How can something finite mediate an infinite God? Weaving patristics, theology, art history, aesthetics, and religious practice with the hermeneutic phenomenology of Hans-George Gadamer and Jean-Luc Marion, Stephanie Rumpza proposes a new answer to this paradox by offering a fresh and original approach to the Byzantine icon. She demonstrates the power and relevance of the phenomenological method to integrate hermeneutic aesthetics and divine transcendence, notably how the material and visual dimensions of the icon are illuminated by traditional practices of prayer. Rumpza's study targets a problem that is a major fault line in the continental philosophy of religion – the integrity of finite beings I relation to a God that transcends them. For philosophers, her book demonstrates the relevance of a cherished religious practice of Eastern Christianity. For art historians, she proposes a novel philosophical paradigm for understanding the icon as it is approached in practice.

‘To any reader seriously interested in the crucial issue of the icon, Stephanie Rumpza's work will appear as an invaluable achievement…. No doubt, this work will stand as a landmark in the understanding of the icon.’

Jean-Luc Marion - Académie Française

‘This is the first philosophical book on Byzantine iconography to be written in the phenomenological tradition. In addition, the reader has been catered for with a flawless introduction to Patristic debates on the icon, before and after the Second Council of Nicaea, plus an introduction to Modern and Contemporary Orthodox theology of the icon. Dr Rumpza’s contribution will be indispensable — to theologians, art historians, and philosophers alike.'

Jean-Yves Lacoste Source: Les Études Philosophiques

‘Everyone knows that the veneration of the icon was defended in eighth- and ninth-century Byzantium. Stephanie Rumpza takes this defense one step further through a critically appreciative extension of the insights of theological - patristic and contemporary Orthodox - and phenomenological discussions of the image. The result is a lucid account what it is meant by God’s self-showing of Godself and a compelling argument of how it is that the finite particularity of the icon has the capacity to mediate the infinite God. It is no exaggeration to say that when it comes to both philosophical and theological accounts of the icon, this book is now the standard.’

Aristotle Papanikolaou - Fordham University