Early Christian Attitudes Toward Images

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Orthodox Research Institute, 2004 - 224 páginas
For all iconophiles, that is, those who accept the dogma of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, but especially the Orthodox who claim that the icon has a sacramental and mystical character, it is naturally disquieting to hear the claim that the early Christians were aniconic and iconophobic. If this claim is true, the theology and the veneration of the icon are seriously undermined. It is, therefore, natural for iconophiles to attempt to disprove the thesis according to which the early Christians had no images whatsoever (aniconic) because they believed them to be idols (iconophobic). It is equally natural for iconophiles to want to substantiate, as much as this is possible, their deep intuition that the roots of Christian iconography go back to the apostolic age. This study weakens the notion and credibility of the alleged hostility of the early Christians to non-idolatrous images, providing a more balanced evaluation of this question.

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PREFACE
1
The Jewish Attitudes toward IMAGES
21
7
28
Between the Exile and Herod the Great
34
The New Testament
87
The PreConstantinian Literature
105
The Archaeological Monuments
174
of the Gospel V
189
Conclusion
208
At Paneas the Statue of Christ and the Woman with
210
INDEX
217
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 225
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