This isn't so much a question about theology or denominational teachings as Church history.
In an answer to a question on another StackExchange site, someone posted this:
> I am an Art Historian, and I have recently made a research on the
> Unicorn symbology in the Middle Ages Art. The unicorn is an
> christological symbol. In the book physiologus (popular book in the
> middle ages about magical creatures and so on) the unicorn is
> described as hard to capture. Only a virgin could do this. This
> unicorn myth has been used as a symbol (incarnation) of Christ, who
> has been born by the virgin Mary.
That got my interest, so I searched, and there is some apparent truth to this, and some undocumented statements claim that some monks agreed with this.
For example, from: [Christological Figure](http://glossary.expert/Glossary/Entertainment/Literature/Christological_Figure.html)
> ...the unicorn in medieval bestiaries, which would lie down and place
> its phallic, ivory-horned meekly in a maiden's lap so that hunters
> might kill it--which medieval monks interpreted as an allegory of
> Christ allowing himself to enter the womb of the virgin Mary so that
> he might later be sacrificed.
So I'm curious to see if there is documented writings from the Church (I assume this refers to the Catholic Church, or possibly Orthodox or the Church of England, based on the time period) discussing this. Is there history to back up these claims?
Asked by David Stratton
(44287 rep)
Dec 27, 2012, 02:41 AM
Last activity: Sep 26, 2024, 05:30 PM
Last activity: Sep 26, 2024, 05:30 PM