Re: Why Icons Cannot Preach the Gospel
| Posted On: 10/04/06 10:51:48 AM |
Age 54, MN |
I too do not believe icons can teach the Gospel. However, I do believe that icons (pictures, statues, etc.) can be effective tools to assist us in teaching the word of God.
We use picture books to teach our children. How else would they be better able to grasp the concept of Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, The Good Shepherd, or an Empty Tomb? A picture is worth a thousand words. Use them!
Is it only the written word of God we should believe? If so, then we may as well eliminate the spoken word. Or maybe a written word is an icon and a spoken word is the truth? Taken to an extreme, neither is acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to take away valuable tools for teaching the Gospel.
Ray
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- Re: Re: Why Icons Cannot Preach the Gospel
| Posted On: 10/05/06 08:36:20 AM | | Age 46, MN |
Pictures are worth a thousand different words - words with different and even contradictory messages. Often the message that they are intended to convey is vague and confusing. Which one is true? We will not find the truth in a picture.
Example: Rainbow - What does it mean?
There are many myths, legends, and folk stories concerning the rainbow. Poets have also speculated on the rainbow and given it a personal, mystical meaning - different for each person. The picture of the rainbow evokes thousands of words, not all of them are true or valid. Some claim that there is a pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow. Others think it is simply a thing of beauty.
Because of God's revelation given to us in words that were written by Moses, we know what the rainbow means, and what it doesn't mean. It is not simply "personal" or subjective but a reality declared by God.
We know for certain what the rainbow means and what it is intended to convey because of the words Moses wrote in Genesis. God tells us,
"I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.
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- Re: Re: Why Icons Cannot Preach the Gospel
| Posted On: 10/04/06 03:26:24 PM | | Age 55, MN |
You miss the point. The words of the gospel are powerful because they are from God. The ideas they convey are God speaking to us. This is true whether written in a leather bound Bible, preached on a street corner, or written in a tract, or through any other media. Words convey meaning. Pictures are not worth a thousand words. That is worldly wisdom. Perhaps you should read what Paul wrote in Romans 10 and let it sink in.
Bob
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Re: Why Icons Cannot Preach the Gospel
| Posted On: 10/03/06 12:04:09 PM |
Age 50, TX |
Right on the money! Too many people want to play games with God's Word to justify their sinful desires. Words have meaning and His Words have unchanging meaning. pictures may convey a thousand words, but - as pointed out in the article - unless the picture (or icon) is defined (with words) it cannot be properly understood.
Quite franky, this is what caused me to struggle with the movie, "End of the Spear". I knew the story and the results of the slaughter, but could not comprehend why serious missionaries would head into known danger without being able to communicate (make use of words).
God did not model that behavior, nor endorse it in His Word.
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