Iconography of Orthodox Theology: The Symbols and Signs in the Bible

In the eighth century A.D. disputes over iconoclasm caused a gap between the Roman Catholic Church and Byzantine Church. In the eleventh century A.D. the Orthodox Church officially declared its separation owning to the dispute over iconography. This paper investigates the relation between theoretical foundations of iconography and the Bible.Based on Orthodox theology, most of Christian doctrines in the Bible have somehow expressed themselves in the icons. Therefore, iconography has been regarded as a kind of visual interpretationˮ of the Bible. On the contrary, the Bible is considered as a written iconˮ of Jesus Christ, and such, equal respect is paid to the icon and the Bible. In addition to theological issues, artistic aspects of icons as signs of religious or sacred art have been taken into consideration. By virtue of the images in the Bible, the narrative and non – narrative images of God, Jesus Christ, man and semiology, the aesthetic aspects of the icons have also been discussed. These icons do not have ornamental applications; they are symbols of written texts and verbal traditions.