WFT- iconoclast

17 May 2008

The Merriam-Webster word of the day for Monday, May 12th was iconoclast, a noun which M-W defined as:

1 : a person who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration 2 : a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions

M-W also had this to say:

"Iconoclast" is a word that often shows up on vocabulary lists and  College Board tests. How will you remember the meaning of this  vocabulary-boosting term? If you already know the word "icon," you're halfway  there. An "icon" is a picture that represents something, and is often a  religious image. "Icon" comes from the Greek “eik?n,” which is from “eikenai,”  meaning "to resemble." "Iconoclast" comes to us by way of Medieval Latin from  Middle Greek “eikonoklast?s,” which joins “eik?n” with a form of the word  “klan,” meaning "to break." "Iconoclast" literally means "image destroyer."

This brings to mind Romans 1:22-23

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Also 2 Cor 10:5-6

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

If there are icons (images, people, anything) in our lives that are "raised up against the knowledge of God", either in direction opposition or as barriers to our study of the Word or as barriers to our prayer time, may we be iconoclasts and remove them from our lives and challenge them in the lives of other believers.

Last modified on 16 January 2017

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