"Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith."
St. John Damascene

Introduction
Icons, sacred images which are usually seen as a part of the Orthodox Christian tradition, have found their ways into many Western churches. Nowadays one can see icons on Catholic Church walls in Italy or unexpectedly while visiting a Lutheran home in Finland. Are icons a legacy from or return to the undivided church and Christian culture or only an inappropriate aesthetic loan from the Orthodox? This article, written by an Orthodox from Romania and a Lutheran from Finland, will focus on researching whether there would be a common ground for ecumenism in the field of religious iconography. Are Lutheran and Orthodox teaching on images complete opposites?

Roles of images
Over the centuries, images have been a way of expressing people's ideas, dreams, goals and faiths. It was an image of the gods that created the first religion and an image stood at the foundation of human relations: they felt like they are alike. Condemned, worshiped or ignored, images have played a great role in the history of religious thinking. Today, it takes on a new role: bringing people together in an ecumenical way.

At one time, people with religious beliefs painted their faces or the bodies of the dead in colors to resemble the image they had about the gods in their minds. Then more elaborate ways of representing religious values were reached. The monuments of solar worship are still puzzling the minds of Egyptologists or Maya specialists. Images from a Hindu tradition may look in the eyes of certain people like representations coming from a different world, but they express the same attitude towards spirituality and religious thought. In the end, the images of Greeks and Romans are still stunning to a contemporary eye.

In these traditions controversies, dogmas and spirituality are mixed in such a way that the present eye simply dismisses them quickly, without the possibility of appeal. Many people prefer the word as a way of expressing their faith, because of its long-standing tradition inside religious thinking and because it's only pronounced, without shape, fading away after it's spoken. This happens in the three Abrahamic religions of book: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. In Christianity, the word is worshiped as the Son of God, but how can one love a Word, a divine idea? To this dilemma, ancient and medieval Christian thinking answered with the help of icons, based on the teaching of the Incarnation, the transcendent Word made flesh. Early Christians took a new view to the biblical commandments from the Old Testament Scriptures which forbade making images of God. Incarnation made it possible to depict immaterial God in a human form. In Judaism and Islam, incorporeal God cannot be depicted in images. Furthermore, drawing images of people is not allowed in Islam at all. Worship in front of icon is by no means possible either.

Words are one of the most common ways of expressing thought and ideas, but it has a major flaw: it's two times abstract. It may be true that all people shared the same language before Babel tower, but even in this situation spoken words are still to be learnt. First of all, they are abstract because they must be taught by another person. Second, they are basically only a social convention: when we speak, we agree the sounds made by our speaking apparatus actually mean something, otherwise they are only sounds produced by our body. Of course one can say that animals do have this ability too, but their "spoken" language is far from being a language, they are only expressing certain elements dictated by their instincts. In the case of human beings, their advanced social relations led to an organized way of pronouncing; the sounds they produced began to carry more and more sense and meaning. Moreover, words can also be written, which poses another problem. Again, the written words are based on a social convention between people: at some moment in history, people decided the words pronounced by them can also be expressed through writing. But writing means to leave a mark on a support, this being paper, papyrus or other materials. Technically, written words are just lines and signs that have a meaning only if a person is placed inside that tradition. This problem of abstractibility of words is even more complicated by the multitude of languages spoken on the Earth.

So, what now? How can we express ourselves in a manner that does not complicate further the "technical" aspect of communication? One answer can be found in the words of the Bible, where we find Christ urging his disciples to see, touch and convince themselves about the reality around them. Thomas is invited to see the wounds of Christ's body and the apostles John and Peter saw the light of Jesus' Transfiguration on the Mount Tabor. Seeing is more primal and comprehensive than any other sense. But, of course, John and Peter had to cover their eyes, not bearing the light, as did presumably the Roman soldiers standing guard at Christ's tomb. Through sacred images at church or used in personal devotion, we are able to open the inner eyes to a reality we confess through words, but we also admire and contemplate. Colours, shapes and gestures speak more directly, are more open to a complete understanding, to a direct experimentation. Image has many benefits: a picture can tell more than one thousand words, as the old saying goes. Contemplation is a far deeper way of understanding the truth.

