Jamie: Okay, so these are... like Christian anime merch, right?
Moderator: Not quite. Icons aren’t just art. They’re windows.
Jamie: Windows? Like... to heaven?
Moderator: Exactly. Not decoration — participation.
Moderator: In the beginning, God made us in His image. When Christ became human, He made the invisible visible.
Jamie: So God basically said, ‘Take my picture’?
Moderator: And we’ve been painting it with reverence ever since.
Jamie: But weren’t images banned in the Old Testament?
Moderator: Yes — when they tried to depict God without His permission. But in Christ, God gave permission. In fact, tradition holds that the first icon was made by Him.
Jamie: The towel one?
Moderator: The Image Not Made by Hands. Like a divine selfie.
Jamie: But don’t people worship these?
Moderator: No more than you ‘worship’ a photo of your grandma. We venerate — not worship. Love has a face.
Moderator: Icons aren’t just beautiful. They teach. Every color, gesture, and background tells a story.
Moderator: In an age when most people couldn’t read, these icons were their only Bible — their only exposure to the lives of Christ and the saints.
Jamie: So they’re like stained-glass sermons.
Moderator: Exactly. But portable. And holy.
Jamie: So why did some Christians smash them all?
Moderator: In the 700s, the Byzantine Empire had a serious anti-icon movement. They thought images of Christ dishonored His divinity.
Jamie: But isn’t the whole point of the Incarnation that He became visible?
Moderator: That’s what the defenders of icons said — especially St. John of Damascus.
Jamie: And the Protestants?
Moderator: Some, like the English Puritans, smashed stained glass, icons, even crosses. They feared anything ‘Catholic.’ Beauty was seen as a distraction.
Jamie: So we traded gold leaf for beige carpet.
Moderator: Not all Protestants rejected beauty. But many feared what they didn’t understand.
Jamie: So why do Catholics use statues and Orthodox don’t?
Moderator: Both honor saints and the Theotokos. Rome uses statues and icons. The East uses only icons — flat, stylized, symbolic.
Jamie: So Catholics sculpt. Orthodox paint.
Moderator: And both are trying to honor the mystery of God-made-visible.
Jamie: My church had a fog machine. Yours has gold leaf and candles.
Moderator: One tries to create atmosphere. The other reveals presence.
Jamie: So the icon isn’t just looking at me… I’m being seen?
Moderator: And invited in.
Jamie: So I don’t have to ‘understand’ icons to receive what they offer?
Moderator: No. You just open the window. And let the light in.
An artistic representation of the moment the “Icon Not Made by Hands” was formed—said to be the first icon, created without human touch.
Next time on The TheoLounge: “Are We Friends Yet?”