The value of a symbol is its ability to elucidate to compress into a simple, meaningful whole, readily grasped and retained to provide a center for the shaping of conduct and belief. As such it goes beyond a sign or an image.
The religious symbol points beyond itself to reality, participates in its power, and makes intelligible its meaning.
A representation, visual or conceptual, of that which is unseen and invisible. Kooy, 'Symbol, Symbolism,' The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, vol.
Kooy Bible Research > Interpretation > Typology > Symbolism
