First Video Reply to Ortlund on Icons
Teamup With Seraphim Hamilton On YT, Round 1
The first video in our response series to Dr. Ortlund premiered on Thursday.
Watch: Responding to Gavin Ortlund on Iconography, Part One: Scriptural Foundations
Since then, the video has received nearly 4K views and nearly 200 comments, including some interaction from the good Doctor himself.
This initial video is Seraphim doing an outstanding explanation of the Scriptural foundations for icon veneration. I make some brief comments setting the stage for what follows, but the bulk of my presentation comes in the upcoming videos.
The next video will cover some of the new and more controversial material I’ve started publishing on the image veneration practices of the pre-Nicene Church. Some of this has appeared on this Substack before, but there will be new material in this upcoming video that has never been presented publicly before. This is an exciting opportunity to start laying out the truth about the pre-Nicene Church and her continuity with Orthodox (and Catholic) practices of image veneration.
In addition, this week on the Substack I’ll be publishing a premium article containing the next chapter of my research, pertaining to Clement of Alexandria’s comments about signet rings in the fifth chapter of his “The Teacher”. This passage—which might be the earliest reference to Christian visual art—turns out to be a strong example of image veneration when understood in the total context of Clement’s writings and the ancient understanding of signet rings.
Looking forward to continuing this exploration,
Michael Garten