But Rublev also had in that intriguing verse in the letter to the Hebrews where we are told to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so we may well entertain angels unaware! (13: 2) And finally, the story becomes a symbol of the Holy Trinity, the Father, Son and Spirit. 18:1-8) Afterwards the strangers announce that the aged Sarah will give birth to a son in fulfilment of God’s promise. The icon is based on the OT story of the three strangers who visit Abraham and Sarah in Mamre, and to whom they give hospitality.(Gen. That is, to facilitate transformation in society. Rublev wrote his icon of the Holy Trinity in fifteenth century Russia when the country was being torn apart by war and violence, not unlike our world today, and he did so in order to provide a focus for prayers and conversations for peace and reconciliation. Significantly the subtitle of the book is “the trinity and your transformation.” I am not an avid fan of Rohr’s writings, though he says many good things, but I am enthusiastic about “The Divine Dance” because in his chatty kind of way he helps us understand why the Christian doctrine of God as Trinity is so fundamental to Christianity, and so important for our daily lives as a transforming symbol.
On its cover is a copy of Andre Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity, the same icon that stands in front of us today. “(I John 1:1-4) Or Paul’s words in Colossians that Christ “is the icon of the invisible God,” (1:15), or in his second letter to the Corinthians, that God’s light “has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor.4:6) Jesus is the “human face of God,” the one in whom we have seen God’s grace, beauty and truth revealed.įans of Richard Rohr, the well-known Catholic teacher on matters spiritual, and the author of many books, recently wrote one called “The Divine Dance”. Icons are neither idols nor works of art, they are another way of writing the gospel, which is why some call them the “fifth gospel,” calling to mind the words of the first letter of John that “what we have heard” we have also “seen with our eyes” concerning the word of life. Icons, the Greek NT word for images, are an integral part of the spirituality of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, but have become widely appreciated by many other Christians as an aid to contemplative prayer, even among some Dutch Reformed and Pentecostal congregations in South Africa, due to the teaching of Ana-Marie. The first such course was held ten years ago, also led by our friend and highly regarded icon writing teacher Ana-Marie Bands. Last week there was an Icon Writing course on Volmoed. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is commonly expressed in Christian art, particularly in the Western tradition, as God the Father with a grey beard, Jesus the Son in his bosom and a dove hovering overhead.“All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image (icon).” Besides this figurative personification there is a complex theology that renders the Trinity in a rare iconography seen superlatively in Andrei Rublev's icon Trinity.Įl Greco's mannerist version is among the finest examples. In addition to being one of the highest achievements of Russian art, Rublev's icon - also known as "Old Testament Trinity"- portrays a profound theological meaning of the unity of Persons in the Trinity along with the spiritual nature of God's Divine Essence by depicting the Triune God as simply three angels. Many outside the Russian Orthodox tradition wonder what it is about this image that represents the Trinity.
Rather than depicting the classic Father, Son and Holy Spirit breakdown as old bearded man, Jesus and the dove, Rublev's subject matter is certainly uncharacteristic of Western Trinity representations.
Rublev's Trinity displays a rare arrangement of three angels symbolizing a solemn visual Trinitarian theology that conforms to the Russian Orthodox tradition. The Russian Orthodox Church never fully resolved the iconoclastic controversy until 1667.
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