Seeing the Gospel: An Interpretive Guide to Orthodox Icons

by Eve Tibbs, Richard J. Mouw (foreword)

Learning to read Orthodox icons is an opportunity to engage Holy Scripture with greater depth and understanding. It allows viewers to uncover fresh dimensions and encounter the Kingdom of God from within the created world. The meaning of icons, which are often referred to as "windows into heaven," reaches beyond the limits of the natural world and into the divine realm.

Eve Tibbs is an Orthodox insider and veteran teacher who has devoted her career to translating the faith for evangelicals. Her comprehensive yet accessible introduction to the history, theology, spirituality, and role of icons in Eastern Orthodoxy is followed by an immersive experience--a narrative journey through eighteen pivotal events in the life of Jesus Christ as depicted in the New Testament Gospels. Each event is illuminated through the form and color of Orthodox icons accompanied by descriptions of the messages they convey. Here "interpretation" works in two to guide the curious, artists, students and even the lifelong Orthodox in interpreting icons and to show how icons interpret the biblical text.

Seeing the Gospel presents a visual biblical language for a visual culture and even describes how icons can be used in other faith traditions. The book includes a foreword by Richard J. Mouw and features ninety full-color icons throughout.

Genres: Art, Theology

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2025

Reviews

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eastern Orthodoxy has long been seen by Western Christians as a bit exotic. East and West have long been separated from each other, but that has begun to change. More and more Western Christians, especially evangelical Protestants, have looked to Orthodoxy as providing deeply desired roots. Orthodoxy seems to provide that. Yet, there is much that remains unknown. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of resources available that help bridge the gap. One of the places where evangelicalism and Orthodoxy are meeting is my alma mater, Fuller Theological Seminary.

A key figure in that bridging of communities is Eve Tibbs, a Greek Orthodox theologian who holds a Ph.D. from Fuller and serves as an affiliate professor of theology at Fuller. Tibbs has written an intriguing book focusing on Orthodox icons. Her book "Seeing the Gospel" offers "An Interpretive Guide to Orthodox Icons." Since icons have become an important space where people encounter Orthodoxy, this book should prove quite helpful. Before writing this volume, which is beautifully illustrated (more about that later), she published A Basic Guide to Eastern Orthodox Theology: Introducing Beliefs and Practices, which I've read and reviewed. That book provides an important primer on Eastern Orthodox theology that is very accessible to the non-Orthodox Christian. In many ways, "Seeing the Gospel" provides an important supplement to the earlier volume. Tibbs helps us see the Gospel through Orthodox eyes, visually. The point here is that icons are not merely pictures. They carry deep meaning if you know what you're looking for.

In her Preface, Tibbs invites us to consider the possibility that when we view Orthodox Icons, we encounter "more than meets the eye" (p. xiii). She writes that icons open up the Scriptures in new ways. Thus, "The icon literally offers the difference between seeing something in 'black and white' versus 'living color,' and yet it offers even more than that --- it offers an encounter with the Kingdom of God from within the created world" (p. xiii). In this book, Tibbs reveals the ways icons define Orthodox spirituality, though that is not the primary intent of the book. Rather, in this book, Tibbs reveals the ways icons reveal elements of the Gospel that words might not effectively convey.

