By Chanter Christopher

Introduction

I don’t know if you can recall the night that you and I went out to dinner and I expressed the fact that Gerard Bruno, Fr. Zosima and I were in an ongoing theological debate about the significance of icons in relation to the Orthodox Church. At that point at time I was aware that the icon was considered a holy mystery like the many others, and that the Orthodox Church viewed icons as much more than representational art, or teaching art for the illiterate masses, which was an obvious western view of the world. But what I could not understand is that why icons had to be two-dimensional forms, and not be three-dimensional forms (i.e. Statuary). The main question, which had been nagging my brain, was that: could the statue not express the same spiritual truths of the Orthodox Church which were found in icons and if not then why? However since talking with you that night, plus doing extensive research into the question, and after having a sort of revelation tonight as I am writing to you I believe that I have finally solved the question.

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