St. John of Damascus on the importance of words and images for the faith.

Click here to listen to today's episode of Orthodox Life Tips. Never miss an episode by subscribing via RSS or iTunes.

I have friends who are truly baffled by why Orthodox Christians believe icons are essential; isn’t the Bible enough?

St. John of Damascus tells us that both words and images are beneficial to the faith:

Just as words edify the ear, so also the image stimulates the eye. What the book is to the literate, the image is to the illiterate. Just as words speak to the ear, so the image speaks to the sight; it brings us understanding. For this reason God ordered the ark to be constructed of wood which would not decay, and to be gilded outside and in, and for the tablets to be placed inside, with Aaron's staff and the golden urn containing the manna, in order to provide a remembrance of the past, and an image of the future.

You can find more Orthodox Life Tips, and other tools for your life, at orthodoxresource.com and myocn.net.