Icon on Virgin Mary, Theotokos, painted by Laura Hytti

Disputes on the use of images in Church
Images have always been an integral, yet also very controversial, part of Christianity. First Christian images can be found already from the catacombs. During time, the Church expressed its teachings using images. Although this action had a pedagogical meaning, e.g. teaching illiterate people on Christianity, it later became more of an issue for theological negotiations, as Christology and other dogmas began to be evolved. In Byzantine theology the central idea of God’s presence in Christ through his essence made it possible to depict God in a sacred image even though also opposing voices, underlining God’s mystical transcendence and thus the undepictability of God, could be heard in the East. In the end, in the 8th and 9th century, the teaching about icons was formally approved and accepted by the entire Church, even if it took almost 500 years to reach that point. Before that approval, a severe dispute, also called ‘iconoclasm’, destruction of icons, took place in 725-842. The dispute started when the emperor Leo III (717-742) gave an order to destroy all the icons as they were seen as an obstacle for the Jewish and the Muslim to convert into Christian faith. However, in reality the dispute had more of a political than only theological nature. After long debate, largely on the incarnation, the 7th ecumenical council in Nicea (787) gave icons the equal status with the Gospel and Lord’s holy cross. The council defined two purposes for icons: to teach the illiterate and awaken the spirit of prayer in people.

Thus, images started to express the beliefs of many, being a part in the spiritual heritage of Christianity. Icons are direct, can be understood more easily by people using different languages and are intuitive, not descriptive. How many words are needed to describe a certain reality that is contained in a picture? That's the reason why Churches turn more and more towards a plastic description of their faith. Images bear spirituality, a meaning that transcends the physical aspect.

Orthodox teaching on icons
In Eastern Christianity, icons are seen as mirrors reflecting the mysteries of God. They are an open window to the heavens. Icon (e????) means ‘image’ in Greek. Originally the word ‘icon’ meant all images, both in secular and religious use. Nowadays, in the Orthodox Church, icon is a sacred, liturgical image which has been painted according to certain tradition. However, at different times the idea of a ‘correct icon’ has varied to some extent. Icons are not usually signed to emphasize the fact that the icon painter is painting for God, not for the publicity. God’s grace is present in an icon. Therefore in Orthodox Church icons can be kissed or carried in processions, and God can make miracles through certain icons. The purpose of icons is not to depict three dimensional reality but only flat, two dimensional images are used to emphasize the divine holiness. This sort of painting on only two dimensions makes the persons and the other images described inside it look like they do not possess corporality the same way the real persons and background actually does. It is still a human and worldly reality, but it is seen in another light, a light that shines through them. In icons the materialism of the visible creation can meet the divine, invisible and immaterial reality. Despite the sometimes heard misunderstanding from the Western side, icons are not adored in the Orthodox tradition as such but honour is showed to the person or event depicted in the icon, as St. Basil the Great (329-379) says, “The honour shown the image passes over to the archetype”. St. John Damascene (675/6-749) further clarifies, "In the past, the incorporeal and invisible God was never represented. But now that God has been manifested in the flesh and has dwelt among men, I represent the visible in God. I do not adore matter; I adore the creator of matter, who has become matter for my sake, who chose to dwell within matter and who, through matter, has caused my salvation".

In the Orthodox tradition, an icon is not painted, but written, which gives a new meaning to the considerations above. Before starting to work, the iconographer prays to the Lord: “Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, Only-Begotten Son and Word of God, icon of the Unseen Father, Who created us in your image and for our redemption, took flesh from Your Mother, Theotokos, You, Who are the beauty of all sons of man and the source of all beauty, unseen and seen, Who in your wisdom made us the church of Your Holy Spirit, Who sanctified matter in your godly iconomy, Who gave the gift of colour theology to Your Unspotted Bride, the Church, in order to remind of Your unspoken descent, to strengthen and sanctify Your believing people, to You, falling to the ground I pray to give me also, the sinner and unworthy servant, the gift of iconographic mission; cleanse my heart of all sin and write in it Your holy will. Strengthen the will of my mind and illuminate me with the power of Your Holy Spirit, making stronger my faint hands to make your holy icon (or of Your saint...), thus those worshiping it and kissing it to lift their hearts and their minds towards You, the true Prototype, to know the One alike and to praise together with all saints who from the beginning were to Your like, You, the Son of God made man, together with Your Father without beginning and with Your worshiped Spirit, the one inseparable and life-giving Trinity. Amen.” (our translation)

Luther’s teaching on images
Before the Reformation, in the Western churches making an image was never such a large problem as it was in the East where the Church needed to define its official position. In most of the churches of the Western tradition the educational and spiritual dimension of images is emphasized. However, the sacred art in church can be represented in many forms, from ancient to a modern one. Artists have in that sense less restricted hands even though in most cases certain symbols are used and for instance St. Mary the Mother of God, St. Peter or St. John the Baptist (John the Forerunner) can be usually very easily recognised in Western church art, too. There is a variety of opinions in western churches which form sacred art or icon can take. For many, icons are religious art which can be used in education and in inspiring people at church for meeting with God. In some cases the concepts from east and west are not complete opposites but rather close to some extent. For example, for a Swedish Lutheran icon painter Erlend Forsberg only icons painted according to the tradition represent the original Christian images, not the modern forms of church art.