Tibbs divides the book into two parts. After the Introduction, in which Tibbs provides basic information about icons and the role they play in Orthodox life, she moves to a section that provides "A Basic Introduction to Icons." The two chapters in this section set up what we encounter in Part 2, which focuses on the icons and the message they proclaim when it comes to the Gospel story. While a person might be tempted to skip Part 1 and jump to the icons themselves, which are found in Part 2, that would be a mistake. That's because Part 1 offers the interpretive key that makes Part 2 understandable. The first chapter in Part 1 is titled "A Visual Biblical Worldview." Here, Tibbs writes that icons make the invisible visible, reflecting the incarnation as defined in John 1. Thus, "The icon, whether painted on a single wood panel with egg tempera paint or as a mural on church walls, visually presents the Gospel in a canonically defined manner" (p. 10). In other words, these are not merely pictures. They have sacred intent. In this chapter, Tibbs helps us understand what goes into an icon, why they are "written" as they are in a relatively unnatural way, and the function they have in Orthodox life, whether didactic, apologetic, or liturgical. Chapter 2 focuses on "The Iconoclast Controversy," which shook the Eastern churches during the Byzantine era, noting that one of the key questions emerging from the controversy was whether "matter" matters. In response to those who argued that God was formless and immaterial, and thus impossible to depict, by pointing to Jesus, who made the invisible visible. It should be noted that this debate emerged at the same time Islam was making headway in the region. She concludes her chapter by noting the purpose of the book, which is to remind the reader that God is the first artist and that icons share the same message as the Gospels, only that with icons, we see the Gospel.

Part 2 of the book is titled "Seeing the Gospel in Icons." Tibbs takes us step by step through the Gospel message, from a reminder that Christ is the Giver of Light (Chapter 3) and moving step by step through the forerunners, the annunciation to Mary, the Nativity, the meeting of Jesus in the Temple by Simeon and Anna, Christ's baptism, his ministry, "Jerusalem before the Cross" (focusing on the raising of Lazarus, Palm Sunday, the Last Supper with the washing of the feet), the Cross, Tomb, Resuretion, and the After the Resurrection. Each chapter includes icons ancient and modern, in full and amazing color. Each icon pictured in the book reveals part of the Gospel story. One thing that Tibbs notes in the book is that the icons themselves are interpreted by the Gospels, but one should note the meaning of different aspects of the icons. For example, red generally represents humanity and blue divinity. Thus, icons of Jesus will picture him with a red inner cloak and a blue outer cloak, the two colors representing his dual nature as human and divine. When it comes to icons featuring Mary, she will often be dressed in red, with some blue representing her role in bearing the divine Christ. Tibbs will point out different aspects of the icon, including how the elements are arranged, such that each element has a purpose.

Eve Tibbs' "Seeing the Gospel" should provide not only informative but also help deepen one's spiritual journey, as we see the Gospel portrayed visually. The icons are vividly presented on thick paper designed for photographs and images. If nothing else, this is a visually stunning book, but more importantly, it helps us read the icons in new ways.

[Wesley Lugt · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many Christians, Orthodox icons can seem at best an unnecessary extra to Christian discipleship and at worst a distraction from the Word of God. In Eve Tibbs’s beautiful book, however, she dismantles some of these misunderstandings and provides an accessible introduction for viewing and appreciating Orthodox icons and the theology undergirding them. Seeing the Gospel is rich in both images and clear explanations and is the next best thing to seeing these icons in person and embedded within worship and communal devotion. Orthodox icons may not resemble typical art in the Western Christian tradition or the way signature events in the biblical story are portrayed in popular culture such as Christmas cards, but their meaning is rich and anyone unfamiliar with this artistic and theological tradition should start here.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, not because I dislike Orthodox Icons—far from it!—but because I found Tibbs’ approach so frustratingly ineffective. I think she’s trying to write for an evangelical audience used to a fundamentalist approach to the Bible and therefore distasteful of icons. Tibbs thus spends much of the book prooftexting her Church’s icons, recounting in detail the scriptural references within each icon, and spending far less time demonstrating the unique theological insights the icons offer. A book about icons this richly illustrated should make me love icons more, not less. Alas.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative book for a novice outside of the Orthodox religion. That said, I wish the author would’ve included image numbers throughout the text and not just assumed the reader would make connections

[Michelle Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

TB gifted me this - and yes my eyes have been open more to the adoration Orthodox Christians have of icons. The next time I attend an Orthodox church service, I have a deeper appreciation for icons. Beautiful!

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful and fascinating book that introduced me to many icons and gave me handles to read traditional elements of iconography.