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Marion’s “Icon”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2023
In this chapter I explain Jean-Luc Marion’s developing uses of the word “icon,” not primarily as a painted image, but precisely as the way God shows himself, breaking through the idolatry of the finite human perspective through the counter-gaze, or reversal of intentionality. Despite his language that appears to be iconoclastic, I argue that Marion’s discussion of the kenosis of the sacred image is deeply faithful to the patristic iconophile spirit, transposed to a phenomenological key. In this, Marion opens up a third way of understanding mediation, which I explain through the metaphor of the transparent window. Just as glass is not an obstacle to the rays of the sun, provided it is cleared of smudges or flaws, the finite limits of creatures are no obstacle for the infinite, as long as they are open to receive what is communicated.
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