Icons and Images

The following is from Vaux- a sometime and erstwhile UK experiment and exploration in the arts, liturgy and culture, and a positive(?) critique of the culture of the West's empty or emptying churches . . .

The use of icons in worship, particularly the image of Christ, has caused much theological debate and controversy down the centuries. In his book 'God's Human face' Schonborn outlines the various threads of debate, especially surrounding the iconoclastic controversy of the 8th century AD [Schonborn, 1994]. Interestingly, he states that the heart of the debate was about the incarnation - 'He who rejects the icon also rejects the Incarnation: this is the common conviction of all defenders of images.' Whereas 'contempt for matter is one of the most striking traits of iconoclasm'. The rules for painting icons are very tightly controlled in the tradition. In large part this is because the icons are primarily seen as 'theology in colour' in contrast with much Western art which is seen as romantic and an individual's interpretation.

Popular culture is heavily image oriented and iconographic. 'The icon is the common currency of our popular culture' [Beaudoin, 1998]. Edward Robinson has written a book entitled 'Icons of the present' [Robinson, 1993]. In this he argues that the arts have always had a crucial role to play in evoking the presence of the holy, functioning as 'windows on eternity'. This is particularly the case when in a well established religious tradition the conventional language of the sacred has become over familiar - art opens up perception in new ways, enabling us to see the world with new eyes. He argues that a spiritual tradition needs to be continually renewing itself if it is to be faithful to its own tradition. 'Every revelation is initially culture bound: it speaks the language, it uses the image of its own time and society. If it did not, communication would be impossible. Every tradition if it is to live has continually to be breaking that mould, and every succeeding mould.'

So what are needed are icons of the present, that keep revelation alive by representing that mystery in the language of the here and now . . . When any iconographic style ceases to be earthed in the present, whilst its images may still exert a powerful grip on the mind and heart, the dangers both of nostalgia and otherworldliness become very real.