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Zaireea Norman
10/8/17
Assignment # 5
Culture 220
In this essay I will be examining the role of icons in religious structures or in personal homes. Usually when you walk into a Christians home most of them would have something hanging up on various walls and platforms in their house. This something would be the Jesus hanging on a cross plaque. Christians do this to either bless or protect their home. Sometimes they just hang these plaques up because they feel more comfortable with Jesus watching over them every day which makes Christians feel safe and secure.
In the Bible God put ten commandments that stated the things that you shouldn’t do. For the 1st commandment God says, "I am the Lord your God, you shall not have any other gods before me". This commandment means that God doesn't want you to worship and false idols and profits and you should only worship God and believe in Him. By having statues, crosses, and other symbols that symbolize God you are showing your respect and common courtesy for him. And this shows that you are a loyal follower of him and that you only worship God and no one else.
The main reason why God made these commandments is because he wanted to set rules as a reminder that he was the one who brought them out of slavery. In Exodus 20:2, God said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Jeffress, 2018). The law was given to serve as a foundation for the nation of Israel. A nation makes up common people, a common land, and a common law or constitution. The Israelites already had people and land, but what they needed to bind them together was a law. God gave the law to remind the people of their own sinfulness. That’s why God instituted a sacrificial system with the understanding that they would need forgiveness. The law doesn’t save us. It reminds us of how much we need God’s forgiveness for salvation.
Symbolism is defined as an artistic and poetic movement or style using symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind. The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. An example of symbolism used could be Christians putting up Jesus hanging on a cross plaque on their walls. “Religious symbols are used to convey concepts concerned with humanity’s relationship to the sacred or holy like the cross in Christianity and also to his social and material world” (Moritz & Goldammer, 2017). Other examples could be the wine and bread for communion which symbolizes Jesus’ blood and body. The water symbolizes cleansing and purifying. Fire, especially in the form of a candle flame, represents both the Holy Spirit and light.
This last paragraph will talk about the analysis of the importance of the artwork in the culture in which it was created and/or in which it exists. When people talk about culture they often mean intellectual and creative products, including literature, music, drama, and painting. Another use of culture is to describe the beliefs and practices of another society, particularly where these are seen as closely linked with tradition or religion.
References
Mortiz, Kurt & Goldammer, Artur. July 14, 2017.” Religious symbolism and iconography”. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-symbolism
Dr. Jeffress, Robert. (2008). Why Did God Give the Ten Commandments? Retrieved from: https://ptv.org/devotional/why-did-god-give-ten-commandments/
