c. “…they are truly gods, not by nature but because they partake of the divine nature…”
2. Places where God has accomplished our salvation
a. Mt. Sinai, Nazareth, the cave and manger of Bethlehem, …
3. Objects dedicated to God
a. E.g. the holy Gospel and other books
b. Patens, chalices, censers, candlesticks, altars
c. Dan 5:2 – Belshazzar made people serve wine in sacred vessels and God brought his kingdom to an end – signifying the sacredness of stuff
4. Images that were seen by prophets
a. Aaron’s rod (prefigured the mystery of the virgin)
b. The cross
5. Each other
a. We are God’s inheritance and were made according to His image
6. Those who have been given authority to rule over us
a. Pharoah – Gen 50:18 – Joseph and his brothers prostrated themselves (Proskynesis) before Pharoah
7. Masters by their servants
Conairis agrees with this distinction between veneration and worship. He suggests that: “The icon becomes a meeting place, an existential encounter, a window through which we look on the Saints not as shadowy figures from a remote past but as contemporary brothers and sisters in Christ, members of the same household of God. We feel free to call on them through prayer for family support as they intercede to God in our behalf.”46
Chrysostomos of Myra teaches that “veneration of honour” which is rendered to the persons of the saints through their icons, is appropriate.47 Ouspensky agrees in that while icons must be the object of veneration, it is inappropriate to give them adoration, which only belongs to God.48 It remains difficult, however, to identify the difference.
46 Anthony M. Coniaris. Introducing the Orthodox Church: Its Faith and Life. (Minneapolis, MN: Light and Life Pub., 1982), p. 101.
47 Gennadios Limouris, [Chrysostomos of Myra]. Icons, Windows on Eternity: Theology and Spirituality in Colour. (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1990), p. 2.
48 Ouspensky, 1992, p. 138.
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