Thursday, February 24, 2011
Should the use of icons be revisted?
When reading St. John's "On the Divine Images", I found that many of the justifications for the use of icons relied heavily on the fact that much of society then was illiterate. While there were certainly other reasons, such as the incarnation, should the use of icons in modern churches be re-visited seeing as the majority of the world's population is now literate? It was estimated in 2001 26% of the world's population was illiterate, the rate has probably dropped since then.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Many churches should reconsider their use of icons in worship and prayer because of the realization that most people can read now. One of the main reasons why icons were used was because people were not able to read the stories in the Bible. If churches stopped using icons, it would be a good thing because it would prevent some people from worshipping them and not God, which is something that St. John warned about.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point: if a major component in the argument for icons is that they are necessary to tell biblical stories to the illiterate, then why are they necessary in modern times? True, the amount of illiterate adults and children in even the United States is not negligible, but on average, most people can read and write. However, I do challenge the idea that modern-day Christians, of any sect, really -worship- the icons instead of their deity. Do they really believe that the image of Mary, the relic from a particular saint, or the carving of a biblical scene is the power-wielding entity in the religion? I have yet to see anything to convince me of that.
ReplyDeleteI believe its the institution of tradition icons rather than the belief in it during a time when illiteracy was high. It is not the point of convincing those outside of the specific religion, bu the icons are in a sens their link to a time where their God was alive.Sort of like a piece of memorial. I am not saying that icons should or should not be used, however everyone has that aspect of their religion that links them back in time, which they cherishes significantly.
ReplyDeleteI believe the icons are not only symbolic for biblical stories, but they help to immerse the congregation in the works of God, Jesus, and the saints. This was an overwhelming aspect when I walked in the doors, and I believe the Orthodox Christians would say the same. The Orthodox Church might discuss painting over the icons, but I think they will definitely choose to keep the centuries old tradition.
ReplyDeleteAt this point the use of icons have become a tradition among Orthodox Churches. Now, instead of being an helpful tool for those who are illiterate they have become important to their practices. Although I understand completely why icons may not be necessary anymore, I think it has become more than just something to aid those who cannot read and become very important to those apart of the Orthodox community. It would be very difficult to get rid of the use of icons at this point even if they are unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that icons have become an important practice for the Orthodox community, I don't think that they are unnecessary. The icons serve as a reminder for many stories in the bible. Even though they can be a little overwhelming, I think its a nice to be surrounded by the some of the most important stories in the bible and people who have lived a life completely devoted to Christ. When we read we can really only read one story at a time and it would take forever to read them all in one sitting. In the Orthodox church one can look up and be reminded of so many different stories or the devoted life of a saint at any given time. It is an interesting feeling to be completely surrounded by the bible instead of just looking at words in front of you. I imagine that it can help create a feeling of immersion of many different parts of the bible at one time.
ReplyDelete