Icons and Beyond

Icons have been a tool for the spiritual seeker since the first century of the Christian Church. Icons, like most religious art, can inspire us and remind us of biblical truths. How is an icon different from other religious art, such as a Rembrandt painting? Why are icons regarded as windows into the spiritual world? Can sacred art support us in our spiritual journey, in our encounter with the Divine? Can anything, merely material, do this, and how?  This lecture explores the role of icons in our spiritual path: as the bible in pictures, as theology in symbols, as theophanic sacred art.