Many people find an interest in the Orthodox Church, namely its devotion to keeping fast the the traditions of their forefathers [1], but for many, the sight of holy icons throughout the church can be a bit daunting.

Many ask how can Christians venerate icons if we are to worship God alone.

The answer is we as a Church ascribe the divine glory due to God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one in essence, three in distinction) alone [2]. The only image we worship is Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God [3].

Holy iconography takes its roots in the Incarnation, in which God the Word was made human flesh [4].

It is true that in the Old Covenant, God took no form and thus prohibited images of Him [5], but the Incarnation changed that. The Word took upon our human flesh to restore the image of God in us that was damaged, thus bringing it back to its glorified state.

St. Athanasios the Great said, "God became man so that man might become God"[6].

Theosis is participation in God's energies; so we can never ontologically become God in His essence. Hence St. Peter remains St. Peter, St. Mary Magdalen remains St. Mary Magdalen, etc.

This means we are participants in Christ's divine nature [7], thus those saints who have persevered to the end of their earthly lives [8] are glorified in Christ [9] and Christ is glorified in them [10].

Because of this not only are holy icons of the Lord Jesus venerated but so are images of His brothers and sisters, and of course His Mother.

For us, holy icons are not just pictures, they tell stories, be it of the Lord, His Mother, a saint, a biblical event, or the life of a saint. That is why those who make holy icons are called "icon writers" instead of "icon drawers".

From the earliest days of Christianity, churches were adored with images of Christ, His Mother, the saints and biblical events. These catacombs were frequently used as churches, namely during the burial of a loved one or times of persecution. These images were part of the services of the early Church.

In fact, the Gnostic pseudo-gospel—dated from the late 1st century to the early 2nd century—criticized the practice of iconodulia, namely the placement of candles before the icon of a saint. This document is called the Acts of John (27-9).

Objection to the veneration of holy icons, a.k.a. aniconism, is thus rooted in Gnosticism which rejected the material world as evil and was this not worth veneration or even admiration.

This Gnostic aniconism made its way into Islam and even into the Byzantine Empire with the iconoclastic controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries; it was so violent it became iconoclasm, which means the smashing of images.

During this time, St. John of Damascus surmised, "I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take his abode in matter; who worked out my salvation through matter" [11]. He defended the honor given to holy images even from earlier Fathers such as St. Basil the Great who wrote, "the honor given to the image is transferred to its prototype" [12].

Later in this period of medieval Byzantine history, the Second Council of Nicæa defended the honoring of holy images. It based it's defense of iconodulia on many grounds, one which was the Incarnation.

Just as the images of the Old Covenant—the Ark of the Covenant and the bronze serpent—were a pattern of the Incarnation [13], so are images in the Church a reference to the Incarnation.

[1] II Thessalonians 2:15

[2] Isaiah 42:6

[3] Colossians 2:15

[4] John 1:1-14

[5] Deuteronomy 4:15

[6] St. Athanasios the Great, On the Incarnation, 54:3

[7] II Peter 1:4

[8] Matthew 24:13

[9] Romans 8:17

[10] II Thessalonians 1:10

[11] St. John of Damascus, On Holy Images, 1:16

[12] ibid, cf. St. Basil the Great, Letters on the Holy Spirit, 18

[13] Hebrews 8:5