Question:
For Christians............?
anonymous
2009-02-16 11:38:13 UTC
What are your beliefs about Iconography?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon
Eleven answers:
Macarius the Great
2009-02-16 11:40:28 UTC
When we pray to icons, we do not worship the icons itself. They only refer to the person. Just like if I point to a statue of Caesar and ask you who it is. You'd say Caesar, but you obviously don't mean the stone itself, but rather, the name and honor you ascribe to the statue passes over to the original, the archetype, Caesar himself.



And to the person below me, we only worship Jesus, not the saints. So icons has nothing to do with it. We pray to saints for their intercessions; we don't idolize them.
Kumori
2009-02-16 19:57:05 UTC
An icon is merely a religious work of art. There's a difference between an icon and an idol. Icons serve as a reminder of who we follow. A beautiful piece of music dedicated to God can be considered an icon. No Christian in their right would worship something made by human hands.



Nevertheless, it depends on the believer. Some people find icons beautiful, and others find them to be a distraction.
EjAy
2009-02-16 19:49:33 UTC
some people think that there is nothing bad about it becuase it is just like making a simple art for everybody and it is like pleasing God because you honored him by making some christian iconography...well, in some cases, they are bad too because you are like doing a sinful thing because some think that thery are idolizing people, disciples of God or even Jesus Christ, also, it really depends on what you think of it and what you are feeling.



well, they are very adorable and amazing.. some of the christian symbols that often appear on Christian Iconography are the dove, which figures the Holy Spirit; the fish, symbol of Christ, from the Greek icthus, an anagram for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior; the monkey or reptile as symbol of evil; and the bowl or pitcher of water and the vase of lilies that signify the Virgin's purity in the Annunciation scene.



background:

By reason of its long history and the dynamic concepts that controlled it, the growth of Christian iconography is rich and varied. Beginning with the catacomb frescoes in the early centuries of the Christian era, it deals with the perils faced by the human soul on earth in its journey toward eternal salvation. Figures from the Old Testament (e.g., Abraham, Judith and Holofernes), episodes from the life and passion of Jesus (e.g., the Nativity, the Descent from the Cross, the Pietà), scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary (e.g., the Sacred Conversation, the Visitation), scenes from the lives of the saints (e.g., St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, St. Jerome in the Wilderness, the Martyrdom of St. Agatha), and symbolic scenes of ultimate beatitude (e.g., the Majesty, the Savior of the World, the Coronation of the Virgin), all reveal the same purpose—to repeat in many forms and inculcate in every mind the moral aims and fundamental dogmas of the Christian religion.



A long series of evolutionary stages unfolds in the representation of a given person or scene from the art of the catacombs to that of the Gothic cathedrals. Thus the art of the Middle Ages is above all a kind of sacred writing whose system of characters, i.e., the iconography, had to be learned by every artist. It was governed also by a kind of sacred mathematics, in which position, grouping, symmetry, and number were of extraordinary importance and were themselves an integral part of the iconography.



From earliest times Christian iconography has likewise been a symbolic code, showing the faithful one thing and inviting them to see in it the figure of another. Some examples are: the dove, which figures the Holy Spirit; the fish, symbol of Christ, from the Greek icthus, an anagram for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior; the monkey or reptile as symbol of evil; and the bowl or pitcher of water and the vase of lilies that signify the Virgin's purity in the Annunciation scene. In Christian art, form is thus the vehicle of spiritual meaning; in the expression and reading of this meaning lies the essence of Christian iconography.
hamburglar
2009-02-16 19:43:07 UTC
Icons allow us a glimpse of the Beatific Vision.
skepsis
2009-02-16 19:47:32 UTC
Didn't we resolve this issue just a millennium or so ago? I recall there were some cross words said, things were broken, heretics put down, etc.
No Chance Without Jesus
2009-02-16 19:43:22 UTC
As always the question is answered in the heart of the believer. Is it IDOLATRY for them, or merely a way to be reminded of the things of God?
?
2009-02-16 19:50:21 UTC
There would still be things being broken if it wasn't for the police
Joelyn C
2009-02-16 19:45:01 UTC
i dont know about what my beliefs are but im not a fan of it at all
CAMEL
2009-02-16 19:41:54 UTC
Not a Christian but i find it sinful because u r idolizing people besides God.



Kinda hypocrises the whole "monotheistic" ideals of Christianity.
Xerxes- The Wise One
2009-02-16 19:45:06 UTC
They're not idols............they are just meant to decorate the Church.



Its Splenderous
The Emperor
2009-02-16 19:42:00 UTC
I'm a Catholic, so that should answer your question.


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