152

is the weapon of Christ against the devil, but they do not depict him who is the soldier and destroyer of Satan; for how could a victorious and true weapon be depicted without having the soldier shown in sight? Then we also venerate his holy icon, as in it venerating the depicted Christ; for he came forth depicted from the womb of his holy mother, the Theotokos; but if not, he would be something of an abortion and not a formed man, O God-fighters. But if the infant comes forth depicted, as is true, about whom the prophet says every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, by all necessity he is also by nature able to be depicted. You who are deaf, hear, and you who are blind, look; in one thing only is our novelty concerning Christ, that without seed he was conceived in a virgin's womb and was born without corruption, just as he did no sin, according to scripture, nor was deceit found in his mouth; but all other things were like us, he ate, he drank, he breathed, he grew, he walked, he sweated, he grew weary, he was crucified, he died (even as God), on the third day he was raised, having even after the resurrection our depictable form, deified and made incorruptible in himself, in which he was also seen by the apostles and ate with them and drank with them, having been raised, and was touched by Thomas, saying to them all, when they supposed him to be a spirit, "Touch me and see that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have." So also he was taken up in glory, likewise he will also come in the same form of our appearance, whom every flesh will see from heaven with the angels of his power in a flame of fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey his gospel, as it is written; with whom the Jews who crucified him will mourn and the iconoclasts who do not tolerate depicting him. These are, brothers, the evangelic preachings, these are the apostolic teachings. But those who think the contrary try to turn the people of God to another gospel (which is not another) by bringing forth spurious writings, speaking from the belly and not from the mouth of the Lord; for it is always customary for the weeds to be sown alongside the wheat and for the lie to be placed beside the truth; since how could truth appear without having contradiction? But even if we, says the apostle, or an angel from heaven preaches a gospel to you contrary to what we preached to you, let him be anathema; as we have said before and now I say again, if anyone preaches a gospel to you contrary to what you have received, let him be anathema. But concerning the Theotokos or any of the saints, that they are depicted, it is superfluous for me to write to you; for it is foolish to say of any person whatsoever that he cannot be portrayed. But those who deny that Christ can be circumscribed, who is the head of the body of the church, seemed to include also that the members of Christ should not be depicted, if indeed we are all the body of Christ and members in part; for it is a refutation to them that the mother of God is depicted, but not the one born of her and seen at her breast and whatever pertains to his bodily presence, or again that the eyewitnesses and ministers are portrayed, but the one served and who associated with them is not portrayed. And they are shown to be worse than the Jews, because they do not even accept an icon of Moses or any other of the prophets, while those before grace accepted them, being men of the law and not Christians; but they are so foolish as to fight both themselves and the Jews, being neither Jews, keepers of the Law, nor Christians, since they do not portray Christ, whom they accepted as having become man. There is a voice of Peter the apostle in the history of the martyrdom of Saint Pancratius: "4Child Joseph, bring out the icon of our Lord Jesus Christ and impress it on the little tower, so that the peoples may see what form the son of God took, so that seeing they may believe the more, seeing the type of the form, and receive a reminder of the things preached by us to them"5.

