Icons Before Iconoclasm

7/29/2019 Icons Before Iconoclasm

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Harvard Divinity School

The Icons before IconoclasmAuthor(s): Norman H. BaynesReviewed work(s):Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Apr., 1951), pp. 93-106Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School

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THE ICONS BEFORE ICONOCLASMNORMAN H. BAYNES

LONDON"THE FEELINGagainst ikon-worship suddenly burst out in theearlier part of the eighth century when the iconoclastic (ikon-smashing) emperorsof Constantinopletried to suppressthe prac-tice by force." So wrote Edwyn Bevan in an admirableessay onIdolatry.' And frommodernaccountsof the iconoclast movementone does generally get the impressionthat after the violent chal-lenge of Epiphanius in the fourth century- when he tore downa pictured curtain which hung in a church - the East Romanworld had accepted without protest and without question thewidespreadcult of the icon,while the policy of iconoclastemperorsappears as a sudden breach with a universally recognizedtradi-tion. But is such an impression justified? When we put togethersuch fragmentarypieces of evidence as we possess is it not ratherprobable that there was a continuous questioning of the legiti-macy of the cult? May not the part played by the icon in thelife and religious usage of the Byzantine world have been sub-jected to the constant criticismof pagans,Jews and even of Chris-tians? And if this is so, it may help us to understandsomewhatmore clearly the primary motives which inspired the policy ofthe iconoclast rulers. It may be worth while to consider theevidence afresh since it has been increased by two recent pub-lications.In 1938 Franz Diekamp published3 a fragment from theIcrV/&KT-ra rq ara - the "Vermischte Untersuchungen"-ofHypatius of Ephesus containedin the Codex Parisinus i115 ann.1276. fol. 254v--255'. These "Mixed Enquiries" were addressedto Julian, bishop of Atramution (in western Asia Minor), a suf-

1The Edinburgh Review, vol. 243, No. 496 (April 1926), pp. 253-272.21 accept the authenticity of the Epiphanian documents. For a criticism of theargument of G. Ostrogorsky, Studien zur Geschichte des byzantinischen Bilder-streites (Historische Untersuchungen, Heft 5) Breslau, 1929 see Franz D6lger,G6ttingische gelehrte Anzeigen, August 1929, pp. 353-372.' In his Analecta Patristica (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 117), Rome, Pont.Inst. Orientalium Studiorum, 1938, pp. 109-153, text at pp. 127-129.

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94 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEWfragan bishopricof Ephesus. This fragmentis from chapter 5 ofthe first book of the work and concerns r- iv 70o dtyloL~oLKOL9-"the things in the holy churches." This text has not, apparently,attracted any attention from scholars, yet it is of considerableinterest since Hypatius of Ephesus was a prominent championof Chalcedonianorthodoxy in the reign of Justinian. Julian ofAtramution was troubled by the scriptural prohibition of themaking of images and by the command to destroy such imageswhenthey had been made. He will allowrepresentations ypawkdg)in the churches but none on wood or stone and no sculpture.These ypacdch may be on the door-curtains ('dr'Opag": I supposethis is how the words must be translated), but no more is per-missible. In his reply Hypatius urges that we must consider thereason for the Old Testament prohibition,and at the same timewe must seek to understand why the making of sacred things(r% iepd) is allowed as it is at present. Since some, as sacredScripturesays, thoughtthat the Godhead(r7'eov) was like goldand silver and stones and graven works of art, and since theymade according to their own pleasure material gods and wor-shipped the creature rather than the creator, God rejected theiraltars and their idols (Hypatius quotes Romans 125, Deut. 75,415-16, Ps. 7119), for nothing of all the things that are is like orequal to or the same as the holy Trinity and the Maker andCause of all things. But we direct that the unspeakable andincomprehensible "philanthropy" (tkXav~ponria) of God towardsus and the sacred images of the saints shall be glorifiedin sacredrepresentations (ypa'/pao-t), though we ourselves have no pleas-ure at all in anything formed (X,do-EL) or any representation(ypab^). But we allow simplerand immaturefolk to have theseas being fitted to their natural development,that thus they maylearn throughthe eye by means adapted to their comprehension.For we have found that often and in many cases both old and newdivine commands have made concessions to the weak to securetheir salvation. Hypatius instances the hierophant Moses whoat God's promptinghad been his people's legislator and yet hadbeen biddento make the images of the Cherubim. "Andin manyother cases we see the divine wisdom (1-?v OEoXoylav)with "philan-thropy" (OtXavOpco-ia) for man's salvation releasing the strict-



