Early Icons: Christian Image Veneration Before 325 AD, Volume 1: Written Evidence and Paintings by Michael Garten ISBN 9798350742817, 835074281X, B0DQDL1C3H instant download

Early Icons: Christian Image Veneration Before 325 AD, Volume 1: Written Evidence and Paintings by Michael Garten ISBN 9798350742817, 835074281X, B0DQDL1C3H instant download

Critics of Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism claim the earliest Christians rejected the veneration of images. The Early Icons series draws from new scholarship in early Christian material culture and archeology to give evidence that the Church before 325 AD had holy images and showed them honor.
Volume 1: Written Evidence and Paintings reconsiders evidence for image veneration from early Christian authors, including those seen as hostile to it (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Tertullian). This volume also argues for the veneration of surviving paintings from the pre-Nicene Church—of orants, of the Good Shepherd, and an early icon of Christ and Mary. Here is an exploration of the spiritual depth of early Christian art, its roots in Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, and its transfiguration of classical culture.
Michael brings forward several lines of evidence. He draws attention to a number of passages (some quite striking) from early Christian authors attesting to holy images or image veneration that have not previously been considered in the study of this issue… makes several arguments that some of the early Christian paintings which survive were venerated…[and] quotes from mainstream scholars acknowledging there was image veneration in the first three centuries of Christianity.”
—From the Foreword by Father Steven Bigham, author, Early Christian Attitudes Towards Images
"This is a well-researched, logically argued case for the liceity and antiquity of icon veneration. Anyone who defends apostolic Christianity will benefit from reading it."
—Trent Horn, author, The Case for Catholicism