Prevalence of 3-d crucifixes in the eastern rites

[notredame_999]

Just curious why the three-dimensional crucifix that is so common in both latin churches and latin homes is not as prevalent in the eastern rites. If I am wrong and they are as prevalent please correct me.

Also, is it true that western christianity focuses more on Christ’s human nature while the east focuses more on his divinity? If so some examples would be appreciated.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

Dear Friend,

The Eastern Churches do not, as a rule, use statues of 3-d Crucifixes. The reason for this is that 3-d images can only show Christ in His Human nature, where iconic depictions represent Him as both God and Man. The same is true of statuary of the Mother of God and the Saints - icons show them as being partakers of the Divine nature in Christ by means of the Holy Spirit.

The East, I think it is correct to say, focuses on the Deified, resurrected Humanity of Christ, the God-Man. To say the East focuses on Christ’s Divinity is to introduce a kind of separation between His Humanity and Divinity that just doesn’t obtain in the East.

There have been some statues in the East, as I am told, and these continue to be venerated locally. The image of the Mother of God that spoke to St Alexius the Man of God at Edessa was a statue, very much like Our Lady of Montserrat. There was a statue of Christ at Constantinople that was much venerated as well. Some of the Slavic Orthodox churches do carve wooden statues of saints and there are Orthodox reliquaries in the form of statues (e.g.that of St Dmitir the Tsarevich).

Alex