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THE ICONS BEFOREICONOCLASM 95ness of the law to benefit the souls of those who still need to beled by the hand." It is the care which guided the magi by a starand which led Israel away from idolatroussacrificesto sacrificetoGod. Thereforewe, too, allow materialornament n our churches,not as though we thought that God was a god of gold and silverand silken vestments and vessels adorned with precious stonesbut making a concession so that each order of the faithful maybe led by the hand in a way which is proper to itself and sobrought to the Godhead. Thus of these, too, some will be led bythe hand to spiritual beauty (Erriqv vo1qvy dEr~niELpv)and fromthe many lights in our churches to the spiritual and immateriallight.And someof those who have studied the higherlife (-)qv V4nqXo--ECpavCCOv tXkooo-rqo0-vr-Cov)have learned that worship in thespirit can be offeredin every place and that it is holy souls whichare God's temples. ... So then we in our churches do not re-move the sacred objects, but to the immature we stretch out ahelping hand; we do not allow them to remainuntaughtconcern-ing the more perfect doctrines, but them, too, we hold in theknowledgethat the Godheadis not the same as any created thingnor is it equal or like to any such thing."As for ourselves we have no delight in the icons"- did thatsixth century view persist among the bishops of Asia Minor?And if it did, it can readily be understoodthat any general cultof the icons in such extremeforms as later appearin the apologiesof the iconodules would seem dangerousand a wrongfuluse of apractice which was tolerated only in the interest of the weakermembers of the church. Here is an attitude which may help toexplain the action of those bishops of Asia Minor who in theeighth century inauguratedthe iconoclast movement.4Through the sixth century protest of Julian of Atramution wecan observe the Christiancriticismof the place taken by the iconsin the service of the church. We tend, however,to forget that notall the East Romans had been converted to the imperial faith.And in a fragmentfrom St. Symeon'swork on the SacredImagesI

4 See G. Ostrogorsky, Les Debuts de la Querelle des Images, M'langes CharlesDiehl, vol. i, pp. 235-255.5P.G. 86b col. 3220 (P.G.=Migne, Patrologia Graeca).



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96 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWwe find the pagan argument that the Christians, too, throughtheir obeisance to the icons were praying to lifeless idols. Itcould not have been easy for the Christiansto refute the charge.The pagans, it is said, traducedthe Christians and gave birth toheresies; 6 what those heresies were we are not told; did pagancriticism lead to the rejectionof the use of the icons? A passagefrom the work of John, Bishop of Salonica7 is in its argumentunexpected. The Christians, says the bishop, do not give cor-poreal forms to powers which have no body; the icons of Christthrough the effect of the Incarnation represent God as seen onearth "and not as He is conceivedin His divine nature" (KaL o0x60 voELTrcLvEL oE). This the pagans - surely surprisingly -were preparedto admit; granted, they said, that you can repre-sent One made Man, what of the angels pictured on the icons ashuman beings though the Christians regarded them as spiritualand incorporeal (voEpog KaiLado-wLrovg) ? And to this objectionthe Christians replied that the angels were not completely in-corporeal (dio-/Aiarot) as the pagans contended, they are of theair or of fire and their bodies are very fine. Angels are localized,they have appeared in bodily form to those whose eyes Godopened and are therefore rightly so painted as spiritual createdbeings and ministers of God (KTrio-ara VoEpc KaLXELtovpyoYLEOV).It would seem that the essential point for the pagans was toestablish that the Christian use of the icons was idolatrous: theChristian reverencingthe Cross was a worshipperof a woodengod; if he worshippedthe Cross he ought to worship asses. TheChristian replied that no demon trembled when he saw asses.8And underJustinianpagans were given a short shrift: they werearrestedand carriedin publicprocession,their books were burnedand so were their "icons and images of their foul Gods" (EIK61VErw Vlvo-ap~ov lOEWPKaiL&,y6Xara).9 Did pagan criticismof theicons raise doubts of their legitimacy in the minds of the Chris-tians? Our fragmentary sources give us no answer to such aquestion.

