Mullasadra
New Member
I think there is an important thing to take into account when we look at the history of Icons, Statues and other religious artifacts in chirstianity.
One important factor in the rise of such relics and their use is the absorbtion of the Hellenic world into christian doctorine, especially when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire.
As you all know Hellenic religions, this includes Rome of course, had its pantheon and its gods that formed a crucial part of both public and private observance. Statue building was not just an act of worship but a statement of politcal intent and grounding of dogma.
We know through Tacitus, and other writers the key role that public offering and observance had in legitimising state actions as well as the ideals of Rome. Greece, of course, had the parthenon which performed a similar function.
It is interesting then, that once Christianity came to the fore, the power and function of Statue building and relics came to the fore. Certainly, Hajra Sofia and other works by the Byzantine Empire show this to be true.
On a private level it also made the idea of relics more palatable to the general public and part of what was understood as christianity by the "East" or those closest to the orginial Jewish interpretations of early christianity.
Its modern expression I suppose can be seen in the face of Zeus as God in the Cistine chapel.
One important factor in the rise of such relics and their use is the absorbtion of the Hellenic world into christian doctorine, especially when Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire.
As you all know Hellenic religions, this includes Rome of course, had its pantheon and its gods that formed a crucial part of both public and private observance. Statue building was not just an act of worship but a statement of politcal intent and grounding of dogma.
We know through Tacitus, and other writers the key role that public offering and observance had in legitimising state actions as well as the ideals of Rome. Greece, of course, had the parthenon which performed a similar function.
It is interesting then, that once Christianity came to the fore, the power and function of Statue building and relics came to the fore. Certainly, Hajra Sofia and other works by the Byzantine Empire show this to be true.
On a private level it also made the idea of relics more palatable to the general public and part of what was understood as christianity by the "East" or those closest to the orginial Jewish interpretations of early christianity.
Its modern expression I suppose can be seen in the face of Zeus as God in the Cistine chapel.