This chapter surveys art history, patristic theology, and modern Orthodox theology to identify a starting point that can address the mediating function of the icon. However, each of these approaches is also marked by limitations that ultimately leave them unable to sufficiently address two questions that are essential to this inquiry: (a) What is a painted image, and how does it mediate the truth of what it shows by its specific, finite capacities and aesthetic devices? (b) What would it mean for God to “show himself,” or what kind of “visibility” would God have? I make a case that phenomenology will be a powerful tool to address both questions.

As stated by the editors, this volume addresses the topic of Christianity and international law within the broader conversation about the relevance of religion in the dynamics of global governance. Human rights law is one of the most important elements of international law and there are several dimensions of its relation to Christianity – historically, institutionally, and theologically – that generate theoretical concern. One such dimension is that of Christian agencies within the genealogy and historical developments of human rights law. As demonstrated in several chapters of this volume, an analysis of Christian agencies brings new insights into the research field of international human rights law.

Another dimension of the relationship between Christianity and human rights law is the issue of Christianity as a resource for critique of the contemporary human rights law. Such a critique might have impact on legitimacy as well as on efficiency of the human rights instruments, and it cannot but be framed in particular settings of various Christian traditions and communities.