Orthodox Christians look towards East while praying? Is this mere tradition or does this have any Biblical Proofs.
Firstly and foremost, Bible do not give readymade answers to all our queries, however we get many clues from which we can understand or we do have the church fathers who have already found the answers and have conceded it over to us.
Looking towards East however does have many biblical proofs. East is the only significant direction in the Bible. Examining few Biblical versus will help.
Bible says …
Ezekiel 43: 1-2, The man took me to the gate that faces the East, and there I saw coming from East the dazzling light of the presence of God of Israel.
Ezekiel 43: 4, The dazzling light passed through the east gate and went into the temple.
Ezekiel 10:19, They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I was watching, and the wheels went with them. They paused at the East gate of the temple, and the dazzling light was over them.
Ezekiel 44:1-2, The man led me to the outer gate at the East gate of the temple area. The gate was closed, and the Lord said to me, ‘This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I the Lord God of Israel have entered through it.
Isaiah 41:2, ‘‘ Who was it that brought the conqueror from the East, and makes him triumphant wherever he goes ’’
Isaiah 46:11, I am calling a man to come from the East, he will scoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned.
Matthew 24:27, For the son of man will come like lightening which flashes across the whole sky from the East to the West.
Genesis 3:24, Then at the East side of the Garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions.
Genesis 2:8, Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed.
Church Fathers says …
St.John of Damascus: While we wait for the coming of the Lord “we adore Him facing East ’’.
On Veneration of ICONS
Technically the Veneration of Statues is not wrong according to Orthodox Faith.
The Temple of Jerusalem was full of statues and carvings of the angels.
But the early christians never used statues, because the early christians were mostly semitic people(jews). The art of sculpture was not popular in middle east and neither was it encouraged by the jewish religious leaders.
The Veneration of 3D Icons(Statues) develop only later among the Roman Converts, most of whom converted to Christianity as a result of the Emperor’s decree to establish Christianity as the state religion.
Sculpturing was a major industry in the Roman empire(due to the huge business provided by the pagan temples in roman empire). We can find the agitated idol makers of the pagan europe, in the new testament too…i think they were “striking” to arrest st.Paul or something..
The sudden advent of Christianity led to a “recession” for them. But business sense of the Emperor might have lend to Christianity a more Romanist tradition or statues inside places of worship.
Anyway,a Catholic venerating a Statue of St.Mary is not doing anything wrong according to Orthodoxy...b][as long as the thin line between veneration and worship is not broken.
If you saw a statue of ur dead mother, would you not feel love?
Neverthless,it is not in Orthodox or Early Christian culture to have 3D icons(statues).
And the Orthodox Church certainly Condemns certain Unbiblical trends in the Roman Catholic Church such as the parading of the statues of “Fathima matha” across the world.
The numerous “bleeding statues” and crying statues etc which reminds of some other polytheist religions and their idolatrous practises.
Every statue or every picture of a Saint would be equal in merit, ie they represent the Lord and the Saints. There is nothing more to it than that.
The Orthodox practise of 2D Icons inside churches was started by Saint Luke who painted a picture of Saint Mary.
The Excavations at many ancient Jewish synagogues revealed painting on its walls of events from the Bible.
Iconography in Orthodoxy has its origins in the Jewish and Greek cultures.
Jewish Iconography:
* http://www.library.yale.edu/exhibition/judaica/jcsml.2.html
* http://www.pitt.edu/~tokerism/0040/images2/213.jpg
Holy Father St.John of Damascus on Icons.
A movement to destroy Icons(Iconoclasm) started in the 8th century, led the Emperor himself.
So the question of using Icons inside churches was taken up in the Seventh and Last Ecumenical Council of Christianity.(Nicea 787 AD)
This Council of Holy Fathers not only defended the use of icons in churches and homes, but proclaimed the necessity of having them. Holy Father Saint John of Damascus, was the greatest defender of Icons.
These are some of the explanations given by Holy Father Saint John of Damascus:-
He gave an eloquent explanation of icons in three treatises called Against Those Who Attack The Divine Images.
First he reminded his readers that “no created thing can be adored in place of the Creator.” God forbade the making of idols he says, because “it is impossible to make an image of the immeasurable…invisible God.”
YET AT THE SAME TIME, “under the Old Covenant God commanded images to be made: first the tabernacle, and then everything in it”–which included images of angels surmounting the Ark.
Secondly, he explains how God can be portrayed now because He took upon Himself flesh and became man. “If we attempted to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed,” he writes, and “if we made images of men and believed them to be gods…we would be truly impious.
Thirdly, he shows that we do not worship icons, for worship belongs to God alone, but we venerate or show honor to them, for the image is for the image is one thing, and the thing depicted is another,” and he cites the veneration given in Scripture to the rod of Aaron, the jar of manna, and holy places like Mt. Sanai or Golgotha.
Icons are in the words of St. John “opened books to remind us of God.” (indeed ,an icon is a painted image of Christ just as Scripture is a written image of the Saviour.)
Does d 2nd commandment forbid Iconography?
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor shalt thou serve (worship) them…” (Exodus 20:4-5a).
The word used is Graven Image. We are asked not even to “Make unto thee”. We are asked to refrain from even making/creating them!.
So what is this “Graven Image” that God asks NOT EVEN TO MAKE/CREATE???.
If it referred to “images of any kind”, then we cannot make images of Anything,
Then even the picture on a driver’s license violates it, and is an idol. So either every Protestant with a driver’s license is an idolater, or Icons are not idols. Its Common Sense! Any other interpretion would be absolutely stupid.
Leaving aside, for the moment, the meaning of “graven images” lets simply look at what this text actually says about them. You shall not make x, you shall not bow to x, you shall not worship x. If x = image, then the Temple itself violates this Commandment. If x = idol and not all images, then this verse contradicts neither the Icons in the Temple, nor Orthodox Icons.
Also the word used in the Hebrew Bible is “Pesel” which means “PAGAN IDOLS”.
The images inside the Holy Temple of Jerusalem were never described using the word pesel.
Pesel in Hebrew, Eidoloai in Greek and “graven image” in english all refer to pagan idols alone.
{..othervise wed have to stop making toys and all art..ie like the Taliban’s(AlQaeda) interpretation of the 2nd Commandment and what they enforce in SWAT,Pakistan today. Music, Painting, Toys, Chess, Football all are banned}
Thus the 2nd commandment was exclusively to prohibit creation and worship of Pagan Idols. Not to restrict Jewish or Christian Iconography.
Othervise the same God who gave 2nd commandment would not have commanded to have angel images carved onto the Temple.
Links
Icons
The Icon FAQ
http://waysha.com/faq.htm (Very Good article)
Orthodox America
Holy Fathers – On Veneration of Icons (Fr. Alexey Young)
http://www.roca.org/OA/19/19e.htm
Icons and Orthodoxy
http://www.stnicholas-billings.org/Practices/icons.htm
Why Icons?
Jane M. deVyver, M.Th., Ph.D
http://www.firebirdvideos.com/articles/whyicons.htm
The Veneration of Icons
from “The Orthodox Companion”
by Rev. David F. Abramtsov
http://www.orthodoxnet.com/wisdom/hi002.html
