How does Orthodox worship before icons differ from Catholic worship before statues?
What is the difference between and icon and a statue and how are the two viewed and related to differently in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions?
The Orthodox see icons as "windows into heaven", and prefer that the representations not be "realistic" as seen with the natural eye; they are to bring us closer to God and the things of God, not things of the earth.
To be clear, praying in front of an icon is little different from the picture you see from time to time of an old man sitting at a table with his Bible open in front of him, praying. He is not "praying to" the Bible, nor are Christians who employ images praying to the icon or statue. They are focal points of where particular instances of prayer can happen, but are not the object of such prayer.
Honor given to the image, according to official Orthodox teaching, passes to the one depicted. If you think you’d treat, say, John the Baptist with certain amount of respect if you met him personally, so we treat the icon.
The use of images stems from the practice of the early church, where it is known that images, primarily paintings and mosaics, were used. Statuary is a direction that Roman Catholicism and the Western church went, while the Eastern Roman Empire and Eastern Christians stayed with icons only, for the most part.
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September 15 2009 11:01 pm | Uncategorized
Radical Centrist on 16 Sep 2009 at 4:06 am #
Contrary to the misinformation perpetuated by anti-Catholic bigots, Catholics don’t worship statues. The statues are just a representation of the individual to whom they are addressing their prayers.
It is just like the family photographs you have in your home. You don’t love the photographs, you love the people who appear in the photographs.
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dgrissmer on 16 Sep 2009 at 4:31 am #
Catholics and Orthodox do not worship statues, We pray to the Saints (and Mary for Catholics) for guidance and protection. We pray to them and ask for them to intercede for us. It’s another conduit to Jesus and God. It’s just like asking your guardian angel to watch over you, or saying a prayer to your dead ancestors or family members. That’s all it is.
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kiki on 16 Sep 2009 at 4:41 am #
Read this carefully please:
CATHOLICS DO NOT WORSHIP STATUES.
Neither do Orthodox worship icons.
Both groups worship God and God alone.
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St. Alan servant of Jesus on 16 Sep 2009 at 4:55 am #
You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 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. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.
This is the first and second commandment.
Icon’s and statue’s are against the second commandment.
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OPsaltis on 16 Sep 2009 at 5:07 am #
The Orthodox see icons as "windows into heaven", and prefer that the representations not be "realistic" as seen with the natural eye; they are to bring us closer to God and the things of God, not things of the earth.
To be clear, praying in front of an icon is little different from the picture you see from time to time of an old man sitting at a table with his Bible open in front of him, praying. He is not "praying to" the Bible, nor are Christians who employ images praying to the icon or statue. They are focal points of where particular instances of prayer can happen, but are not the object of such prayer.
Honor given to the image, according to official Orthodox teaching, passes to the one depicted. If you think you’d treat, say, John the Baptist with certain amount of respect if you met him personally, so we treat the icon.
The use of images stems from the practice of the early church, where it is known that images, primarily paintings and mosaics, were used. Statuary is a direction that Roman Catholicism and the Western church went, while the Eastern Roman Empire and Eastern Christians stayed with icons only, for the most part.
References :
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7052 Orthodox faith introduction
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8071 Iconoclast controversy
Daver on 16 Sep 2009 at 5:57 am #
<<How does Orthodox worship before icons differ from Catholic worship before statues?>>
It doesn’t.
Icons as well as statues can inspire people to worship God.
<<What is the difference between and icon and a statue and how are the two viewed and related to differently in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions?>>
ICON – A flat painting, sacred picture of the Eastern Church. It is generally painted on wood and covered, except the face and hands, with relief of seed pearls and gold or silver. The icon of the saint of the day is usually displayed on an analogion. Icons of Our Lord and Our Lady are reverenced with great devotion, incenses, carried in processions, and normally placed on the iconostasis screen. The icons in the Eastern Church take the place of statues in the West. (Etym. Greek eik_n, image.)
STATUE – A likeness of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, or one of the saints, or a symbolic form of an angel, sculptured, carved, or cast in a solid material, and venerated by the faithful. Its purpose is to recall the person whom the statue represents in order to inspire greater piety. Christians do not worship statues as idols.
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