Iconoclasm rose its head not only in the Byzantine Empire but again at the time of the Reformation, in a different setting. Some of the Protestant Reformators, i.e. Karlstadt, Zwingli and Calvin, took the position, learned from the Old Testament’s commandments, against images of God. In the 16th century particularly the cities of Zürich, Copenhagen, Münster, Geneva, Augsburg and the country of Scotland saw riots where images and art of any kind, including e.g. paintings, statues, liturgical vestments and books, were damaged or destroyed. Property of some monasteries in West Europe was at least partly destroyed. It is worth noticing, however, that the whole Protestant Christianity and reformators were not behind these actions against religious images. Facing the situation, Luther was forced to form his own opinion on the images. According to him images could be freely used in the church, not however being worshiped as gods. Luther’s Bible translations contain pictures and he even recommended people to decorate the exteriors of their homes with images of biblical history. Luther does not in principle distinguish between the image and the word as the bearers of the Message. For Luther, who emphasized the meaning of Word as God and the importance of hearing the Word through which the faith is born, for him image and word are not exclusive. Image has certainly a place in Luther’s theology. Image brings the object, or archetype, present. For Luther, however, the image cannot bring the archetype present fully but only according to its capacity. The only exception is the Image of God, the incarnate Son of God who is able to bring the Archetype present completely.

Lutheran and Orthodox teaching both appreciate the educational dimension of images and icons. The biggest difference can be found in the attitudes towards Miracle making icons and God’s presence in icons which is reality for the Orthodox but in which Lutherans tend to turn into certain scepticism: an image cannot bring God present completely. Lutheran and Orthodox teaching on icons are not complete opposites but not identical either. However, there is a common ground for further discussion as the value of image is recognized and image has a place in Lutheran theology as it can bear the Message.

On the border of East and West: a case study from Finland
Despite the collapse of the Iron Curtain, East – West – division still continues to mark the language used in politics. Moreover, this division was adopted by churches long before the Iron Curtain even existed. In Finland, located right at the border of East and West and having two official state churches - the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland (85% out of Finland’s 5 million people’s population belongs to it) and the Finnish Orthodox Church (1% of the population) - one would expect more setting of boundaries. This was indeed the case when Finland was a part of Russia and after the Winter War against Russia (1939-40) where Finland lost an eastern part of its area, called Carelia, where both Lutheran and Orthodox Churches were present. Large part of the evacuees were Orthodox. Despite their Finnish background and the fact that the Orthodox Church in Finland moved already in 1923 from Moscow Patriarchate under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Orthodox Church was regarded as the Church of the “Russkies” (Russians) and Orthodox Christians were treated as “the others”, heretics or even pagans. As the years went by, the attitudes changed and nowadays the ecumenical environment is very different: relations between the two state churches work well, there is one Orthodox hymn in the Lutheran hymn book and approximately 30 icons in 17 consecrated Lutheran Churches in Finland, one can find icons easily at many Lutheran homes and parishes, the two Orthodox monasteries in Finland, Valamo and Lintula, attract many Lutheran visitors, large majority of the icon painters in Finland are Lutherans (!), Lutheran singers enjoy serving God in Orthodox choirs and the Orthodox Church gets lots of space in the media. It is the icons and church music which form an accessible way for many Lutherans to learn to know the other state church, the Orthodox Church. St. John Damascene wrote: "Show me the icons that you venerate, that I may be able to understand your faith." This thought could be adapted to the Finnish context “Show and explain me your icons and church music so that I may be able to understand your faith.” It goes without saying that acquiring correct information and learning to respect other’s tradition is important for people who share the same society – and in many cases also marriage as majority of the Orthodox are married to non-Orthodox due to the small number of members of the Orthodox Church. Despite the small percentage of Orthodox out of the Finnish population (1%), the Finnish Orthodox Church is a very active one. It is also worth noticing that most immigrants coming to Finland are either Orthodox, Catholic or Muslims, not Lutherans. It is also an interesting Finnish phenomenon that every year a small number Lutherans (mostly not active in their church, however) convert into Catholic or Orthodox faith.

