Apostolic Friends Forum - Being an Iconoclast

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Being an Iconoclast

Do you think it is good or okay to be an iconoclast?

Quote:

i⋅con⋅o⋅clast /aɪˈkɒnəˌklæst/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ahy-kon-uh-klast] Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun 1. a breaker or destroyer of images, esp. those set up for religious veneration.
2. a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

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Origin:
1590–1600; < ML īconoclastēs < MGk eikonoklástēs, equiv. to Gk eikono- icono- + -klastēs breaker, equiv. to klas- (var. s. of klân to break) + -tēs agent n. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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i·con·o·clast (ī-kŏn'ə-klāst') Pronunciation Key
n.
One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions.
One who destroys sacred religious images.

[French iconoclaste, from Medieval Greek eikonoklastēs, smasher of religious images : eikono-, icono- + Greek -klastēs, breaker (from Greek klān, klas-, to break).]
i·con'o·clas'tic adj., i·con'o·clas'ti·cal·ly adv.

Word History: An iconoclast can be unpleasant company, but at least the modern iconoclast only attacks such things as ideas and institutions. The original iconoclasts destroyed countless works of art. Eikonoklastēs, the ancestor of our word, was first formed in Medieval Greek from the elements eikōn, "image, likeness," and -klastēs, "breaker," from klān, "to break." The images referred to by the word are religious images, which were the subject of controversy among Christians of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries, when iconoclasm was at its height. In addition to destroying many sculptures and paintings, those opposed to images attempted to have them barred from display and veneration. During the Protestant Reformation images in churches were again felt to be idolatrous and were once more banned and destroyed. It is around this time that iconoclast, the descendant of the Greek word, is first recorded in English (1641), with reference to the Byzantine iconoclasts. In the 19th century iconoclast took on the secular sense that it has today, as in "Kant was the great iconoclast" (James Martineau).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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iconoclast

"breaker or destroyer of images," 1596, from Fr. iconoclaste, from M.L. iconoclastes, from Late Gk. eikonoklastes, from eikon (gen. eikonos) "image" + klastes "breaker," from klas- pt. stem of klan "to break." Originally those in the Eastern Church in 8c. and 9c. whose mobs of followers destroyed icons and other religious objects on the grounds that they were idols. Applied to 16c.-17c. Protestants in Netherlands who vandalized former Catholic churches on similar grounds. Extended sense of "one who attacks orthodox beliefs or institutions" is first attested 1842. Iconoclasm in this sense is from 1858.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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iconoclast

noun
1. a destroyer of images used in religious worship
2. someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Iconoclast

Re: Being an Iconoclast

LOL!

Was Jim Yohe an Iconoclast?

Re: Being an Iconoclast

sacred cows make the best cheeseburgers.

Re: Being an Iconoclast

If I had read the first post, I would've saved myself the trouble of going to dictionary.com to look it up! :D

The new generation should be questioning everything, but removing nothing unless it truly needs to be removed. I'm sure there were OT kids who said, "Mom, WHY do we have to burn incense? That's stupid!" And then if they were referred back to the law, they probably said, "Oh yeah...because God said so." And they kept burning incense.

The point being...make sure if you question something, you find the answer before you ACT.

Re: Being an Iconoclast

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissBrattified (Post 683040)

If I had read the first post, I would've saved myself the trouble of going to dictionary.com to look it up! :D

The new generation should be questioning everything, but removing nothing unless it truly needs to be removed. I'm sure there were OT kids who said, "Mom, WHY do we have to burn incense? That's stupid!" And then if they were referred back to the law, they probably said, "Oh yeah...because God said so." And they kept burning incense.

The point being...make sure if you question something, you find the answer before you ACT.[/

I think this is a very good point. My personal opinion is that sometimes, radical, iconoclast actions needs to be taken, but that is the exception and not the rule. If it becomes the rule in someone's life, I think it becomes more of a personal problem than a true iconoclast work.

Re: Being an Iconoclast

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissBrattified (Post 683040)

Funny! This was the "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com in my Inbox on Tuesday so it looks like I had one up on you. :lol

I agree with you. The definition says an iconoclast is a "breaker or destroyer" and someone who "attacks". This should be a grim reminder to everyone that before we tear something down, we should build something up that can serve as a stable, suitable alternative.

Re: Being an Iconoclast

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaamez (Post 683069)

Funny! This was the "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com in my Inbox on Tuesday so it looks like I had one up on you. :lol

I agree with you. The definition says an iconoclast is a "breaker or destroyer" and someone who "attacks". This should be a grim reminder to everyone that before we tear something down, we should build something up that can serve as a stable, suitable alternative.

Interesting! And no, I don't get the word of the day. I used to post back in the nineties with someone who had the username of Iconoclast. I thought it was kind of cool, but I don't know that it's something I would want to be known as!

Re: Being an Iconoclast

OF course if we did we probably would end up in jail.

Re: Being an Iconoclast

I think questioning is good. However, not questioning to tear down, but questioning to establish a foundation upon which to build.

I have people forward things to me all the time about "you name it!" Some of these are pretty radical things. I don't forward things and I don't get on the bandwagon for the next coming crisis. I DO want to believe in something. I'm skeptical because I don't want to be a sucker. But when I've done my "homework" I'm a pitbull for or against something I'm convinced about. At least until I can be proven wrong....again! And it DOES happen!!! :D

Re: Being an Iconoclast

Quote:

Originally Posted by edjen01 (Post 683025)

sacred cows make the best cheeseburgers.

Now THAT is funny! :lol