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Thursday, September 3, 2009

On the use of Images by Maximus of Tyre

..
For the God who is the Father and Creator of all that is,
older than the sun,
older than the sky,
greater than time and eternity
and whole continual flow of nature,
is not to be named by any lawgiver,
is not to be uttered by any voice,
is not to be seen by any eye.
..
But we,
being unable to grasp his essence,
make use of sounds and names and pictures,
of beaten gold and ivory and silver,
of plants and rivers,
of mountain peaks and torrents,
yearning for the knowledge of him,
and in our weakness
naming all that is beautiful in this world after his nature.
..
The same thing happens to those who love others ;
to them the sweetest sight will be the actual figures of their children,
but sweet also will be their memory
-they will be happy at the sight of a lyre,
a little spear,or a chair,perhaps,or a running ground,
or anything whatever that wakens the memory of the beloved.
..
Why should I go any further in examining and passing judgment about images ?
..
Let all men know what is divine ;
let them know,that is all.
..
If Greeks are stirred to the remembrance of God by the art of Phidias,
or the Egyptians by paying worship to animals,
or others by a river,
or others by fire,
I will not quarrel with their differences.
..
Only let them know,
let them love,
let them remember.
..

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