ICONS AND THEIR EXPOSURE

 

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TEACHING OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

"In the church - in the iconostasis and on the walls, and in the house - in the front corner there are holy icons in front of which we pray.

An icon or image is called the image of God Himself, or the Mother of God, or angels, or saints. This image is invariably sanctified with holy water: through this sanctification of icons, the grace of the Holy Spirit is communicated, and the icon is already venerated by us as a saint. There are miraculous icons, through which the grace of God abiding in them is manifested even by miracles, for example, heals the sick.

The Savior Himself gave us His image. After washing, He wiped His pure face with a towel and miraculously depicted it on this towel for the sick prince Avgar. When the sick prince prayed before this image (image) of the Savior not made with hands, he was healed of his illness.

When praying in front of the icon, we must remember that the icon is not God Himself or a saint of God, but only an image of God or His saint. Therefore, we should not pray to the icon, but to God or the saint who is depicted on it.

The holy icon is the same as the holy book: in the holy book we reverently read God's words, and on the holy icon we reverently contemplate the holy faces, which, like God's word, raise our minds to God and His saints and inflame our hearts with love for ours. To the Creator and Savior".

 

BIBLICAL TEACHING

( about icons and also statues )

Read:

1. Do not make yourself an idol and no image of what is in the sky above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them or serve them...

Exodus 20.4-5 (original language: "don't make yourself any statues or paintings")

2. Firmly keep in your souls that you did not see any image on the day when the Lord spoke to you on [mountain] Horeb from the midst of the fire, 1 so that you did not become corrupted and did not make for yourself images, images of any idol representing a man or a woman...

Deuteronomy 4.15-16 (images of men and women and their worship are not allowed)

3. So we, being the offspring of God, should not think that the Divine is like gold, or silver, or stone, which received an image from art and human invention.

Acts 17.29 (Deity has no likeness)

 

Example of idolatry: THE GOLDEN TAURUS