Parthenon<\/a>, a temple for the Greek goddess Athena. The name comes from Athena\u2019s title Parthenos \u2014 \u201cvirgin\u201d \u2014 and if you head indoors you can see all fourteen yards of the old girl, decked out in gold.<\/p>\nNo one in the ancient pagan world had any trouble imagining what gods and goddesses looked like. A person could just walk into a local temple and see. Or maybe look at the little idols they kept tucked in corner at home.<\/p>\n
Of course, for the Christian none of those gods are real, but that doesn\u2019t lessen the impulse to see God. Can we know what God looks like?<\/p>\n
No one has seen God, except\u2026<\/h3>\n
The initial answer might seem like a negative. God is spirit and is invisible. \u201cYou cannot see my face,\u201d God himself says in Exodus, \u201cfor man shall not see me and live\u201d (33.20). John picks this up in the first chapter of his gospel. \u201cNo one has ever seen God,\u201d he says in verse 18.<\/p>\n
But Jesus changed that. If he is God, as Christians say, then God became visible in the Incarnation. John records an exchange between Jesus and his disciple Philip that underscores the point. \u201cHe who has seen me has seen the Father\u201d (14.9).<\/p>\n
Prior to the Incarnation, to see God was to see an angel representing him. There are several instances of this in the Old Testament \u2014 Jacob wrestling with God, Moses catching a glimpse of his retreating form, and others. We call these theophanies<\/em> or divine appearances. <\/p>\nBut then came Christ in the flesh. Jesus, says Paul, \u201cis the image [icon] of the invisible God\u201d (Col 1.15).<\/p>\n
The icon of God<\/h3>\n
Unlike Athena, Jesus actually walked among people and lived in their sight, which is to say that God walked among people and lived in their sight. If you had your phone, you could have Instagrammed him. (Exactly what filter does a person use on God?)<\/p>\n
The patristic writers use exactly this logic to explain their use and veneration of painted icons of Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could the invisible be depicted? How could the unimaginable be portrayed?\u201d asks John Damascene in his Third Treatise on the Divine Images<\/em>. \u201cFor is now clear that you cannot depict the invisible God.\u201d <\/p>\nBut, he adds, \u201c[w]hen you see the bodiless become human for your sake, then you may accomplish the figure of a human form; when the invisible becomes visible in the flesh, then you may depict the likeness of something seen. . . .\u201d Pointing to the saving deeds of the Incarnate Son, he says, \u201cDepict all these in words and in colors. . .\u201d (8).<\/p>\n
People have not only seen God, but we will one day see him again. In the meantime, we remember his earthly ministry and eternal rule by reflecting upon Scripture, singing hymns, and beholding and venerating icons.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Downtown Nashville features a full-size reproduction of the Parthenon, a temple for the Greek goddess Athena. The name comes from Athena\u2019s title Parthenos \u2014 \u201cvirgin\u201d \u2014 and if you head indoors you can see all fourteen yards of the old girl, decked out in gold. No one in the ancient pagan world had any trouble […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[941,804,367,942,940],"class_list":["post-5943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology","tag-athena","tag-icons","tag-john-damascene","tag-nashville","tag-parthenon"],"yoast_head":"\n
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