Icons were widely known and used
as the Bible of the illiterate. This applied in the past; however, today we do
not have that problem, at least on the same level that it existed in the past
centuries. Nevertheless, the icons seem to have adopted a new and important
role. Many people today, due to work, family issues and obligations and life
moving much faster than it did, in general, they do not seem to have enough
time to read the Bible or examine their faith in depth. Now, this is another
issue (important, yes), which will be probably analysed in another post;
nevertheless, it seems to be a reality today. However, upon entering an
Orthodox Church, or opening a book quickly, one sees an icon and understands a
number of events and beliefs we have as Christians.
Also, the fact that we live in
the digital age, where icons (pictures) and short videos prevail it is only
logical that an icon will attract someone, even for just a while. Therefore, we
could state that the icon is the ‘Bible of the Busy’. Maybe the Church could
use the icons more than it currently does, in order to proclaim its faith and
message to the Christian believer. St John Damascene gives a beautiful exegesis
of this, explaining: ‘What the book does for those who understand letters, the
image does for the illiterate; the word appeals to hearing, the image appeals
to sight; it conveys understanding.’ [Treatise I, 17]. A modern understanding
of this phrase would be to replace the word illiterate for the term busy, and
thus we can apply it to our time.
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