Icons of the Present

Our culture is exposed today as never before to an abundance of sensual imagery of every kind. How are our religious institutions to respond to this? And where does the sensual end and the aesthetic begin? The one is associated with sin, the other with beauty. Where should a tradition that honours incarnation stand on such questions? The fear of idolatry has in the past led some to reject images of all kinds. Others have given icons a central part in their worship. What constitutes an icon? And how is it to be distinguished from an idol? Questions such as these lie at the heart of this book, in which Edward Robinson, himself a distinguished sculptor and an able spokesman on spirituality and the arts, finds in the creative imagination the key to an understanding of the deeper roots of what makes us truly human. But it is not only, he argues, the creative artist, but each and every one of us who is born with this power of imagination, the faculty that can open us up to the infinite potential hidden in every moment of what seems a transient and elusive present. In particular he stresses the importance of distinguishing the ideas of the sacred and the holy, a distinction which he suggests may be vital if we are to be alive to the ever-present dangers of idolatry in our religious institutions today.