Icons Are They Idols? The Challenge of Using Icons in Worship in a Multi-Denominational Christian Context

Abstract

As long as we remained within the Orthodox Church circles, worshiping and studying, there was no clear explanation on what icons stands for, or are meant to be. It was after venturing into theological training, at a Protestant ecumenical University, that the challenge of understanding icons was unveiled. Historically, Iconoclasm, a medieval period controversy, led to a schism in the Church and persecutions of the iconodules. Apparently, the persecutions did not bring to an end the question whether icons were idols or not. Listening to the public crusades by Protestant churches, it is not uncommon to hear condemnation of icons, especially from the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. This research article sets on the premise that if transcendentalism, as developed by John Macquarrie and Bernard Lonergan, is used to explain the use of icons in worship, the meaning and use of icons will be understood and thus appreciated in a multi-denominational context. The research was both field and library based. In field research, non-probability sampling was used and data collected was tabulated using nvivo tools.