Imago Dei: The Byzantine Apologia for Icons

(Paperback, Revised edition)

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Charts the theological defense of icons during the Iconoclastic controversies of the eighth and ninth centuries, whose high point came in AD 787, when the Second Council of Nicaea restored the cult of images in the church. This title demonstrates how the dogmas of the Trinity and the Incarnation eventually provided the basic rationale for images.

Reviews

"[Pelikan's] extraordinary breadth as a historian, not to mention his mastery of the Christian theological traditions, enables him to establish a proper context and a necessary rhetoric for the exploration of Byzantine icons."--John Wesley Cook, Theology Today "[T]his book is genuine cause for celebration. I look forward to recommending it heartily to students and colleagues alike."--Alexander Golitzin, Patristics "The book is beautifully produced and lavishly illustrated. Instructive and pleasing, Imago Dei repays both close reading and close viewing."--Cross Currents "[L]ucid, crisp, inclusive, comprehensive, and articulate."--Daniel J. Sahas, History of Christianity "Pelikan clearly delineates the path the theological defense of icons took during the iconoclastic controversies of the eighth and ninth centuries ... Commendably Pelikan addresses the role played by the other senses in the defense of icons. The fact that touch, taste, audition and smell were acceptable made it easier to argue for the place of the visual."--Theological Studies

Author Bio

Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006) was the author of more than thirty books, including the five-volume "Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine". In 2004, he received the John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences.