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| Elijah and the Chariot of Israel from the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts |
Depictions of the Chariot of Israel were of special interest to me, because of my Bible slide lecture on that topic, tracing the evolving and devolving imagery of "chariot" from one end of the Bible to the other.
An icon that kept pulling me back for more viewing appeared almost foolish at first, a saint squeezed into the top of a narrow stone tower. But this was Simeon Stylites, a Syrian of the 5th Century who spent his adult life in solitary prayer on that tower, alone but not incommunicado. He was not merely praying into the wind, for he accomplished numerous recorded healings. Who knew? Not me. In fact, creation of many of the icons was inspired by spiritual healings accomplished by the devout Christians depicted.
Icons were not just an element of church decoration for veneration. They were also a grounding element within most Christian homes in Rus (early name for Russia). By the time of the Bolshevik Revolution in the early 20th Century, it is estimated that there were more than 20 million icons in Russia. The Communists destroyed all they could get their hands on.
The icons had been under attack once before. The Early Christian Church had held to the second commandment, prohibiting the making of graven images, and this new phenomenon was at first seen as breaking that law. Icons, murals, and other church art was destroyed by edict of Emperor Leo III. Owners of icons could be maimed; some were executed. The Council of Nicaea in 787 eased the authorities back from the brink of holocaust by saying icons were OK as long as it was understood that the image itself was not being venerated, but the person or event to which it referred. One can go a step further and honor the power impelling the people, events, and healings.
