ABSTRACT
In his Treatise III (c.740) St. John of Damascus countered the attack on icons in the Byzantine Empire. At the heart of his defense, which we discuss later in this chapter, is the timeless connection between art, body, and soul. Humans are human because of their body and their senses, and it is through their senses that they have the capacity for approaching the divine. St. John’s insights are as valuable for other cultures and times as for the eighth-century Byzantine world. They could apply to Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, and many other religions. Religious art expresses the holy by revealing deep feelings about the divine, and it is this ongoing attempt to visualize the divine that gives art such staying power in history.
