Comments on: The “Art” of Worship

By: Dale M. Coulter

Dale M. Coulter — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:09:45 +0000

Nice insights Shane. To my mind, this is what makes the communion of the saints such a vivid reality. It is the pneumatological connection among all of God's people, who all remain alive and thus present to one another "in the Spirit." It is not that I want to have a conversation with someone no longer physically present, but more than I sense myself caught up into the presence of the saints precisely because of the one Spirit who permeates heaven and earth. And this communion is more than a Spirit-ual presence for me, but a channel of life because the words and deeds of the saints continue to bear fruit in my own life as I pursue the same Christ they pursued.

By: Dale M. Coulter

Dale M. Coulter — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:04:11 +0000

Thanks Tim for these additional reflections on the role and meaning of icons within Orthodoxy. The first part of your reflection captures nicely the communion that occurs in and through the icon itself. The icon mediates a deeper spiritual communion with Christ and his saints.

The second point is well taken in terms of icons within Orthodoxy. You are, of course, correct about the canon. Another way of making a similar point (not the same!) is that the iconographer always operates within the tradition, as any Christian artist should. For my own part, I think we must recover art as an expression of worship within “western” Christianity, and icons certainly provide a wonderful example of how to do that.

By: Fr. Timothy Cremeens

Fr. Timothy Cremeens — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:34:21 +0000

~~there not "their"~~

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've edited your previous post with this correction and for spelling.

By: Fr. Timothy Cremeens

Fr. Timothy Cremeens — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 21:32:48 +0000

I appreciate Dr. Coulter’s meditation on the Orthodox Christian use of icons. I think it is so important to understand that the icon in the Orthodox Tradition is primarily theological and only secondarily artistic. The Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council declared that any veneration shown to an icon passes on to the prototype, i.e., the saint that is depicted in the icon. When I kiss an icon of Jesus Christ the veneration of my kiss passes on to Christ Himself, not that the paint and wood are Christ but rather that the wood and the paint makes Jesus Christ present to me. For the Orthodox Christian “symbol” cannot be neatly separated from “reality”. The “material” makes the “spiritual” present. A popular phrase in Orthodoxy is that icons are “Windows into heaven”. Secondarily icons are art but in a very particular way. While icons are painted in a stylized way (Byzantine style) there is a “canon” by which they are painted. Just as the canon of the Holy Scripture defines what writings are canonical or authoritative there is a canon that define the spiritual “authority” of the icon. For instance even a “Byzantine” style painting of Jesus Christ as a smiling, California “surfer-dude” is not an icon because it does follow the canon. Nor is the Virgin Mary bedecked in an ermine-fur robe because she is “royalty”. Every color and every position is making a theological statement and just as the Holy Scripture must be correctly interpreted the icons likewise must be interpreted and just as the holy Scriptures belong IN the Church and are interpreted by the Holy Spirit present with in the Church likewise icons are not just religious art but rather a word of God speaking IN the Church, understood by the Church and interpreted by the Church.

By: Shane VanMeveren

Shane VanMeveren — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:07:47 +0000

Much of the modern theology that permeates our Christian denominations focus upon the power of Christ’s victory over death. Whether Presbyterian, Lutheran, Evangelical or Charismatic, we never leave our funerals on a hopeless note because we fully trust in the removal of “the sting of death.” Or… do we? We claim that, but our actions seem to say something else.
If we were to analize how many Christians in the denominations listed above really feel about death, the shocking reality is that death still wins! Once the ham sandwiches are eaten and the hearse has been put back into the garage, we live with no further connection to our dearly departed brothers or sisters in the faith. “We’ll see them when we get to heaven.” In other words, the veil is still firmly in place because the living and the dead continue to be separated. The church on earth and the church in heaven are virtually unconnected in much of our theology.
What the Orthodox Church reminds us (and what Dr. Coulter has pointed out in this article), is that if we are truly part of the body of Christ, then we are always connected–to those around us and to those who stand in the presence of God. Those who have died in the faith are still very much alive and still very much apart of Christ’s Church. If they are apart of Christ’s Church then should they not also be apart of the Church’s worship? I am thankful for the Orthodox reminding us of that!