Simple Question

[Bulldog]

What are the purpose of icons?

[Oblio]

There is no simple answer.

They are the word of God, a visual revealing of God and His grace to man.
They are an affirmation of the Incarnation of the Word
They are windows to heaven
They bring us closer to God through their use in prayer
They guard against heresy
They instruct and inspire those that cannot read or hear

Just some thoughts ...

[Moros]

Think of it this way kiddo.

You want to focus your thoughts on your girlfriend. What better to assist you than an image?

[Cradle]

What are the purpose of icons?

Same purpose as the photographs of our beloved people.

I.e. they concentrate our mind on the person depicted. They remind us of their lives and good example. They provide the physical means for us to express our respect and love for the person depicted, and to ask for their prayers to the Lord for us.

You can think of all sorts of analogies : it's not uncommon that people who are in love, physically kiss the photo of the object of their love, when he or she is away. When men have to be away from their families for a period of time, they often take photos of their wives and children with them. We also all keep photos of our diseased. Clearly all these do not come from and do not show any feelings for the photo as a piece of paper, but for the person on it.

[Moros]

That was a great answer. Kudos.

[Alfred M]

Although they truly are windows to heaven, I always tend to think of them from this point of view...

I think of my grandmother's house and that all down the hall she had a MULTITUDE of framed pictures hanging on each wall. They were all of family and friends and as she had lived in that house for decades, the pictures were hung almost in a timeline type fashion. You could see the entire family history portrayed and they became a teaching tool for the younger kids...they would always ask who someone was and that was the opportunity to learn about the family. One could stroll down memory lane and look at the pictures and see those that had passed before them, yet know that their lives had great meaning to those of us carrying on the family "traditions". And yes, at times you would see grandma or someone else stop and kiss one of the pictures...not out of grief at this point, but to show the continuance of the love that had been, and still was, alive. That love was continuing...it had not died. You never get tired of looking at those pictures of family hanging there on the walls.

Icons are like that in a way. They represent the multitudes of saints that have passed before. And they offer us a look back and allow us to reflect, learn, and carry on the Traditions that lead us to Christ and His love. We honor them as our brothers and sisters who have best shown through their lives that Christ is alive in us and that we truly are in the communal family of God.

In the love of our Saviour,
Alfred, the lowliest of sinners

[Eusebios]

Hopefully Michael, our resident iconographer will stumble in here at some point and help out.;) I seem to recall that he wrote an excellent article on the subject for the Antiochian Archdioce's magazine WORD a while back. Here is a link (http://www.christianforum.com/t670600) to another discussion here on CF where he does a wonderful job talking about the ins and outs of iconography. There are also some links provided by another poster.
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.
:bow:

[Moros]

John of Damascus: In Defense of Icons, c. 730

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/johndam-icons.html

[xenia]

I remember when I contemplated attending my first Orthodox service. I had done some reading and was pretty much prepared to like everything except the icons, about which I had reservations. To my amazement, when I entered the Church and beheld them, I was filled with unexpected JOY! It was just like Alfred's grandmother's house- full of pictures of my relatives. I felt like this place was my HOME.

Love, Xenia

[Matthias]

Oh my word, these are all such excellent replies, I can't add anything further. Great stuff, all!