Heaven on Earth
The use of icons within the Eastern Orthodox Church cannot be understood apart from the whole context of worship. Eastern Orthodox services strive to reflect heavenly realities in their services with candles, incense, icons, and a
The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian group in the world (after the Roman Catholic Church). It is made up of more than twenty national churches that are in communion with each other. The Eastern Orthodox Church has many ethnic manifestations around the world but shares a common theology.
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One can visit any branch of the Orthodox Church — Greek, Romanian, Georgian, and so on — for a Sunday service, and while the worship may have some ethnic and cultural variations from one church to the next, it will be essentially the same service, a liturgy that is more than 1,500 years old.
Other than Christ, there is no single figure within Eastern Orthodox iconography who is depicted more than the Virgin Mary. Her face is beloved because it was her face that most resembled Christ's face — she was his closest biological kin, and it was she who experienced the quickening of Christ in her womb.
Orthodox Christians also find theological support for creating and honoring icons through the event of the Incarnation. According to Orthodox theology, if Christ could take on human form, then he could be depicted in earthly ways. Within the East, however, statues have never been embraced. Eastern Christians have been historically wary toward statues because of their lifelike qualities.
According to official Eastern Orthodox teaching, it is unacceptable as well to create images of God the Father because no living human has seen God the Father. An exception is made for depicting, for example, the “Ancient of Days” figure of the prophet Daniel's vision in Daniel 7:9 because this refers to what he
