www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall ANIMAL ICONS?!?

And C.S. Lewis was an Anglican too. So they definitely have their good points!

It is a strange church that is a coalition of opposites. They have their 39 articles and yet they permit people to basically believe what they like. A church that has some who believe in the Eucharist and those who don�t. There is more diversity at the international level. They are a legend at accommodation of opposites and I have no doubt they will keep on doing this with the appointment of gay bishops and anything else. We have the same here in Australia with the very powerful Archdiocese of Sydney which has a long history of anti Catholicism and does not permit statues in their Cathedral or the wearing of vestments. They are the ones holding the line here while the other diocese have women priests and will one day move up to having women bishops. Sydney on the other hand is moving towards lay leadership at �Holy Communion�. Sydney threatens to go off by itself with it�s �North End� services but it wont. They will be around on the scene for a while yet.

ICXC
NIKA

What this icon writer has done is a sin against the first commandment.
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the 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."
The first commandment condemns belief in other gods. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols" of silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak, eyes, but do not see." These empty idols make their worshipers empty. Those who make them are like them, so are all who trust in them. God, however, it the "living God",who gives life and intervenes in history.
Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It reamins a constant temptation to faith, Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God.

Saint Paul warns the Romans against the sin of idolatry.He tells us that the wrath of God is revealed against such people, that they have become foolish and perverted, they are without excuse, they have become futile in their thinking and their senseless mind are darkened.
They claim to be wise but they have become fools, and exchanged the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.
Beloved flee from idolatry!

Stephanos I
We need to pray that this poor deceived soul be enlightened by the truth of the Gospel.

Dear Stephanos I,

I sincerely believe that the 'icons' of animals were not meant to be worshipped. But then again, maybe I'm wrong. It seems to me that they were painted with the idea of being 'cutsy'.

Now I know that one must pray a great deal when 'writing' an icon. I seriously doubt that the artist prayed, expects or believes that they will have any spiritual value.

But then again, we all tend to 'worship' our pets, don't we?

Zenovia

It is not "cutsy" at all. If you read the qoute of her words she calls "all of creation divine" this is clearly pantheistic and an abomination to God.
Stephanos I

Perhaps Icon Style artworks of animals could serve as a menu for religious feasts. ;)They could serve a spiritual purpose of reminding us to look forward to good things to come