Holberg seminar

Danish Institute at Athens

Eternity in the theology of icon

Dr Vladimir Cvetkovic, University of Aarhus

The theology of icon

A set of dogmatic

presuppositions of
Christian iconography that
regards icons as the
images of holy people of
God, who are represented
in the Kingdom of God as
transformed by the divine
grace.

Christs crucifixion in the historical perspective

Jesus the Nazarean, King of the Jews

Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum

Christs crucifixion in eschatological perspective

The Jesus the

Nazarean, King of Glory

B
(Slavonic)
If there is no
resurrection of the dead,
then not even Christ
was risen (1 Cor 15:13).

Pentecost
Not a single historical

event,
The permanent

revelation of the Church

as an eschatological
sanctified community of
the Apostles

Time and eternity in Christian theology

The Person of Jesus Christ = the ultimate reference for the

Church.
the Christian understanding of time and eternity is shaped by

both the commemoration of the historical events and persons

and expectation of realization of glorious kingdom.
Time is brought to completion at each of its moments
The eternal Kingdom is placed, not only after the end of history,

but also after each particular moment of time within history.

The four categories of temporal and eternal reality

physical time - ,
eschatological time - ,
timeless category of age - and
divine eternity - .

The physical time X

St Maxim the Confessor:
everything that is after God and has

come into being from God, [that] is the

nature of beings and time and

everything is certainly in time, since

everything that possesses existence after

God possesses this existence in a certain
way and not simply

distinguishes being on beginning,

middle and end, by introducing as certain

temporal distance ()

has measured movement, which is

circumscribed by number.

The physical time X

St Augustine of Hippo
We cannot say that time exist

except in the sense that it tends

toward non-existence


St Gregory of Nyssa

Two criteria of the good: 1) measure ()

and
2) opportune moment () for action.

A measure is connected to the , while the

good or opportune moment () for good is

determined by time as season ().

= vertical, discontinuous and repetitious time

= horizontal, continuous and extensive time.


St Maximus the Confessor:

All these things, things present and things to come, have

not been brought into being contemporary with their being
known by God; rather each was created in an appropriate way
according to its logos at the proper time ( )
according to the wisdom of the maker, and each acquired
concrete actual existence in itself.

logoi or reasons of time (

) abide in God


St Maximus the Confessor
For time () is , when movement is stilled, and

is time, when it is measured by movement, since, by definition,

is time deprived of movement, and time is measured
by movement.

Begging, middle, and end are characteristics of being

distinguished by time () and it can be truly stated that

they are also characteristics of beings comprehended in .
Indeed time (), which has measured movement, is
circumscribed by number, and , which includes in its
existence the category of when, admits separation insofar as it
began to be. And if time and are not without beginning, so
much less are those things which are contained in them.


tn anwn adithti
Jesus is the universal successor of time and

(Maximus the Confessor)

Time and Eternity in the Eucharistic Liturgy

Liturgies of
St Basil the Great (celebrated only 10 times a year),
St John Chrystostom

Liturgy of catechumens 1st part

The first entrance of the

bishop in the holy Church for

the sacred synaxis is a figure
and image of the first
appearance in the flesh of
Jesus Christ the Son of God
and our Saviour in this
world.(Mystagogy)
It is time () for the

Lord to act (
).

Liturgy of faithful 2nd part

After the divine reading of the Gospel the bishop descends

from his throne It signifies and figures by itself the truth, of it

is an image and figure, as if proclaiming thereby that after
having preached, as is written, the Gospel of the kingdom in
the whole world as a witness to all the Gentiles, the end will
appear in the second coming of our great God and Saviour
Jesus Christ from the Heavens in glory (Mystagogy)

The Cherubic hymn symbolically incorporates those present at

the liturgy into the presence of the angels gathered around

God's throne.

Remembering all those things

which came to pass for us: the
cross, the grave, the resurrection
on the third day, the ascension
into heaven, the sitting down at
the right hand, the second and
glorious coming

The Eucharist
By Holy Communion of the

spotless and life-giving

mysteries we are given
fellowship and identity with him
[Christ] by participation in
likeness, by which man is
deemed worthy from man to
become God.(Myst. 24, 2)

Time and eternity in the theology of icons

Byzantine iconography like

Byzantine liturgy always

represents the
eschatological events, even
when it depicts events from
the past.

in the iconography

The summation of time

the summation in time is

to convey the movement

of the depicted figure by
combining different
stages in the figures
motion

A complex translation
A repetition with the limits of single representation of a certain

figure in various positions or situations

A complex translation

The summation in space

deformation of the object of summation.

The summation of space

representation of separate moments in the single scene

and in the iconography

Dionysius the Areopagate (CE):
Every good endowment and every perfect gift

from above, coming down from the Father of

light. But there is something more. Inspired by
the Father each procession of the Light spread
itself generously toward us, and, in its power to
unify, it stirs by lifting us up. It returns us back to
the oneness and deifying simplicity of the Father
who gathers us in. For, as the sacred Word says,
from him and to him are all things.

Let us, then, call upon Jesus, the Light of the

Father, the true light enlightening every man

coming into the world, through whom we have
obtained access to the Father, the light which is
source of all light.

Angelic realm

The name cherubim signifies the power to know and to see

God, to receive the greatest gifts of his light, to contemplate the

divine splendour in primordial power, to be filled with the gifts
that bring wisdom and to share these generously with the
subordinates as a part of the beneficent outpouring of wisdom.

The theology of light

face shone like the sun, and

the garments become white

as light (Mt 17,2)
God is called Light not
according to His Essence,
but according to His energy.
(St. Gregory Palamas)

The testimony of the divine light

St Symeon the New Theologian
One day he was standing in this fashion and was
saying out loud: "O God be merciful to me a
sinner" (more in the spirit than using his mouth),
when suddenly there shone on him in great
profusion a divine illumination from on high which
entirely filled that place. Thereupon the young
man was no longer aware of himself. He could
not remember whether he was in a house or
even under a roof at all. For all around he could
only see the light. Even if his feet were on the
ground he was not aware of it; he had no fear of
falling, no care in this world. Nothing of what
touches a man, or beings endowed with a body,
could then touch his thought for he forgot the
entire world and was altogether present in that
immaterial light, and was even himself, or so it
seemed to him, become light. (Discourse 22)

The characteristics of the divine light

the great profusion of a

divine illumination is
from on high.
entirely filled the
space.
illuminates the saints
centrally.
rays create a centripetal
lightening on each
figure.

The characteristics of the divine light

he could not remember whether he was in a house or even

under a roof at all. For all around he could only see the light

The characteristics of the divine light

It [light] expelled from me all material denseness and bodily

heaviness that made my members [bodily parts] to be sluggish

and numb

Conclusion

The icon does not transmit our ideas about Christ and the

saints, but it helps us to establish a relationship with their very

true and eternal identity as is it perceived by God in the
uncrated light of His presence.