Theodore the Studite, Letters

for you to seek other Christs, to whom this one might be consubstantial; since it is not possible for a nature with a single person to be known. But if you should not find them, having been caught by your own problems, by your empty fabrication you would opine that Christ does not exist at all. t71-380 {1BEGINNING OF THE FIRST BOOK OF OUR HOLY FATHER AND CONFESSOR THEODORE ABBOT OF THE STOUDIOS VARIOUS LETTERS OF THE THIRD EXILE 71 To the iconoclastic synod as from the person of all the abbots}1 Following divine laws and canonical decrees that one must not do or say anything contrary to the judgment of one's own bishop in matters that contribute to ecclesiastical good order, much less what extends to dogmatic discussion, for this reason, when your authority summoned our lowliness once and twice to such matters, it did not dare, acting outside of what is customary, to be present, since it is, by the divine Spirit, under the sacred hand of Nikephoros the most holy patriarch. But since some of our fellow abbots, making a certain attempt, have decided to come, and to enter into contradictory discussions, what else is there for us to hear than those things which astonish our humble heart? For they say that the summons is for the overthrow of the second holy synod of Nicaea, that is to say, for the abolition of the veneration of the sacred icon of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Theotokos and of all the saints together. O who, having been told these things, would not groan bitterly from the depths of his heart, seeing that in these things the saving economy of our Lord Jesus Christ is already being overturned? Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, let the loud-voiced Isaiah cry out with us, and whatever follows these things in sequence; but rather, that we may speak more appropriately, hear, O east and west, north and the portion by the sea, in what circumstances our affairs now stand and for what purpose they have dared to hold a council. We then, the least, both those who are present and those who are not present (for the argument is one for both, as being of one soul in one divine mind), holding a faith in harmony with the church under heaven, that is, to set up and venerate the divine icon of our savior Jesus Christ himself, and of his all-holy mother and of any one of the saints, we affirm that we have security not because of the second holy synod in Nicaea or because of the one before it that decreed most divinely, but rather because from the very coming of our Lord and God, being supported both by written and unwritten tradition, we have stood securely upon that seat, concerning which Christ says, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." For what argument could be found for one who chooses to speak against so great a power of the truth? For if our Lord Jesus Christ was admittedly seen in human form and in a likeness like ours, he is fittingly circumscribed and depicted like us, even if he remains, in his divine form, the same uncircumscribable one, since he is mediator between God and men, preserving inviolate the properties of each of the natures of which he is composed. But if he were not circumscribable, he has ceased to be human, much less a mediator, since by the abolition of the circumscribable, all the properties of the same order are abolished with it. For if he is not circumscribable, neither is he tangible. But if he is both tangible and able to be handled (to deny which is foolish; for these are properties of a body, which is subject to touch and color), how is he not also circumscribable, from which he is also passible? But if he is circumscribable and passible, he is certainly also to be venerated, that is, according to the form in which he is circumscribed, as the glory of the prototype is not divided in the derivative, according to Basil the Great; for the honor of the icon passes over to the prototype, clearly of whomever it may be, whether of natural or artificial likeness. Since also in the case of the type of the precious cross, the same principle must be understood; for with the veneration of the type, the life-giving wood is venerated along with it, just as, conversely, with its abolition, it is of necessity abolished with it. Or is not the confession of the type

