Icon

Highly stylized portrait of Christ or the saints, intended to focus the mind of the viewer upon their subject and encourage imitation of their virtues. The beautiful icons of the Byzantine era were created to become literal windows to Heaven, work miracles. and to look upon its representation. Icons did not portray the presence of God in people's lives, but rather, they enabled the presence of God to come to believers, as their beauty was contemplated. The veneration of the idols suggested that through them God was worshipped; just as through the man Jesus, God was worshipped. (Hill, 135, 141).

Bibliography

Hill, Jonathan. "Early Christianity: A World Religion." Handbook to the History of Christianity. Zondervan, 2006.

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