' Byzantion 17 (1944-45), p. 66.'Mansi, vol. 13, col. 164-65.8Pseudo-Athanasios P.G. 28, col. 621-624.'Malalas (Bonned.), p. 491 19-20



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THE ICONS BEFORE ICONOCLASM 97It is strange that, so far as I know, no study has appearedofthe appealof Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus,directedto

the Jews who charged the Christians with having introducedidolatry into the Church. That appeal we possess only in frag-mentary form,'0but it is of great interest as giving us the defenceof the icons as it was formulatedin the early years of the seventhcentury. Leontius knew Egypt well, he wrote the biography ofthe Patriarch St. John the Almsgiver;11 and from the first manyJews had settled in Alexandria. It may well have been in Alex-andria that Leontius composed his apology against the Jews(d&roXoyia KarIov8aicov). We have in the Pratum SpiritualeofJohn Moschus an account of Cosmas, a scholasticus of Alexan-dria, who possessed a large library he was 'rokxi;3LpXoor-pwivra- -roV iv AXEeaV8pEiL'vra~(PratumSpiritualech. I72,P.G. 87, 3, col. 3040 D) and generouslylent his books to all whowished to read them. John Moschus went to see him daily andalways found him either readingor writing against the Jews, forhe was passionately desirous to convert them to the truth, "Andhe often sent me to the Jews that I might discuss with them on theevidence of the Scripture." This is the backgroundwhich mustbe kept in mind as one reads the appeal of Leontius. A summaryof that appeal (so far as we possess it) is the simplest way ofillustrating its significance.'2The Jews took their stand upon the God-givenLaw, and forthe Christians also that Law formed part of their sacred scrip-tures since they had laid claim to the Old Testament as their ownand refused to follow Marcion in rejecting the earlier revelation.And that Law had expresslyordained "Thou shalt not make untothee any graven image or likeness of any thing that is in heavenabove or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the waterunder the earth, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them norserve them" (Exodus 204-5). "You shall make you no idols norgraven image ... neither shall ye set up any image of stonein your land to bow down unto it" (Levit. 26'; cf. Deut. 58).

10I do not understand the relation between the text cited from Mansi vol. 13,P.G. 93, col. 1597-1609 and the extracts quoted by John of Damascus P.G. 94.' Translated in E. Dawes and N. H. Baynes, Three Byzantine Saints, Blackwell,Oxford, 1948."P.G. 93, col. 1597-1609.



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98 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWSuch was the tradition; but, Leontius argued, there was anotherlegal tradition: God had said to Moses that he should fashiontwo Cherubim 13 graven in gold (Exodus 2518), while God showedto Ezekiel a temple with forms of palms and lions and men andwith Cherubim from pavement to roof (Ezekiel 41qs). Thus hadGod revoked his own ordinance. "If you wish to condemn me,"wrote Leontius, "on account of images (ElK6'VE), then you mustcondemn God for orderingthem to be made.""4 And though Godgave no instructionsconcerningthe adornmentof His temple yeton the legal precedent of God's command to Moses (EK v0'ovXaf8C'v v riVrov)15 Solomon filled the building with lions and bullsand palm-trees and men in bronze and with carved and moltenimages. It was important for Leontius to prove that the Chris-tians were not innovators,they were but maintaininga traditionderived from the scriptureswhich were sacred alike to Jew andChristian;16elsewhere in a passage cited by John of Damascus(P.G. 94 col. 1273) he meets an objection that might be raisedby the Jews. "It may be objected," Leontius writes, "that allthose things which were in the tent of witness God ordered to beplaced there and I reply that Solomonmademany differentthingsin the temple,carved andmoltenthingswhichGodhadnot orderedhim to make nor were they amongst the things which were in thetent of witness nor were they in the temple which God showed toEzekiel, but Solomon was not condemned for this, for he madethese shapes to the glory of Godjust as we do." 17

Others, it may be noted, carried the argument still further.Thus Hieronymus,a presbyterof Jerusalem, suggested that Godhad allowedeach nation (0Ovog) to worshipits own gods throughthings made by man in order that no one might be able to raiseobjection to the Christian use of the Cross and the Christianobeisance (iWpoo-KiVho-L~)before the icons. So the Jews madetheir obeisance (Wpoo-iKVrqOc)before the ark of the covenant,"1For the argument derived from God's direction concerning the Cherubim seeP. - supra.4 Cf. P.G. 94, col. 1384 A-B.'5 Cf. John of Damascus De Imaginibus Oratio, III, P.G. 94, col. 1384 A-Bquoting Leontius: Solomon EK 6gLOv &a3wvX r67rTCZa."lCf.ibid.,col.1381 s.f. vo/LLK ,yd&pa'fT7 pj 7rapd'o80Lat oX 7p)eripa.1Cf. Byzantion 17(1944-45), P. 59 "Et Dieu ne desapprouva pas et il l'appelale temple de son nom."



