Sometimes when I pray I have images in my head. A tool C.S. Lewis suggests of the demons in the The Screwtape Letters letter four is to use pictures and icons as things that distract us from the very nature of the true God. We start to worship these icons because our focus is off the true God. This seems to be a big debate in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions which are full of icons. Are they praying to God through the icon or are they praying directly to the icon. There is a fine distinction to be made, but like Lewis cleverly points out, demons will use these fine lines to blur and take our minds off the real God. A critique of this is this, can we ever know the real God. In my opinion we can never know God in his fullness. We can know parts of God but never in full. So even though images are incomplete and can be used as ends in themselves to represent God overall, I feel icons and images are good because they, instead of distracting us can focus us more on God, the mysterious one we do not know in full. Has anyone ever had problems with iconic prayer?
Labels: Iconic Prayer
posted by Anonymous at 8:37 AM
1 Comments:
Certainly,
"Screwtape Letters", shows us the way in which the Devil can make people worship images, while at the same time forgetting whom is to be praised. This is nothing new under the sun. St. Paul writes to the Church at Rome of those who were worshipping the created rather than the creator.
That ought to be avoided. Another thing I am hesitant with in icons is that of the icon losing its value. You look at the same icon day after day and you begin to forget the profoundness that that icon is supposed to relay to you. I am not a big fan of icons.
They do have their advantages if used diligently. For in praying while looking at, for instance, a picture of Jesus, it helps us reflect upon Jesus better, just as in Jesus used objects in the physical world (such as bread) to show the disciples the profoundness of his teachings.
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