Hinduism: What Really Happenned in India (PDF) - Oration

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Hinduism: What Really Happened in India – M. M. Ninan “The Seventh Ecumenical Council: Icons Vindicated 171 TO MAKE OUR CONFESSION SHORT, WE KEEP UNCHANGED ALL THE ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS HANDED DOWN TO US, WHETHER IN WRITING OR VERBALLY, ONE OF WHICH IS THE MAKING OF PICTORIAL REPRESENTATIONS, AGREEABLE TO THE HISTORY OF THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, A TRADITION USEFUL IN MANY RESPECTS, BUT ESPECIALLY IN THIS, THAT SO THE INCARNATION OF THE WORD OF GOD IS SHOWN FORTH AS REAL AND NOT MERELY PHANTASTIC, FOR THESE HAVE MUTUAL INDICATIONS AND WITHOUT DOUBT HAVE ALSO MUTUAL SIGNIFICATIONS. We, therefore, following the royal pathway and the divinely inspired authority of our Holy Fathers and the traditions of the Catholic Church (for, as we all know, the Holy Spirit indwells her), define with all certitude and accuracy that just as the figure of the precious and lifegiving Cross, so also the venerable and holy images, as well in painting and mosaic as of other fit materials, should be set forth in the holy churches of God, and on the sacred vessels and on the vestments and on hangings and in pictures both in houses and by the wayside, to wit, the figure of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, of our spotless Lady, the Mother of God, of the honourable Angels, of all Saints and of all pious people. For by so much more frequently as they are seen in artistic representation, by so much more readily are men lifted up to the memory of their prototypes, and to a longing after them; and to these should be given due salutation and honourable reverence (aspasmon kai timhtikhn proskunh-sin), not indeed that true worship of faith (latreian) which pertains alone to the divine nature; but to these, as to the figure of the precious and life-giving Cross and to the Book of the Gospels and to the other holy objects, incense and lights may be offered according to ancient pious custom. For the honour which is paid to the image passes on to that which the image represents, and he who reveres the image reveres in it the subject represented. For thus the teaching of our holy Fathers, that is the tradition of the Catholic Church, which from one end of the earth to the other hath received the Gospel, is strengthened. Thus we follow Paul, who spake in Christ, and the whole divine Apostolic company and the holy Fathers, holding fast the traditions which we have received. So we sing prophetically the triumphal hymns of the Church,
Hinduism: What Really Happened in India – M. M. Ninan 172 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Rejoice and be glad with all thy heart. The Lord hath taken away from thee the oppression of thy adversaries; thou art redeemed from the hand of thine enemies. The Lord is a King in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more, and peace be unto thee forever." “Notice the connection between Christology and the use of icons in that first paragraph ("the incarnation of the Word of God is shown forth as real and not merely phantastic"). For the early fathers, and for all Orthodox believers to the present day, if we are going to take the Incarnation of the Lord Christ seriously then we had better not deny the making of such images. God in His pure essence is unseen, and so such images we do not make; but in these last days He has made Himself known through the Incarnation of the God-Man Jesus Christ, and so we may now make images with a clear conscience Notice also the council's declaration that the honor paid to the image transfers to the prototype, i.e. the one represented in the image. Orthodox Christians do not believe that anything divine dwells within the image, but showing honor to those to whom it is due demands that honor be paid to those things by which they are represented.”. http://www.wayneolson.com/weblog/archives/000426.html See also http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07664a.htm for the Roman Catholic apology for icon adoration. Thus development of idol worship in Indian religion is not an isolated fact. It was common to all Catholic Churches of the world and grew out of the need for communicating with the masses. The Ruler Cult and Hero Worship The entry of the lower gods in the scene may be another factor. The ruler cult started as an expression of gratitude to benefactors and became an expression of homage and loyalty. Its socio-political importance was that it served to testify to loyalty and to satisfy the ambition of leading families. Nevertheless, material and political wellbeing could arouse genuine religious emotions. The subject of the ruler cult has special
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THE STORY OF INDIAN THOMAS CHURCHES
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