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THE ICONSBEFOREICONOCLASM 99the Cherubimand the tables of the Law, although Moses wasnowhere bidden to do obeisance to or to reverence (Vpoo-KvvE1vor daarrdaEo-ra)these things (P.G. 40 col. 865) and the same viewis expressedin a fragmentcited in a note, ibid.The reply of the Jew was that these images, permitted to bemade by God, were not to be adored as gods but served only toremind us. "Well said," responded the Christian, "the same istrue of our icons."18 Elsewhere Leontius states that the godless(rravdOEoL)all the Christians dolaters and worshippersof woodengods (6vXoOEov3). In P.G. 94 col. 1384 B he rejects the chargewith scorn: "We do not make obeisance to the nature of the woodbut we revere and do obeisance to Him who was crucifiedon theCross" ibid. 1384 D. "We do not say to the Crossnor to the iconsof the saints 'You are my God.' For they are not our gods, butopened books to remindus of God and to His honour set in thechurches and adored" ibid. col. 1276 A. "If we worshippedthewood of the image, we should not burn the icon when the repre-sentationgrew faint. When the two beamsof the Cross are joinedtogether I adore the figure because of the Christ who on theCross was crucified,but if the beams are separated,I throw themaway and burn them." This argument is adopted by otherwriters."'

One who receives an order from the Emperor and kisses theseal does not honor the paper but gives to the Emperorhis obei-sance and respect; 20 and in the sameway, when we see the repre-sentation of Christ, through it we hail and do obeisance to theCrucified. Just as children, if their father is away, cherish hisstaff or his chair so we cherish the places which Christ visited,Nazareth or the Jordan, and remember his friends, the saints

8sThis theme of the function of the icons to keep alive men's memory is con-stant, cf. e.g., the citations of Leontius in P.G. 94 col. 1276 A dvcirlt'qo'tsand in ibid.,1385 A; bvriLgrnLSn 1384 B and P.G. 28 col. 621 D. John Bishop of Thessalonicain Mansi 13 col. 164 on the icons of the saints els Trb tervOatcatITrV KaGrtLA&afrobs.. . s Yrlov/ o6Xovsoov Ka OUSo0KaKa Krappatrav EXOVTas irpeaogv3eetrrep ip/~r. Of the icons we read in Quaestiones; ad Antiochum, Ducem P.G. 28col. 621 o 7rWep t' br6,',VlOLV KaK ,bvov EVTv7roV/LEV KaL o6 '7gepov7prov cf. Stephenof Bostra P.G. 94 col. 1376 B-D.~ Cf. Les Trophies de Damas, ed. G. Bardy, Patrologia Orientalis Tome I5,Fasc. 2, Paris 1920, p. 245 (75) - Isaiah 4414-17 quoted; Quaestiones ad AntiochumDucem P.G. 28 col. 621 B and the fragment ibid. col. 709 A.

2 Cf. P.G. 94 col. 1384 D.



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100 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEWand the martyrs. And on account of Christ and of those thingswhich are Christ's we figure his sufferings in our churches andhouses, in our market places and on our garments - everywhere- so that through seeing them constantly we may be warned thatwe should not forget. Then turning to the Jew, Leontius says:"You do obeisance to the book of the Law, but you do not make obei-sance to parchmentsand ink but to the words of God containedtherein.And it is thus that I do obeisance to the icon of God, for when I holdthe lifeless representationof Christ in my hands21throughit I seem tohold and to do obeisance to the Christ. As Jacob kissed the bloody coatof Josephand felt that he held him in his arms, so Christians think thatholding the image they hold Christ or His apostles and martyrs.You say that there must be no obeisance paid to anything made byhuman hands or created. But haven't you, when wife or children havedied, taken some garment or ornament of theirs and kissed it and shedtears over it and were not condemned for doing so? You did not doobeisance to the garmentsas to God; through your kisses you did butshow your longing for those who once had worn them. Fathers andchildren, sinners and created beings as they are, we often greet themand no one condemnsus, for we do not greet them as gods, but throughour kisses we express our natural love for them. As I have said manytimes, in every greeting and every obeisance it is the purpose of theaction which is in question.22And if you accuse me of doing obeisanceto the wood of the Cross as though it were God why do you not saythe same of the staff of Joseph?23 Abrahamdid obeisance to infamousmen who sold a sepulchre,and went on his knees before them, but notas though they were gods. Jacob blessed the idolater Pharaoh and didobeisance to Esau, but not as though they were gods. Do you seehow many salutations and obeisances I have adduced out of the Scrip-tures and all without blame?""You call us idolaterswhen it was Christian saints and martyrs whodestroyed the temples of the idolaters."24 Leontius accuses the Jews ofblindness because they fail to realize that through the relics of the

