Saint John Of Damascus: Justifying Iconography With A Hint Of Paganism

The image of God, as any other theological topic, has been seen biblically, historically, and theologically. The Bible teaches that God created man in His own image in Genesis 1:26-28. Then, in the third chapter of Genesis, Adam and Eve sin by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus distorting the image of God in humanity. Even though it was distorted, it is seen that the image still remains in man through various passages in both the Old and New Testaments, including Genesis 9:6, which states that it is wrong to kill a man because the image of God is in him. The image of God has been approached from many different ways since the beginning of the church. In the second century, Irenaeus proposed that rationality and freedom compose the image of God in man. In the medieval times, Thomas Aquinas proposed that the image of God in mankind is the ability or rationality that man has to know God. Then, during the Reformation era, John Calvin proposed that the image of

This paper will analyze the iconography of the mosaic, Good Shepherd (lunette, Oratory of Galla Placidia, c. 425-26, Ravenna, Italy), that is located on the lunette over the north doorway of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna. The iconography has been one of the most recognized and admired works of art since the 3rd century AD. In the mosaic, the artists present a depiction of Christ symbolic and traditional of Byzantine art during the conversion of Christianity in Roman provinces.

The beginning of King’s speech starts with his address to “[his] fellow clergymen” (1). Throughout and with multiple examples, King attempts to back up his argument with the appeal of logos. One of King’s main arguments in his letter

John of Damascus argues in favor of Icons. He begins with a definition of images and worship. He argues that an image is a representation of “invisible and intangible things, on which they throw a faint light” (John of Damascus, 1). This definition is attractive, especially when applied to religious figures because it provides worshippers with a better understanding of God and His decrees. John argues that God permits images, such as the ark, the staff, and the tabernacle (2). John affirms, “I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter…” (2). According to John, God reduced himself to matter for worshippers to create visual representations of God. These images represent the

The three treatises by Damascus, are aimed “against those who rejected the use of icons.” Damascus argues that “the theological fact of the incarnation of Christ provides a solid formation for the use of icons in devotion.” Damascus explains many different physical items, such as icons, in worship and adoration. An example of one of the physical items he used as icons is, “Was not the triply blessed wood of the cross matter.”

You had brought up an excellent point that all religions are very similar to each other. Many traditions in Christianity today come from Pagan origins. This is not surprising as "... Pagans as a religious group collapsed under the pressure of the ever growing Christian community" (Norris, 1996, p. 9). Some Pagan traditions include, cutting pieces of trees in December usually evergreens (Robinson, 2015). This was in recognition of the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year, many had believed that the sun may never appear again and the evergreens contained powers because they stayed green all year around (Norris, 2015). "The ancient Pagan Romans decorated their 'trees with bits of metal and replicas of their god, Bacchus [a

He describes the enmity between the flesh and the Spirit and explains why we must show the

life” (Visual Arts Cork). The Roman Catholics were criticized for having false images of the bible in their artworks and worshipping idols as if they were holy. This decreased the amount of paintings of idol figures from the Protestants Luther stated that anything that one imagines of God apart from Christ is only useless thinking and vain idolatry. “You are not to have no other Gods” (Exodus 20:3).

a Saint, which is a rarity in religious works of art. The saint who he

However, I wouldn’t go as far as he does saying that we are worshiping images and we should focus on words because “…, God planned to lead his people through this world of visual idols by words from his lips-in language, through his revealed word”(41). I agree with his message, but not to this extent-he’s looking far too into it. Yes we focus more on short snippets of information and pictures, but I feel that images can help bring words to life. There is a balance between images and pictures that can be very beneficial to our understanding of the message being presented. Anything can be worshiped and idolized including words, and I feel that he took the text a little too literally.

John of Damascus argued that with the incarnation of Christ, the icons and idols were justified. He led a group of iconophiles who truly believed that whatever honor or worship that was directed at the images or icons passed directly onto whomever that image represented (p 275). There is a page from a Russian Psalter which describes the iconophiles stance. It basically says that to destroy an image of Christ is similar to destroying Christ himself. This led to a huge shift in Western art.

(Damascus, 8) The line between veneration and worship is at the very least, a dangerous one, and John of Damascus brings clarity and distinction on the matter. However, the issue of "carved likeness" still remains. He referred to people and angels being venerated but how then are we to address the issues of

The likeness to God is about the

Unlike Medieval painting, Roman painting does not have a specific scene to show nor a particular doctrine to teach. Some scenes might denote the same theme, but the artist tries to individualize his work by playing with the elements. In Romanesque painting the iconographical demands do not allow artists to illustrate the same icons in different ways. To spread Christianity, the symbols need to remain the same everywhere to make the message easier to understand. In Christ in Majesty the halo is an example of the recurring iconographic element. A halo around someone's head means that the person is a saint. Christ, the evangelists, and the Twelve Apostles have halos to point out their religious significance. Individualization is no longer important on Medieval works because artists focus on the expansion of the Christian message.

Let's take a look at a little history in medieval art. There was a movement towards the end of the first millennium called Iconoclasm. This factor hated images and icons which were believed to be endowed with mysterious powers that could work miracles by intervention from the saints. This Iconoclastic Controversy defined and declined the creation of