Pagan antiquity, writes Fr. Stephen De Young, often portrayed a world in chaos. Ancient gods were viewed as fighting monstrous creatures of chaos, a kind of primordial being represented by natural forces — the "elemental spirits of the world" as St. Paul put it — against which the battle for order had to be won. Contrast this with the writings of the Old … [Read more...] about Theophany and River Gods: What Are the Strange Figures on the Theophany Icon?