21 Cf. T77 capKl P.G. ibid. 1385 B and the fragment P.G. 28 col. 709.22Cf.P.G.94 col. 1385 B 6 o'KO7r E~erdCera(L.23P.G. 93 col. I6oix &a1 oK yKaXe p7 'IaKwo/' rpOoKVUVP'aV7T62L 7TOKpOP

r? Acdp5ov00 'Iwa7j. Jacob did not make obeisance to the wood but through thewood to Joseph. Hebrews, 11,21. Cf. F. Nau, La Didaskalie de Jacob, PatrologiaOrientalis vol. 8, fasc. 5 P. 740 (30), Quaestiones ad Antiochum Ducem P.G. 28col. 621.' Cf. P.G. 94 col. 1385 D.



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THE ICONS BEFORE ICONOCLASM 101martyrsand through he icons demonsare put to flight,and yet foulmenpervertandmockand laughat suchthingsas these. Oftenbloodwill gushforth from the icons and from the relicsof the martyrsandfoolishfolk, thoughthey see this, are not persuaded; hey treat themiraclesas mythsand fables. As Leontiuswrites in another ragment"If the bonesof thejustareimpure, ow was it that the bonesof Jacoband Josephwere carriedback with all honour romEgypt? How wasit that a deadmantouching he bonesof Elishastraightwaytoodup?And if Godworksmiracleshroughbones, t is clearthathe can do thesamethroughconsand stonesandmanyotherthings." 5With this belief in the cogency of the argumentfrom miraclemaybe compared a passage from the Quaestiones ad AntiochumDucem: "Let those who refuse to do obeisance to the Cross andthe icons explain how it is that the holy icons have often pouredforth streams of myrrh by the power of the Lord, and how it isthat a lifeless stele when it has received a blow has miraculouslygiven forth blood as though it were a living body. Let them sayhow it is that from tombs and relics and icons demons are oftendriven howling away."26 In Les Trophies de Damas it is statedthat the sick whether they be believers or unbelievers take theirseat beside the coffinsof the saints and are healed.27And daily, Leontius continues,almost throughoutthe inhabitedworldunholy and lawless men, idolaters and murderers,adulterersand robbers are suddenly smitten in their consciences throughChrist and His Cross, say farewell to the whole world and givethemselves to the practice of virtue. Tell me, how can we beidolaters who pay our homage (lrpoo-KvvEv) and do honor to thebones, the dust, the clothes, the blood and the tombs of thosewho refused to sacrifice to idols?The Christian brings to the Creator, the Lord and Maker ofall things, his adoration and worship through heaven and earthand sea, through stone and wood, through relics and churches,through the Cross, through angels and through mankind. Forcreationcannot itself directly worship its Maker, but throughmethe heavens declare the glory of God, through me the moon

2P.G. 94 col. 1272 C-D.26P.G. 28 col. 621 C. For a story of a demon and the icon of the Virgin ibid.' Les Trophies de Damas, ed Bardy. Patrologia Orientalis vol. 15, Fasc. 2 p. 273(103) and cf. ibid. p. 272 (102).



