Finally, certain pious believers of the Eastern Orthodox religion trust in the miraculous appearance of icons, also referred to as images “not made by hands” (Benz 7). Besides the literal implication of the word icon, one can consider Christ himself to be, in sort, an icon. According to Saint John of Damascus, an “image is a likeness, an exemplar or figure of something” by which Christ can be considered the icon of God.1 This being, as per Eastern Orthodoxy, was not created by the hands of any painter but miraculously emerged of an immaculate conception and, with allusion to icons, represented the holiness of God in heaven, just as icons epitomize their sacred archetypes of the celestial world. Icons also have a counterpart in the relationship between man and God, with respect to the belief that He created man in his image. Symbolically, the suggestion that men were created in the image of God infers the idea that all men carry around the icon of God within themselves for they have a certain correspondence to God.1 Additionally, the concept of the divine logos as being the “image of the Father” (Benz 19) that has been tarnished by the primordial sin and the consequent redemption in the form of Jesus Christ plays an essential task in the Christology of Eastern Orthodoxy. By His death upon the cross, man’s stained image is renewed in the image of Jesus Christ as Jesus renews his image in the image of God.1

Some topics in this essay:
Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Orthodoxy, Orthodox Christians, , Christ Jesus, Orthodox Church, John Damascus, Orthodoxy1 Unlike, Father” Benz, Michael III, eastern orthodox, eastern orthodoxy, eastern orthodox church, icons represented, jesus christ, orthodox faith, icon painting, orthodox christians, nature icons, eastern orthodox faith, celestial world, orthodox church,