpreted as much as any text does.

Pictures, images, symbols are not something I want Christianity to be devoid of. I would prefer they be there and for people to ponder them and ask questions about them than see a blank wall with maybe a cross.
 
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