JOHN OF DAMASCUSON THE DIVINE IMAGES

Dr. Kimberly VrudnyTheo. 452: Theology and Beauty

University of St. Thomas

ICON

• Etymology– Latin, icon– from Greek eikon, “likeness, image, portrait,”

from eikenai: “to resemble, to be like, to look like”

• Biblical Sources / Traditions– imago Dei, translated: “image of God,” meaning “icon of

God”– There is a Jewish saying that thousands of angels go before

every human being, crying: “Make way, make way for the image of God”—the icon of God.

• In Christianity– “[A] conventional religious image typically painted on a

small wooden panel and used in the devotions of Eastern Christians.”

The Ladder of Divine AscentTwelfth CenturySt. Catherine’s Monastery,

Sinai/Egypt

Andrei RublevThe Holy TrinityFifteenth CenturyRussia

ICONOCLASTS• Definition: “Destroyer of Images”

• Biblical Case:– Ex. 20:4 / Deut. 5:8: “You shall not make for yourself an

idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

– Deut 4:15-18: “Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take care and watch yourselves closely, so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves, in the form of any figure—the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.”

– Deut. 27:15:  ‘Cursed be anyone who makes an idol or casts an image, anything abhorrent to the Lord, the work of an artisan, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall respond, saying, ‘Amen!’

ICONODULES• Definition: “Defender of Images”

• Biblical Case:– Ex. 31:1-11: “The Lord spoke to Moses: See, I have called by

name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skilful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, and the ark of the covenant, and the mercy-seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt-offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand, and the finely worked vestments, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests, and the anointing-oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. They shall do just as I have commanded you.”

8th CenturyICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY

• Emperor Leo III– 726 – Opposed veneration of icons (vs.)– Destroyed image of Christ at imperial palace, Constantinople– Riots– 730, Second Council of Nicea, reiterated prohibition of sacred

images

• Pope Gregory II– Defended veneration of icons– Resisted Emperor’s policy

• Exceeded authority of lay ruler• Iconoclasm denied Incarnation

– Emperor attempted to replace and then to assassinate Gregory

8th CenturyICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY

• Constantine V, Leo’s successor, reasserted prohibition of images– 754– Condemned the work of painters under threat of punishment– Iconodules were imprisoned and tortured; many went into exile

• Empress Irene reconvened Council of Nicea II– 787– Restored veneration

• Emperor Leo V revived iconoclastic policies– 815, Council in St. Sophia– Repressed Images

• Empress Theodora and “Feast of Orthodoxy”– 843, Empress Theodora restored at Synod in Constantinople

JOHN of DAMASCUS

• Biography– ca. 675 - ca. 749– born in Damascus– 730, joined monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem– 726-730, wrote Apologia Against Those Who Decry

Holy Images, the “first Christian treatise devoted explicitly and exclusively to sacred images.” —Moshe Barasch

On the Apologia

“[John] maintained that an icon does not pretend to be an equivalent, and therefore a substitute, for what it portrays, but is a likeness which raises the mind to its original. Both he and—and a later stage of controversy—the monastic reformer Theodore of Studios (759-826) identified the fundamental issue in the iconoclastic controversy as Christological. If Christ’s humanity, which can in principle be pictured, is real, concrete, and historical; and if, at the same time, it is truly one with the hypostasis of the divine Logos, then the veneration of an image of Christ is analogous to the veneration of the Gospels, which ‘pictures’ Christ in words. Both icon and Gospel are testimonies to the [presence] of the divine in the worlds of nature and history, and both are media of access to God.”

—Williston Walker, 233.

JOHN OF DAMASCUS

TRINITARIAN GOD

IMAGE / ICON

CREATED ORDER

MATERIAL SUBSTANCEhuman nature

FORMAL SUBSTANCEspiritual / divine nature

“[T]here are images of invisible and formless things that provide in bodily form a dim understanding of what is

depicted. . . . ‘[T]he invisible things of God, since the creation of the world,

have been clearly perceived through the things that have been made.’ For we see images in created things intimating to us dimly reflections of the divine” (para. 11,

page 26)

“I reverence therefore matter and I hold in respect and venerate that through which my salvation has come about, I

reverence it not as God, but as filled with divine energy and grace” (paga. 14,

page 71).

“It is clear that it is impossible to make an image of God or of anything like God,

since he is uncircumscribable and unimaginable, lest the creation be

venerated in worship as God” (para. 15, page 28).

“Of old, God the incorporeal and formless was never depicted, but now that God

has been seen in the flesh and has associated with human kind, I depict

what I have seen of God. I do not venerate matter, I venerate the

fashioner of matter, who became matter for my sake” (para. 16, page 29).

“We therefore venerate the images, not by offering veneration to matter, but through them to those who are depicted in them”

(para. 41, page 112).

Terminology

• Worship– Latreia

worship adoration properly offered to God alone

Veneration– Hyperdulia

veneration In the sense of devotion properly offered to Theotokos such veneration points ultimately to God

– Proskunesis (Greek) / Dulia (Latin) veneration in the sense of devotion properly offered to saints and images such veneration points ultimately to God

ONGOING CONTROVERSIES

Br. Robert Lentz, OFMChrist of Maryknoll2002

Br. Robert Lentz, OFMMother of the Disappeared1986

Br. Robert Lentz, OFMGandhi

Fr. William Hart McNicholsOur Lady of Sorrows

Fr. William Hart McNicholsFrancis ‘Neath the Bitter Tree

Alex AlferovMadonna Study1993Acrylic on Paper20” x 36”

Alex AlferovGraffiti Madonna 12004Acrylic and Spray Paint on

Canvas40” x 60”

DISCUSSION