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The Theology Of The Icon And The Medium Of Cinema

THE ICON IN MOTION
The Theology of the Icon and the Medium of Cinema

Introduction
Cheng sat transfixed by the image of the crucifixion. On the walls of the dimly lit room hung numerous icons, but Cheng could not tear her eyes from the image illumined before her. The face of the suffering Christ was especially gripping such that Cheng's own eyes filled with tears. For almost two years, Cheng had been exploring Christianity but had always stopped short of conversion; she resisted identifying herself with Christ because of her memories of her cruel grandfather, a man who had called himself a Christian but had abused her terribly for years. Now as she contemplated the image in the flickering light, she felt she was looking at a scene that encompassed all her suffering and yet also at a face that radiated forgiveness. She later would report, "In a moment, I knew I could forgive my grandfather and I did right then and there." And that night, for the first time, she declared her identification with Christ publicly.

In their practice of icons, Christians in the Orthodox tradition have long reported transformational encounters similar to this true account of a student in my campus ministry. However, Cheng sat not in a Greek Orthodox nave with other parishioners but in the recreational room of a camp with other students who, like her, were "checking out" Christianity. And she was not staring at any of the icons hanging on the wall (hung by the Protestant camp director to "decorate" the room), but at a screen playing the closing scenes of Franco Zeffirelli's movie, Jesus of Nazareth.

While I certainly rejoiced at the news of Cheng's conversion, I have been haunted by the scene of her and the others sitting transfixed before the flickering screen, while the faces of the icons — visages backed by centuries of theological tradition and reflection — stare on mutely.

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