So, my three year old son prayed to the Christmas tree...

[abacabb3]

Thank you! Very informative discussion. The RC guy strikes me as a bit odd though. He's always laughing after he says very serious things which are in no way funny. Maybe it's nervous laughter? Maybe he's anxious because he's very near the truth but still in the wrong church? I don't know, I'm no psychoanalyst. I used to be, but the AMA took away my license after I publicly recognized that Trump Derangement Syndrome was a real thing.

Id presume its public speaking anxiety, but its interesting when he posits the RCC should radically revise the Council of Trent and align it with Maximus!

 

[Justin-H.S.]

If by venerating icons, the accusation is that we are worshipping the wood panels they are painted on, why wouldn't we call them "wood panels" instead of "icons?"

By calling them "icons" that obviously means we are venerating the person in the image rather than the wood panel itself.

It's a materialist worldview that reduces icons to simply be paint and wood, but those same materialists would not do the same for photos taken by their iPhone. Instead of reducing the photo to bytes and bits, materialists will proudly show you a photo of their son or daughter, or car.

The Orthodox (and anyone who understands what an icon is) then are being the truly consistent ones regarding images in general.

 

[ArmyMatt]

It's a materialist worldview that reduces icons to simply be paint and wood, but those same materialists would not do the same for photos taken by their iPhone. Instead of reducing the photo to bytes and bits, materialists will proudly show you a photo of their son or daughter, or car.

this.