About Icons
Why do the Orthodox have Icons? - Orthodox Road
It doesn’t take long for someone who is curious about the ancient Orthodox faith to be either surprised or scandalized by the plethora of icons covering the inside of an Orthodox church. The impression it leaves on the uninitiated may be one of reverence, confusion, or even anger at the supposed idolatry of the Orthodox people.
WHY DO WE HAVE ICONS?
The short answer to this question is because of the Incarnation. If photographic technology existed at the time of Jesus, we would doubtless have thousands of photos of Jesus. Because such technology did not exist, the ancients painted his image. According to tradition, the Apostle Luke painted the first icons.
Icons are a testament of the fact that our God, who is by nature bodiless and incorporeal, took an actual human body and united it to himself, forever uniting the divine nature to human nature, to matter, sanctifying it and redeeming it in himself. Therefore, the Orthodox have always understood iconoclasm to be a heresy that denies the Incarnation of God and thereby denies humanity its salvation in Christ.
Why Do We Have Icons in the Church? (5:34)
Why Orthodox Christians Kiss Icons - St John the Evangelist Orthodox Church
As St. John Damascene says, “I do not venerate matter, I venerate the fashioner of matter, who became matter for my sake, and in matter made his abode, and through matter worked my salvation.”
Orthodox Christians kiss icons and bow before them because Christ entered the world and made Himself a part of it; and that world He entered is good and holy. In this way, icons serve as windows into heaven, showing us the glory of Christ.
Introduction to Icons (10:52)
What Do Icons Mean? - Orthodox Road
One of the first things which I discovered about icons before converting to Orthodoxy is that icons are initially not easy to see. At first they appear distorted and unreal, almost impressionist, full of symbolism. In a society more familiar with western art, we are concerned with the response of our external, empirical senses. Yet the icon is not meant to excite our external senses. It is not painted to depict the mundane, everyday life, but rather the spiritual realm. It is painted as a “window into heaven,” a physical means which allows us to gaze into the invisible spiritual reality. The simplicity of the icon is not meant to stir our emotions but rather to quietly invite us to leave the world for a moment and guide every emotion toward the contemplation of the Divine. Icons assist us in prayer as well as we gaze upon them quietly and patiently.
The communion with the Divine to which the icon calls us is achieved through a symbolic language in which clothing styles, colors, gestures, architecture and human form in the icon are fixed. The painting of iconography must not be based on artistic speculation, emotion, or abstract ideas but soundly on the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Depicting these teachings requires a studious understanding of Orthodoxy, meditation, attention to detail, and artistic skill. The iconographer must understand what parts of the icon he can adjust using his best artistic skills and what parts of the icon he ought to leave intact.
The Theology of the Icon (7:00)
The Icon FAQ - Orthodox Christian Information Center
5. Doesn't the 2nd Commandment forbid Icons?
The issue with respect to the 2nd commandment is what does the word translated "graven images" mean? If it simply means carved images, then the images in the temple would be in violation of this Commandment. Our best guide, however, to what Hebrew words mean, is what they meant to Hebrews—and when the Hebrews translated the Bible into Greek, they translated this word simply as "eidoloi", i.e. "idols." Furthermore the Hebrew word pesel is never used in reference to any of the images in the temple. So clearly the reference here is to pagan images rather than images in general.
Let's look at the Scriptural passage in question more closely:
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (i.e. idol), or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor shalt thou serve (worship) them..." (Exodus 20:4-5a).
Now, if we take this as a reference to images of any kind, then clearly the cherubim in the Temple violate this command. If we limit this as applying only to idols, no contradiction exists. Furthermore, if this applies to all images—then even the picture on a driver's license violates it, and is an idol. So either every Protestant with a driver's license is an idolater, or Icons are not idols.
Leaving aside, for the moment, the meaning of "graven images" lets simply look at what this text actually says about them. You shall not make x, you shall not bow to x, you shall not worship x. If x = image, then the Temple itself violates this Commandment. If x = idol and not all images, then this verse contradicts neither the Icons in the Temple, nor Orthodox Icons.
6. Doesn't Deuteronomy 4:14-19 forbid any images of God? How then can you have Icons of Christ?
This passage instructs the Jews not to make a (false) image of God, because they had not seen God, however, as Christians, we believe that God became Incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, and so we may depict that "which we have seen with our eyes" (1st John 1:1). As St. John of Damascus said:
"Of old, God the incorporeal and uncircumscribed was never depicted. Now, however, when God is seen clothed in flesh, and conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honouring that matter which works my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God. How could God be born out of lifeless things? And if God's body is God by union, it is immutable. The nature of God remains the same as before, the flesh created in time is quickened by, a logical and reasoning soul."
Documentary: Hidden History of Early Christian Icons (42:25)