People’s opinions on icons vary greatly inside the Lutheran Church. The significance of images has been noticed in the retreat movement and in local Lutheran parishes. Liturgical vestments and colours are used in every single local church. People have started to speak about spirituality again. Pilgrimages are more popular now than ever. People desire silence in front of mystery and want to experience holiness. Seeing an icon in church, parish house or during a lesson for confirmands or Sunday school children is not unusual at all. Parishes make visits to icon exhibitions and individual parish members have icons at home. Old churches in Finland are or have been decorated all over with images which communicated the events from Old and New Testament to the illiterate people through their vision. Even though God can be served in the middle of the most every day (family) life and work, Lutheran theology has a place for spirituality, visual piety and images. Word and image can work powerfully together. The culture of hearing does not need to exclude the culture of seeing. The popular reception of icons among ordinary Lutheran Christians tell something about the importance of visual side in believing. The attempt to return “back to the roots” of the early church is very important for Lutheran self-understanding. Re-formation tried to restore the old, genuine tradition and not to invent new doctrines. Therefore returning back to the history even before Christian Churches (Egyptian religions), early church history, old church art and history of Byzantine icon, would be important for discussion on genuine Christian image.

Despite the positive reception of icons among the Lutherans in Finland, one can also find opposing voices of people who see icons as poor quality art which lack spirituality or as an inappropriate loan which waters down the true message of Christianity or at least Lutheranism which is not about feelings but the mercy of God. The old misunderstanding that the Orthodox adore the picture, which is against the Old Testament commandments, can still be heard from the mouth of some elderly people. People understand the educational purpose of icon very well and can read fluently colours and symbols such as dove, rainbow, ship, fish or Christ monogram (Greek letters XP) in church art, but many people cannot understand the other purpose of icon: why an icon is for example kissed or carried in a procession. Among many Lutherans, icon is seen and accepted as an image which can help in prayer by gathering and directing our thoughts towards God and the heavenly reality, opening a window into heavens in this sense, but God’s mysterious presence in icon does not usually belong to people’s understanding on icons. Miracle making icons cause uncertainty: can God make miracles through the icon and why is an icon needed for that? If God wanted, He could make miracles even without it. There are cases when the parish has been considering to acquire an icon but the parish council has not been able to agree on it. At the same time when some people see icons as the only genuine church art, there are projects to promote the use of modern art in the church. Sometimes the biggest distance of opinions can be noticed inside the church, not necessarily among the different churches. The theology of image and icons needs more discussion inside the Lutheran church and in an ecumenical environment to overcome the prejudices with correct information. In Finland where Lutheran and Orthodox Church live as neighbours, speak the same language and share the same society, and where bilateral ecumenical negotiations exist and work well, there would be many good opportunities for it.

Conclusion
Being intuitive and describing the unseen realities in a seen form, the icon can bring together spiritualities over denominational borders that aim to contemplate the divine realities. A new interest to spirituality and the rise of the retreat movement in many Protestant churches have brought also icons inside the rooms where one would never have expected to see them. Ecumenical dialogues have helped churches of the Reformation to overcome prejudices and deepen their understanding on religious iconography even though further discussion is needed. Different churches’ teaching on icons are not identical but not complete opposites either. A common ground for discussions can be found. Nowadays icons are painted not only in the Orthodox Church but also by Catholic and Protestant Christians, many of whom also pray with the help of icons.

The future of icons seems to develop in an ecumenical environment. After 500 years of iconoclastic debates, after Reformation brought to a halt the development of Christian images and after the Catholic Church came to inflate the role of images and decorations within the churches during Counter-Reformation, but also after the Orthodox Church has understood the importance of its rich artistic heritage and the will to share it with other churches, the icon has a certain future. Some new traditions will develop in the spirit of biblical thought and reinterpreting the themes of ancient iconography. The body of Christ will be the only supreme instance that would approve or reject defective techniques, artistic visions and theology.

Literature on icons:
Council of Nicea (787) - Icon and logos: Sources in eighth-century iconoclasm : an annotated translation of the sixth session of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicea, 787), containing the definition of the Council of Constantinople (754) and its refutation, and the definition of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
Dyonisyos of Furna - The Technique of Byzantine Icon.
Paul Evdokimov - The art of the Icon.
Pavel Florensky - The Iconostasis.
Ambrosios Giakalis - Images of the Divine: The Theology of Icons at the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
Nikolai Ozolin - The Image of God, the Image of Man.
Leonid Ouspensky & Vladimir Lossky - The Meaning of Icons.
Jaroslav Pelikan - Imago Dei: The Byzantine Apologia for icons.
Egon Sendler - The Icon. Image of the Invisible.
Thomas Spidlik - Faith and Icon.
Evgeny Trubetskoy - Three Essays on Icon.

Written by Lucian Dragos, a Master of Theology from Romania and Laura Hytti, a Student of Theology from Finland

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