E. RUMPZA, Phenomenology of the Icon. Mediating God through the Image. Cambridge University Press, 2023, pp. 314. ISBN 9781009317924. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009317900

Abstract

The book Phenomenology of the Icon: Mediating God through the Image by Stephanie Rumpza, with a foreword by Jean-Luc Marion, explores how the Byzantine icon serves as a medium to mediate divine transcendence, integrating phenomenology, theology, and Christian aesthetics. Rumpza draws on Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics and Marion’s phenomenology to distinguish between idol and icon, arguing that the icon, far from being a mere visual object, allows for an experience of the divine by exceeding the limitations of human perception. She also emphasizes the importance of the liturgical context in understanding the icon as a window to the invisible and demonstrates how this phenomenological approach enriches the theological understanding of the sensible as a gateway to the transcendent, avoiding both idolatry and iconoclasm.