Beholding the Beauty

I was asked recently why we Orthodox have so many paintings of the Saints, and how do they not fall under the condemnation of idols and graven images pronounced in the Law.  Here is my answer: We have them for the same reason people keep paintings or (nowadays) pictures of their loved ones: to remember them.  Icons -- which is what we call the paintings, from the Greek word for "image" -- represent the one depicted, and make them present to us in a way.  The one depicted is called the Prototype.  These are not graven -- that is, sculpted -- but painted.  But let's grant for the sake of argument that it includes paintings as well, since it also says, "or any likeness."  The prohibition in the Law against images is a prohibition against false worship, not against images per se.  (There were images in the temple commanded by God.) It is written, Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended

Often, in the Protestant milieu, one hears such things as, "The Bible says ... ", followed by their pet heresy or denial of the Truth. This is patent silliness.  The Bible doesn't "say" anything.  It just sits there on the desk.  Opened or closed?  Doesn't matter, although in many cases it is closed anyway! The Bible does not speak, but the reader. The Bible itself (I mean the book with pages that sits on your desk) is but impressions of ink on paper. It is the reader that speaks, or the one who gives the interpretation also, not the Bible itself. One might object, of course, to my blatant pedantry.  Why am I being so silly? When colloquial understanding is in accord with Truth, one need not dig deeper and examine the usage.  But when it is turned against the Truth, as this kind of statement often is, precision of language is paramount. Here's why it's a big deal. I saw this sentiment asserted recently in this form: We, as Christian

At one point, I studied, absorbed, and even kind of believed the teachings of an early 20th century philosophy known as Perennialism , or The Traditionalist School .  (The two are not the same, but they are interrelated, and for the purposes of this post, we will treat them the same. The basic tenet is that all of the major religious traditions, at their best, lead to or impart knowledge of the Transcendent, commonly known as "God", even if they disagree with each other, they do so because God set it up that way. Well the funny thing about the Traditionalist school is that it furthermore posits that to actually acquire the knowledge of that transcendent reality from the major traditions, you have to PICK ONE.  You can't smorgasboard or cherry-pick or try to learn from all of them, but you have to pick one, enter into it, and forget the rest. Well, someone asked me if this is compatible with Christianity or not (Christianity is considered by that school as one of the maj