Christian symbolism 6

The Four Living Creatures
One frequently encounters an unusual image in churches and, particularly, on the front of Books of the Gospels. It is the combination of a winged man, a winged lion, a winged ox, and an eagle.

There are two biblical antecedents here. The first is to the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, where the prophet describes a winged, heavenly creature with four faces...

The second references is to the Apocalypse, where St John sees four separate beasts, with wings and the same faces as in Ezekiel...

I've always thought that the visions recorded in the Old Testament and Revelations sounded like bad acid trips. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to experience them. It would have totally freaked me out to be visited by winged creatures and what not.

Comments

Popular Posts

What's in a flower?

Treating autism as traumatic brain injury

Battlestar Galactica needs more colour?