Beauty Will Save the World
What Orthodox Icons Reveal That Holbein’s Dead Christ Could Not
The Culturist nailed the challenge last month.
Hans Holbein’s The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb shows a gray, decaying corpse, mouth open, no hint of glory. Dostoevsky stood paralyzed before it in Basel in 1867. His wife had to pull him away. In The Idiot the painting nearly wrecks faith.
The Culturist is right. Dostoevsky forces us to confront the darkness and still choose love. Beauty will save the world, but only if we have the eyes to see it through the grave.
Yet there is more. Much more. And it changed how I see everything.
I am Christopher Clay, husband, father of four grown kids, proud grandpa now, and hall of fame business leader. My faith is Eastern Orthodox to the bone, shaped at St. Nicholas Church where the Fathers still speak. When The Culturist’s post landed, my short reply came straight from the gut.
“The Idiot hit home for me, but I didn’t know this. Dostoevsky was Orthodox to the bone. In the Eastern icon of the Crucifixion, Christ holds up the Cross. He isn’t ever depicted as suffering or decaying but victorious. The Cross does not hold Him like a corpse, neither did the grave. I think that is why Holbein’s dead Christ nearly broke Dostoevsky: it shows no triumph and in the Eastern tradition this was Christ’s victory. ICXC NIKA.”
Once you see the difference between a defeated body and a conquering King, your eyes are opened forever.
Hebrews 12:2 sets the anchor, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
St. John of Damascus drove it home centuries earlier. Because the Word became flesh, we may depict Him. The honor passes to Christ Himself. Icons are not decoration. They are soul windows that train us to see victory where the world sees only decay.
Look at Holbein’s Christ. Profile view. Decay setting in. No halo. No hope.
Now look at the Orthodox Crucifixion icon.
Christ calm. Eyes closed in peace. Halo radiant. He doesn’t sag; it is as if He holds up The Cross. The Cross is His instrument of triumph, not His defeat.
And the Resurrection icon? Christ stands victorious, smashing the gates of Hades, reaching down to raise Adam and Eve by the wrist.
That is the full Gospel. Suffering is real. Victory is greater.
Here is what becomes possible when you choose this path.
Evening falls in our West Virginia home. We gather around our icon corner. Soon, we’ll have the grandbabies toddle in. We gather in the icon corner, lamps glowing soft.
Like we taught our kids, we’ll teach our grandbabies to point and say, “King Jesus won.” No despair. No anxiety leaking into their hearts. Just quiet confidence that the same Lord who conquered the grave walks with them through every trial. This is legacy in real time.
The governing principle is clear and quotable.
Fix your eyes on the victorious Christ, and beauty will not only save the world. It will save your household.
Your attention is your consent. Your time is your treasure. Where your treasure is, there your heart, your family, and your eternity will be formed. Matthew 6:21.
Step-by-step, anyone can do this.
Anchor every day in prayer.
Read scripture and the lives of the saints regularly.
Make a corner of your home holy. Create a simple family prayer corner. One shelf, a lamp, a cross.
Bring a good icon into your home. Start with the Crucifixion or Resurrection. Venerate it for it is a sign of Christ’s victory. Teach the little ones to kiss it and say, “Christ is risen.”
When culture pushes suffering without triumph, name it. “That shows half the story. Here is the rest.”
Guard the eyes of your household like the treasure they are.
Common struggles come. Grace meets them.
Some days the darkness feels heavy. The news, the screens, the despair. The Fathers knew this. They called it spiritual warfare. Keep fixing your eyes. The victory is already won. Keep showing the icons. Truth, the little ones will carry it farther than you can.
The world does not need more people staring at corpses of faith.
It needs fathers who stand as heads of their households, leadership who influence their communities, and future patriarchs who teach their children to see through the tomb to the triumph.
This is how you build something that outlives you.
If The Culturist’s challenge stirred something in you, and my Orthodox addition lands, join the rest of us at Truth & Prosperity.
Every week, on Sunday evening, I share my journey in the ancient Christian faith, battle-tested steps that turn conviction into daily discipline for faith, family, finance, leadership, and legacy. No hype. Just tools that work for real men building real futures.
The Cross does not hold Him.
He holds the Cross.
And that changes everything.
ICXC NIKA.
Thank you for writing this piece. Leading my family better spiritually has been in my mind now that my kids are able to have small discussions about it.