ὑμῖν ζητεῖν ἑτέρους Χριστούς, οἷς οὗτος ἂν εἴη ὁμοούσιος· ἐπεὶ μὴ οἷόν τε μονοπρόσωπον φύσιν γνωρίζεσθαι. εἰ δὲ οὐχ εὑρίσκοιτε, τοῖς ἰδίοις προβλήμασιν ἑαλωκότες, τῷ κενῷ ἀναπλασμῷ οὐ Χριστὸν εἶναι ὅλως δοξάζοιτε. τ71-380 {1ΑΡΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΡΩΤΟΥ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΟΣΙΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΟΜΟΛΟΓΗΤΟΥ ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΟΥ ΗΓΟΥΜΕΝΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΣΤΟΥ∆ΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΑΙ ∆ΙΑΦΟΡΟΙ ΕΞΟΡΙΑΣ ΤΡΙΤΗΣ 71 Τῇ εἰκονομαχικῇ συνόδῳ ὡς ἐκ προσώπου πάντων τῶν ἡγουμένων}1 Νόμοις θείοις καὶ κανονικοῖς θεσπίσμασιν ἑπόμενοι τοῦ μὴ δεῖν παρὰ τὴν τοῦ οἰκείου ἐπισκόπου γνώμην πράττειν τι ἢ λέγειν τῶν ὅσα εἰς ἐκκλησιαστικὴν φέρει εὐταξίαν, πολλοῦ γε εἰπεῖν εἰς δογματικὴν ἐξέλκει συζήτησιν, τούτου χάριν τῆς ὑμετέρας ἐξουσίας ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς ἐκκαλεσάσης πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς εὐτέλειαν, οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν ἔξω τι τῶν νενομισμένων πράττουσα παραγενέσθαι ὡς ὑπὸ τὴν ἱερὰν χεῖρα Νικηφόρου τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου πατριάρχου πνεύματι θείῳ τελοῦσα. ἐπειδὴ δέ τινες τῶν ὁμοταγῶν ἡμῖν ἡγουμένων, ἀπόπειράν τινα ποιούμενοι, κεκρίκασιν ἀφικέσθαι, εἴς τε λόγους ἐλθεῖν ἀντιθετικούς, τί ἄλλο ἢ ἐκεῖνα ἡμᾶς ἀκουτισθῆναι, ἃ ἐξίστησιν ἡμῶν τὴν ταπεινὴν καρδίαν; φασὶ γὰρ τὴν πρόσκλησιν εἶναι ἐπὶ καταστροφῇ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ τὸ δεύτερον ἁγίας συνόδου, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον ἐπ' ἀναιρέσει τοῦ προσκυνεῖσθαι τὴν σεπτὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τῆς τε Θεοτόκου καὶ πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἁγίων. ὢ τίς ἐνηχηθεὶς ταῦτα οὐκ ἂν στενάξειεν πικρὸν ἐκ βάθους καρδίας, ὡς ἀνατρεπομένης ἤδη ἐν τούτοις τῆς σωτηρίου οἰκονομίας τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ; ἄκουε, οὐρανέ, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, γῆ, βοάτω μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ μεγαλοφωνότατος Ἠσαΐας, καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἐπιφερόμενα κατὰ συνέχειαν· μᾶλλον δέ, ἵν' οἰκειότερον φθεγξώμεθα, ἄκουε ἀνατολὴ καὶ δύσις, βορρᾶ τε καὶ ἡ κατὰ θάλασσαν λῆξις, ἐν οἷς νῦν τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐφ' οἷς συνεδρεύειν τετόλμηται. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν οἱ ἐλάχιστοι, οἵ τε παραγενάμενοι καὶ μὴ παραγενάμενοι (ἀμφοτέροις γὰρ εἷς ὁ λόγος, ὡς συμψύχοις οὖσιν ἐν ἑνὶ θείῳ φρονήματι), τῇ ὑπ' οὐρανὸν ἐκκλησίᾳ σύμφωνον πίστιν ἄγοντες, ἤγουν ἀναστηλοῦν τε καὶ προσκυνεῖν τὴν θείαν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τῆς τε παναγίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ οὑτινοσοῦν τῶν ἁγίων, οὐχ ὅτι παρὰ τῇ ἐν Νικαίᾳ τὸ δεύτερον ἁγίᾳ συνόδῳ ἢ παρὰ τῇ πρὸ αὐτῆς δογματισάσῃ θειότατα τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ἔχειν διαβεβαιούμεθα, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ θεοῦ ἐγγράφως τε καὶ ἀγράφως ἐρηρεισμένοι ὄντες ἀσφαλῶς βεβήκαμεν ἐπ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἕδραν, ἐφ' ᾗ φησιν ὁ Χριστός, σὺ εἶ Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς. Τίς γὰρ καὶ λόγος ἐξευρεθείη τῷ ἀντηγορεῖν ἑλομένῳ τοσούτῳ κράτει τῆς ἀληθείας; εἰ γὰρ ὁμολογουμένως ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐν ἀνθρωπείᾳ μορφῇ καὶ ἐν εἴδει τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὦπται, ἀραρότως περιγράφεταί τε καὶ εἰκονίζεται καθ' ἡμᾶς, εἰ καὶ μένει τῇ θείᾳ μορφῇ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπερίγραπτος, ἐπείπερ ἐστὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἑκατέρων τῶν φύσεων, ἐξ ὧν ἐστι, τὰ ἰδιώματα ἀλώβητα διασῴζων. εἰ δὲ μὴ περιγράφοιτο, ἀπόλωλεν τοῦ εἶναι ἄνθρωπος, πολλοῦ γε εἰπεῖν μεσίτης, διὰ τῆς ἀναιρέσεως τοῦ περιγραπτοῦ συναναιρουμένων πάντων τῶν ὁμοστοίχων ἰδιωμάτων. εἰ γὰρ οὐ περιγραπτός, οὐδ' ἁπτός. εἰ δὲ ἁπτὸς ὁμοῦ καὶ ψηλαφητὸς (οἷς ἀντερεῖν ἠλιθιῶδες· σώματος γὰρ ταῦτα, τοῦ ἁφῇ τε καὶ χροιᾷ ὑπο πίπτοντος), πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ περιγραπτός, ἐξ οὗ καὶ παθητός; εἰ δὲ περιγραπτὸς καὶ παθητός, πάντως καὶ προσκυνητὸς δηλαδὴ καὶ καθ' ἣν περιγράφεται εἰδέαν, ὡς μὴ σχιζομένης τῆς δόξης τοῦ πρωτοτύπου ἐν τῷ παραγώγῳ κατὰ τὸν Μέγαν Βασίλειον· ἡ γὰρ τῆς εἰκόνος τιμὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον ἀναβαίνει, δῆλον ὅτι οὑτινοσοῦν, εἴτε φυσικῆς εἴτε τεχνητῆς. ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ τύπου τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ τὸ αὐτὸ θεώρημα νοητέον· τῇ γὰρ προσκυνήσει τοῦ τύπου συμπροσκυνεῖται τὸ ζωοποιὸν ξύλον, ὡς καὶ ἔμπαλιν τῇ ἀναιρέσει συναναιρεῖσθαι ἔστιν ἐξ ἀναγκαίου. ἢ οὐχὶ ἡ ὁμολογία τοῦ τύπου