Student Number: 7132408 Date of Submission: ...

Student Number: 7132408
Date of Submission: 11.11.2008
Word Count: 1611
Source Report on: Creation of the Sacred Image: Apotheosis and Destruction in Hinduism – James J. Preston
What is the author’s main thesis? What, exactly, is the author trying to argue? Is his argument convincing? Is it easy to identify?
In the first paragraph Preston outlines his thesis, that through the study of sacred icons and their creation, it is possible to “perceive some of the most vital impulses underlying religious experience.” These icons are “infused with sacrality” during “ceremonies of installation” and then “the image is the deity, not merely a symbol of it”. This is very similar to the Christian Roman Catholic view that the bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ during the ritual of Eucharist, before the ceremony the bread and wine is ‘lifeless’ until instilled with the power of Christ’s resurrection. In Hinduism this process of creation and ritual is the ‘apotheosis’ (deification, from Greek apotheoun – to make a god of/to deify) and now the icon is sacral.
He argues that paradoxically “the mystery of the invisible becomes more intense and awesome in the attempted act of its creation.” He explains that although from the outside the construction might be construed as the ‘main event’ in the images ‘life’, in fact the “destruction of the image is as important as the creation” because, despite the smorgasbord of sacred images in Hinduism, “the image is temporary, incomplete, and inadequate as a full expression of divinity.”
Preston states “there is no religion in the world that more fully expresses this process of apotheosis and destruction than Hinduism.” As far as I know this statement is correct and there does seem to be a strong emphasis on ‘idol worship’ (where the idol or image is one and the same as the deity) and the later destruction of these highly dynamic and ubiquitous forms. Preston takes you through the chapter in lots of detail of the rituals and so I find his argument convincing. He does ‘compress’ the basis of the chapter into the opening page and so it is easy to find and grasp the basis of his view.

What are the steps in the author’s argument? Is the sequence logical? Where appropriate, does he raise counter possible objections thoroughly and fairly?
Preston first introduces the reader to the subject matter in the opening page. At the end of the introduction he asks three questions which he answers in the course of the chapter. He then sections his essay into different areas, using headings, which help sequence his steps.
Preston starts with Hindu Image Makers, where he lists the places and types of images found and a note on their construction. He then goes onto his first case ...