Images and Our Nous

An interesting article published by The BioLogos Forum.

Andrei Rublev, “The Holy Trinity,” ca. 1411. Tempera, gold leaf on panel, 56” x 45”. (Collection of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.)

Today’s essay was written by Frederica Matthews-Greene, a prolific writer and speaker, especially on the applicability of the most ancient modes of Christian faith to the modern world. As an adult convert to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, she came only reluctantly to an Eastern understanding of the way icons represent the connection and overlap between the material and spiritual facets of reality. But that understanding may be very helpful as we consider how and why we “know” the world through both science and Scripture, for, as she has said, “the world is evangelizing you in images constantly” (Christianity Today interview with Dick Staub. September, 2003). In other words, a fully human, deeply Christ-centered approach to the creation will recognize that the world as we find it will speak to us of the Lord, but not in the same, explicit way that the Bible speaks to us of Him. As you read her explanation of the way icons in the Eastern Church tune our attention to God, consider that nature may be seen to work in exactly the same way—neither the object of worship or a direct “picture” of God, but a revelation of His presence, nonetheless.

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Random musings and reflections on life, God and all that stuff (movies, comics, science fiction, spiritual formation, Christian education, biomedical ethics, post modern parenting, books, theology and philosophy)

Random Musings from St.Paul’s Footsteps (5)

“The Resurrection” (1552) in the Great Meteoron

Some features from icon:
• Figure of Christ dominates the centre of the painting
• Christ has triumphed over death
• Christ is dressed in brilliant, radiant apparel and surrounded by a glory of light. This symbolized His resurrected body and the eternal life (undying light) to come
• His hands and feet bears the scars of the crucifixion
• The halo around his head, his radiant robes and triumphant expression shows his victory over death.
• Death is represented in chains, beneath the gates of Hades which were broken
• The two broken rocks showed how Christ entered the abyss to rescue the human race
• Christ is shown pulling the paralysed hands of Adam and Eve.
• Also Christ liberates from the bonds of death the righteous. On the left are John the Baptist, David and Solomon. On the right are Abel and two Gentiles.
• It represent the culmination of the redeeming work of Christ

Random musings and reflections on life, God and all that stuff (movies, comics, science fiction, spiritual formation, Christian education, biomedical ethics, post modern parenting, books, theology and philosophy)

A Living Hope through the Resurrection of Christ

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A Living Hope through the Resurrection of Christ
Text: 1 Peter 1:3-5

Text
1PE 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Sermon Statement
Our living hope is our inheritance of eternal life based on the resurrection of Christ.

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Random musings and reflections on life, God and all that stuff (movies, comics, science fiction, spiritual formation, Christian education, biomedical ethics, post modern parenting, books, theology and philosophy)