August 787 A.D. Seventh Ecumenical Council
No author. “The Seventh Ecumenical Council.”
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. N.d. http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8071. Accessed 6 Jun 2014.
The Seventh Ecumenical Council
Held in Nicea, Asia Minor in 787. Under Empress Irene. 367 Bishops were present.
The Iconoclast Controversy
It centered around
the use of icons in the Church and the
controversy between the iconoclasts and
iconophiles. The Iconoclasts were suspicious of religious art; they demanded that the Church rid itself of such art and that it be destroyed
or broken (as the term "iconoclast" implies).
The iconophilles believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man's dynamic way of expressing the divine through art and beauty. The Iconoclast controversy was a form of Monophysitism: distrust and downgrading of the human side.
The iconophilles believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man's dynamic way of expressing the divine through art and beauty. The Iconoclast controversy was a form of Monophysitism: distrust and downgrading of the human side.
The Council's Proclamation
"We define that the holy icons, whether in
color, mosaic, or some other material, should
be exhibited in the holy churches of
God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls,
furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God
and Savior Jesus Christ, that of our
Lady the Theotokos, those of the
venerable angels and those of all
saintly people. Whenever these representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to
commemorate and love their prototype.
We define also that they should be kissed
and that they are an object of
veneration and honor (timitiki
proskynisis), but not of real worship (latreia), which is
reserved for Him Who is the subject of
our faith and is proper for the divine nature, ... which is in effect
transmitted to the prototype; he who
venerates the icon, venerated in it
the reality for which it stands."
Defenders of Orthodoxy
St. John of Damascus (675-745)
John Mansur was educated
at the Caliphate Court in Damascus. He
held a position comparable to that of
a Prime Minister. He was a devout
Orthodox Christian. He entered the Monastery of St. Sabbas in Palestine,
where he wrote many poems, hymns and
treaties, one of which is called
"An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox
Faith." This work is a systematic theological summary of all the basic doctrines of the first seven centuries, a
monumental work which became a classic in Orthodox Theology.
The Triumph of Orthodoxy
An Endemousa (Regional) Synod was called in Constantinople in 843. Under Empress Theodora. The veneration of icons was solemnly
proclaimed at the St. Sophia's Cathedral. Monks and clergy came in procession and restored
the icons in their rightful place. The day
was called "Triumph of Orthodoxy." Since that time, this event is
commemorated yearly with a special
service on the first Sunday of Lent,
the "Sunday of Orthodoxy."
- The First Ecumenical Council
- The Second Ecumenical Council
- The Third Ecumenical Council
- The Fourth Ecumenical Council
- The Fifth Ecumenical Council
- The Sixth Ecumenical Council
- The Quinisext Ecumenical Council
- The Seventh Ecumenical Council
August
787 A.D. Seventh Ecumenical
Council
Wiki-offerings.
The Seventh Ecumenical Council took place in Nicea in 787 AD, and is also known as the Second Council of Nicaea. The last of the seven Ecumenical Councils dealt with the icons.
Contents |
The Controversy
Disputes concerning the Person of Christ did not end with the sixth Council in AD 681, but continued through the eighth and ninth centuries. This time, the controversy focused on icons—pictures of Christ, the Theotokos, the saints, and holy events—and lasted for 120 years, starting in AD 726. Icons were kept and venerated in both churches and private homes. The two groups in the controversy were:
also
called "icon-smashers," they were suspicious of any art depicting God
or humans; they demanded the destruction of icons because they saw icons as
idolatry.
also
called "venerators of icons," they defended the place of icons in the
Church.
The controversy, however, was more than a struggle over different views of Christian art. Deeper issues were involved, and it is these the Council addressed:
- The character of Christ's human nature
- The Christian attitude toward matter
- The true meaning of Christian redemption and the salvation of the entire material universe
The controversy falls into two periods:
1. From AD 726 when Leo III began his attack on icons until AD 780 when
Empress Irene ended the attacks
2. Again from AD 815 through AD 843 when Empress Theodora stamped out the
attacks permanently
The iconoclasts had support from both inside and outside the Church. Outside the Church, there may have been influence from Jewish and Muslim ideas, and it is important to note that just prior to the iconoclast outbreak Muslim Caliph Yezid ordered the removal of all icons with his territory. Inside the Church there had always existed a "puritan" outlook which saw all images as latent idolatry.
Largely through the work of St. John of Damascus (c. 676-749), who, ironically, was housed in Muslim-controlled lands and therefore outside the reach of the Empire, the iconodules' position won out. He addressed the charges of the iconoclasts thus:
Concerning
the charge of idolatry: Icons are not idols but symbols, therefore when an
Orthodox venerates an icon, he is not guilty of idolatry. He is not worshipping
the symbol, but merely venerating it. Such veneration is not directed toward
wood, or paint or stone, but towards the person depicted. Therefore relative
honor is shown to material objects, but worship is due to God alone.
We
do not make obeisance to the nature of wood, but we revere and do obeisance to
Him who was crucified on the Cross... When the two beams of the Cross are
joined together I adore the figure because of Christ who was crucified on the
Cross, but if the beams are separated, I throw them away and burn them. —St. John of
Damascus
The Decision of the Council
Restoration of the Icons
Concerning the teaching of
icons
Venerating
icons, having them in churches and homes, is what the Church teaches. They are
"open books to remind us of God." Those who lack the time or learning
to study theology need only to enter a church to see the mysteries of the Christian
religion unfolded before them.
Concerning the doctrinal
significance of icons
Icons
are necessary and essential because they protect the full and proper doctrine
of the Incarnation. While God cannot be represented in His eternal nature
("...no man has seen God", John 1:18),
He can be depicted simply because He "became human and took flesh."
Of Him who took a material body, material images can be made. In so taking a
material body, God proved that matter can be redeemed. He deified matter,
making it spirit-bearing, and so if flesh can be a medium for the Spirit, so
can wood or paint, although in a different fashion.
I
do not worship matter, but the Creator of matter, who for my sake became
material and deigned to dwell in matter, who through matter effected my
salvation... —St. John of Damascus
The seventh and last Ecumenical Council upheld the iconodules' postion in AD 787. They proclaimed: Icons... are to be kept in churches and honored with the same relative veneration as is shown to other material symbols, such as the 'precious and life-giving Cross' and the Book of the Gospels. The 'doctrine of icons' is tied to the Orthodox teaching that all of God's creation is to be redeemed and glorified, both spiritual and material.
Commemoration
The Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council are commemorated in October, on the Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
Source
- The Orthodox Church, Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia
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