Through the architecture of our churches and in the sanctity and beauty of our worship, our heartsand minds through our physical eyes are guided by icons to see the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God and the presence ofChrist in our midst. † DEMETRIOS Archbishop of AmericaBeloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As Orthodox Christians and religious educators, we know the important role of iconography in worship and the teachingministries of the parish.
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Gregory of SinaiBut we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the gloryof the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from gloryto glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Emissaries to Prince Vladimir of Kiev, on Hagia SophiaBecome what you already are,Find Him who is already yours,Listen to Him who never ceases speaking to you,Possess Him who already possesses you! St. Wecannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells thereamong men…for we cannot forget that beauty. AthanasiosWe knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surelythere is no such splendor or beauty anywhere upon earth. Theodore the StuditeGod became human so that humans could become God. LewisWe should believe that divine grace is present in the icon of Christ,and that it communicates sanctification to those who draw nearwith faith. Wisdom, Ancient And modernThen God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to ourlikeness let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over thebirds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and overevery creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26The icon…fills a constant task, which has been that of Christian artfrom the beginning: to reveal the true relationships between Godand man….To the disoriented world the icon brings a testimony ofauthenticity, of the reality of another way of life….The icon about God, man, and creation, a new attitude toward the world. We see the figure of Adam depictedin similar colors to the earth around him. Inthis story, we read also read that “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into hisnostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). The first creation story relates that God created humanity-Adam and Eve-at the sametime: “male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).Yet in the second creation story, we read about Eve being formed from the side of Adam (Genesis 2:18–22). In the Creed,we recite that Christ is “true God of true God” and “begotten before the ages,” reminding us that He existedbefore the creation. Theicon reminds us of the presence of the Holy Trinity in creation by depicting Christ as the creator. In Genesis 1:2, we read about “the spirit” moving across the waters. God speaks in the plural voice, as we see in the icon: “Let us…accordingto our likeness.” This reminds us that God exists as three persons, the Holy Trinity, and all three persons arepresent in the creation of the world. There areseveral noteworthy details in this story. It depicts elements of both the first and second creation stories, in Genesis 1 and 2, respectively.At the end of the first creation story, God creates humanity, the culmination of His creative endeavor. The quote at the top of the icon is Genesis 1:26.
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T his is an icon of the creation of Adam.