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102 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWworships God, throughme the stars, throughme the waters, theshowersand the dew, throughme all creationworshipand glorifyGod.When a good king has made for himself a rich and elaboratecrown all those who are truly loyal to the king pay their respectand honor to the crown, but it is not the gold or the pearls thatthey honor but the head of the king and his skilful hands whichhave fashionedthe crown. So with the Christians: whenevertheypay their respectsto the representationsof the Cross and to iconsit is not to wood or stone, not to gold or the perishableicon, notto the coffinor the relics that they bringtheirworship,but throughthese they bring their respect and their worship. For the honorpaid to His saints courses back (ivar-pE"XEL)o Himself. Thus itis that men destroying or insulting icons of the Emperor arepunished with extreme severity as having insulted the Emperorhimself and not merely the painted board. Man made afterGod's image is God's icon indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is righttherefore that I should honor and make obeisance (rrpoo-Kvv^v)to the icon of the servants of God and glorify the dwellingof theHoly Spirit.If the Jews accuse the Christians of idolatry they should becovered with shame, for they did obeisance to their own kingsand the kings of other nations. Everywhere the Christians havearmed themselvesagainst the idols: against the idols we sing ourhymns, against the idols we write, against the idols and thedemons we pray. Supposingthat an idolaterhad come into yourtemple and seen the two sculptured Cherubimand had blamedthe Jews as being themselves idolaterswhat, asks Leontius, couldyou reply? For the Christianthe Crossand the icons arenot gods:they remindus of Christ and His saints that we should do themhonor: they are there to beautify our churches; and he who payshis worship to Christ's Mother carries the honor to Him and hewho honors the apostle honorsHim who sent him forth.28If then prophetsand righteousmen bowed to the earth beforeidolaters because of services rendered why do you blame mewhen I bow before the Cross and before representationsof thesaints throughwhomfromGodI receiveten thousandgoodthings?

8 Cf. P.G. 94 col. 1276 A.



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THE ICONS BEFOREICONOCLASM 103On this appeal of Leontius Dr. E. J. Martin writes (A Historyof the Iconoclastic Controversy,p. 141) "The views . . . are so

complete an anticipationof the Iconoclastic struggle and its veryargumentsthat the authenticity of all the passages attributed toLeontius must be gravely suspect." He conjecturesthat Leontiusis really the champion of orthodoxy, George of Cyprus. Thisjudgment seems to me perverse. I am struck by the great skillwith which Leontius presents his case: the whole argument isbased throughouton the Old Testament, the commonground ofJew and Christian. Leontius may have known the theologicaljustification,deduced from the Incarnation,of the icons of Christ,but he makes no use of it: it would have had no cogency for theJews. "The principle stands that we must either not argue witha man at all or we must argue on his grounds and not ours."29Leontius knows St. Basil's doctrine that the honor paid to theiconpassesto theprototype ?j7~ EL'KO'VOK7i9 iT- ITOITiOTOV77TOV8taatLvEL);he may well have known that key-text, but nowherein the fragmentswhich we possess does he cite a ChristianFatherof the Church. The only distinctively Christianargumentwhichhe employs is the evidence of those miracles performed throughthe icons for which the Jew was in duty bound to furnish an ex-planation, since Leontius was persuaded that the fact of miraclewas incontrovertiblyestablished. The plea of Leontius is thuswidely different from the later Iconodule propaganda and de-serves close study.30 Indeed it may be suggested that the repeti-tion, in a series of works against the Jews, of the argumentsofLeontius in defence of the icons was indirectly intended to meetthe scruples of Christians impressed by the Jewish contention.It is to be observedthat it is a Christianwho asks Antiochus for ajustificationof the disregardof the Old Testament prohibitionofimages.31It is not necessary to consider in detail that series of worksagainst the Jews, since the argument concerning the icons forthe most part does but reproducethe plea of Leontius. Thus in

29 G. K. Chesterton, St. Thomas Aquinas, 1933, p. 3Io."aIt would, for example, be of interest to know whether there are parallels tothe view of Leontius that the world of nature needs the help of man before itcan worship its Creator.3 P.G. 28 col. 621.



