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    STUDIA THEOLOGIA%20ORTHODOXA - Issue no. 1 / 2008  
         
  Article:   ETHICAL AND AESTHETIC FACETS OF THE IMAGE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT / VALENCES ÉTHIQUES ET ESTHÉTIQUES DE L’IMAGE.

Authors:  PAULA BUD. 		 
       
         
  Abstract:  ABSTRACT. Contemporary culture has gradually focused on the image, it actually invading our world. Artistic or commercial or of any other kind, image is an integral part of our daily life. A selection of quality images that surround us being impossible, our last option is personal building, the only one able to provide a matrix of values required for such an option. This should include the intellectual, as well as ethical values, to guide a relevant option. This option has become the biggest challenge for people today. This study develops between two poles: on one side, the Greek culture with its tradition of aesthetic excellence, and on the other, the Jewish denial of any representation. To understand these directions, an approach of the creation story it required: we find here an original dialogue of the two cultures, summarized in two words: טוב - καλος. These few verses of the first chapter of Genesis (Gen. 1, 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31), may shed light on two original designs, specific to each of the two cultures. Among the Jews, living conditions, the monotheistic religion and the various prohibitions introduced by the latter have determined the development of an original aesthetic, which operates on a peculiar axiological system, which we find the guideline in the Decalogue: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself any graven image, nothing like what is in the heavens up above, or on the ground, here, or in the waters beneath the earth" (Ex. 20: 3-4). The ban will later be limited to the idolaters’ representations. (Ex. 20, 23, Dt. 27, 15). What we propose is the identification of possible connections between the status of the image in the Old Testament and its status today, through some research hypotheses.

RESUMEE. Valences éthiques et esthétiques de l’image. La culture contemporaine s’est centrée peu à peu sur l’image, celle-ci envahissant effectivement le monde où se déroule notre activité. Soit image artistique, soit commerciale ou de n’importe quel genre, elle constitue une partie intégrante du cotidien. Une séléction qualitative des images qui nous entourent étant impossible, notre dernière possibilité est la formation personelle, la seule capable à offrir une grille de valeurs nécessaire à une telle option. Celle-ci doit comprendre des valeurs intellectuelles, aussi bien qu’éthiques, pour guider une option pertinente. Cette option est devenue la plus grande provocation pour l’homme de nos jours. L’étude se déroule entre deux poles: d’un coté, la culture grecque avec sa tradition esthétique par excellence, et de l’autre, le refus juif de toute représentation. 		 
         
     
         
         
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