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104 HARVARDTHEOLOGICAL EVIEWLes Tropheesde Damas the Jewish chargeof idolatry is repeated-the Christians are falling back into old pagan practices (,iiraka Ijtuvli-v EOvyvvVcEawld),32 they do obeisance to thingsmade by human hands (XEtpozrol7q-aa' KTt-oLrpTay/t.ara). TheChristian in reply points to the ark of the covenant, to Mosesand the (second) tables of the Law and to the Cherubim. Thebook of the Law is brought from the synagogue and the Jews doobeisance to it and so prove the Christian'sargument.A. C. McGiffert's edition of the Dialogue of Papiscus andPhilo 33 (Marburg, 1889) is not accessible to me, but the textof the curious brief section on the Cross and the icons is citedby F. Nau in his edition of the Didascalia of Jacob.3"This, again,only repeats argumentswhich we have met with previously: theJew asking why the orderwhich was given by God forbiddingtodo obeisance to things made of wood (/) 7Trpo0-KVVEZV6ot3) wasdisregardedby the Christians in their use of the Cross and oficons, and the Christianreplying Why do you do obeisanceto thebook of the Law and why did Jacob do obeisance on the top ofJoseph's staff (dro 70a'Kpov 7~T /3ov ro7 'Iuooi)? In respectof the book of the Law the Jew answers that he does not doobeisance to the nature of the skins but to the meaning of thewords of the Law, while Jacob did not do obeisance to the woodof the staff, but he honoredJoseph who held it.In the summary of Leontius' argument references have beengiven to parallels in the Pseudo-AthanasianQuaestiones ad An-tiochumDucem P.G. 28, Quaestio 39, col. 621; there is no freshdevelopment. A fragmentadded to the Quaestionesibid. col. 709does but give a variant to the text of Leontius: "For if Christ isnot present to my lips in His body, nevertheless with heart andmind I am present with Christ in the spirit." It is interesting insuch passages as this to catch an echo of the emotion which in-spired the cult of the icon: in the Quaestiones ad AntiochumDucem: "We make our obeisance to express the attitude and thelove of our souls (rVv XEIoCLWal 7jV aRyariv r7 UvX u 9L) for

2 Les Trophies de Damas, ed. G. Bardy, Patrologia Orientalis vol. 15, p. 245.3 On this dialogue see A. Lukyn Williams, Adversus Judaeos, Cambridge, 1935,pp. 169-174.3' La Didascalie de Jacob, Patrologia Orientalis vol. 8, 5, p. 740.



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THE ICONSBEFOREICONOCLASM 105those representedin the icon,35 or "to show our longing (wrGo0)for them just as we greet fathers and friends; 31 through theCross we express the true attitude of our souls (r'qv rv4 41JVXnq7/(xv yvraYrav8~dOErv) towards the Crucified.37 The very sim-plicity of the wordingseems to carrywith it an assuranceof genu-ine feeling.There remain to be considered two documents recently trans-lated from the Armenian,a seventh century apology for the iconsand a letter of the vardapet John Mayragometsi taken from thehistory of Moses Kaghankavatsi.3"The apology begins on lineswhich must have becometraditional: the Old Testament prohibi-tion of images is met with references to the Cherubim,and toSolomon'sTemple- Goddid not disapproveSolomon's nitiative,He called the Temple the Temple of His name. The Christianpaintings are not the true God, but we paint them in the nameof God "tel qu'il apparut" a precise parallel to the passagequoted from John, bishop of Salonica (supra p. 96). The writerof the apology is addressing Christians and therefore he canproceed to quote from John Chrysostom,Severianof Gabala andGregory the Illuminator, and can translate from Eusebius hisaccount of the statue of the woman with an issue of blood atPaneas. Heretics consider the icons to be idle, for they canneither speak nor understand: "What of the ark," is the reply,"when it overturnedDagon?" And the Cross raised the dead inthe Holy City and still performs numberless miracles down toour own day - the Cross which is the pride of angels, the salva-tion of men and the terror of the demons. But the special interestof this apology lies in the statement that in Armenia two monksare preaching the destruction of the icons- "l'impie et l'6gareThaddee et Isaie et leurs compagnons qui entrainerent " leur

SP.G. 28 col. 621 B.* Ibid.7P.G. 40 col. 865. It may be noted that the cult of the Cross was not extended

to embrace other objects connected with the passion - the ass, the holy lance,the sponge, the reed- and when Christians asked the reason for this ai"yay&p elctKal -rara KaO& Kal 6 -ravp6s it was not easy to find a satisfactory answer, seeP.G. 28 col. 624, Troph6es de Damas p. 249." Sirarpie der Nersessian, Une Apologie des Images du septibme Siecle, Byzan-tion I7 (1944-45), PP. 58-87. By her translation of these texts and her fully docu-mented commentary Miss der Nersessian has rendered a great service to those ofus who cannot read Armenian works.



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Icons Before Iconoclasm