152

ἐστιν ὅπλον Χριστοῦ κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου, τὸν δὲ οὐκ εἰκονίζοντες, ὅς ἐστιν ὁπλίτης καὶ καθαιρέτης τοῦ σατανᾶ· πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἐγγραφείη ὅπλον νικητικὸν καὶ ἀληθὲς μὴ τὸν ὁπλίτην ἔχον ὑπ' ὄψιν δεικνύμενον; εἶτα καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἁγίαν εἰκόνα, ὡς ἐν αὐτῇ προσκυνοῦντες τὸν ἐξεικονισμένον Χριστόν· ἐξεικονισμένος γὰρ προῆλθεν ἐκ κοιλίας ἁγίας μητρὸς αὐτοῦ τῆς Θεοτόκου· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀμβλωθρίδιόν τι καὶ οὐ μεμορφωμένος ἄνθρωπος, ὦ θεομάχοι. εἰ δὲ ἐξεικονισμένον τὸ βρέφος πρόεισιν, ὥσπερ ἀληθές, περὶ οὗ φησιν ὁ προφήτης πᾶν ἄρσεν διανοῖγον μήτραν ἅγιον τῷ Κυρίῳ κληθήσεται, πᾶσα ἀνάγκη καὶ ἐξεικονίζεσθαι πέφυκεν. οἱ κωφοὶ ἀκούσατε καὶ οἱ τυφλοὶ ἐμβλέψατε· ἐν ἑνὶ μόνον ἡ καθ' ἡμᾶς καινοτομία ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι ἄνευ σπορᾶς συνείληπται ἐν μήτρᾳ παρθένου καὶ δίχα φθορᾶς γεγέννηται, καθότι οὔτε ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν γραφικῶς οὐδὲ δόλος εὑρέθη ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ· τὰ δ' ἄλλα πάντα καθ' ἡμᾶς, ἔφαγεν, ἔπιεν, διεπνεύσθη, ηὔξησεν, ἐβάδισεν, ἵδρωσεν, ἐκοπίασεν, ἐσταυρώθη, ἀπέθανεν (κἂν ὡς θεός), τριήμερος ἐγήγερται, ἔχων καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὴν ἐξεικονισμένην ἡμῶν μορφὴν θεωθεῖσαν καὶ ἀφθαρτισθεῖσαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, καθ' ἣν καὶ ἐθεάθη τοῖς ἀποστόλοις καὶ συνέφαγεν καὶ συνέπιεν ἐγηγερμένος καὶ ἐψηλαφήθη ὑπὸ Θωμᾶ, λέγων τοῖς πᾶσιν, ὑποτοπήσασιν αὐτὸν πνεῦμα εἶναι, ψηλαφήσατέ με καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει, καθὼς ἐμὲ θεωρεῖτε ἔχοντα. οὕτω καὶ ἀνελήφθη ἐν δόξῃ, ὡσαύτως καὶ ἥξει ἐν μορφῇ τῇ αὐτῇ τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς εἴδους, ὃν ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ μετ' ἀγγέλων δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ ἐν πυρὶ φλογός, διδόντα ἐκδίκησιν τοῖς μὴ εἰδόσι θεὸν καὶ τοῖς μὴ ὑπακούσασι τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ αὐτοῦ, καθὼς γέγραπται· μεθ' ὧν οἱ σταυρώσαντες αὐτὸν Ἰουδαῖοι κόψονται καὶ οἱ μὴ ἀνεχόμενοι αὐτὸν εἰκονίζειν εἰκονομάχοι. Ταῦτά ἐστιν, ἀδελφοί, τὰ εὐαγγελικὰ κηρύγματα, ταῦτα τὰ ἀποστολικὰ διδάγματα. οἱ δὲ τἀναντία φρονοῦντες εἰς ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον (ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο) πειρῶνται μεταστρέψαι τὸν λαὸν τοῦ θεοῦ προφέροντες νόθα συγγράμματα, ἐκ κοιλίας φωνοῦντα καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ στόματος Κυρίου· εἴωθεν γὰρ ἀεὶ τῷ σίτῳ τὰ ζιζάνια παρασπείρεσθαι καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τὸ ψεῦδος παρατίθεσθαι· ἐπεὶ πῶς καὶ φανείη ἀλήθεια μὴ ἀντιλογίαν ἔχουσα; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζεται ὑμῖν παρ' ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω· ὡς προειρήκαμεν καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω, εἴ τις εὐαγγελίζεται ὑμᾶς παρ' ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. Περὶ δὲ τῆς Θεοτόκου ἢ οὗτινος τῶν ἁγίων, ὅτι εἰκονίζονται, περισσόν μοί ἐστι τὸ γράφειν ὑμῖν· ἠλίθιον γὰρ ὁντιναοῦν ἄνθρωπον φαίειν μὴ χαρακτηρίζεσθαι. ἀλλ' οἱ Χριστὸν ἀπαναινόμενοι περιγράφεσθαι, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας, συμπεριελεῖν ἔδοξαν καὶ τὰ μέλη Χριστοῦ μὴ εἰκονίζεσθαι, εἴπερ σῶμα Χριστοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους· ἔλεγχος γὰρ αὐτοῖς μητέρα μὲν θεοῦ εἰκονίζεσθαι, οὐ μὴν τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς τεχθέντα καὶ αὐτῇ ὑπομάζιον ὀφθέντα καὶ ὅσα τῆς σωματικῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας ὑπείκοντα, ἢ πάλιν τοὺς αὐτόπτας καὶ ὑπηρέτας στηλογραφεῖσθαι, τὸν δὲ ὑπηρετηθέντα καὶ συναναστραφέντα μὴ χαρακτηρίζεσθαι. καὶ Ἰουδαίων χείρους δείκνυνται, ὅτι οὐδὲ Μωσέως οὐδ' εἴ τινος ἄλλου τῶν προφητῶν εἰκόνα προσίενται, προσιεμένων ἐκείνων τῶν πρὸ τῆς χάριτος ὡς νομικῶν καὶ οὐ χριστιανῶν· οἱ δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀνοηταίνουσιν ὡς καὶ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ Ἰουδαίοις μάχεσθαι, καὶ μήτε Ἰουδαίους εἶναι νομοφύλακας μήτε χριστιανοὺς οὐκ εἰδογραφοῦντας Χριστόν, ὃν προσήκαντο ἄνθρωπον γεγονότα. φωνὴ Πέτρου τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἐστὶν ἐν ἱστορίᾳ μαρτυρίου τοῦ Ἁγίου Παγκρατίου· "4τέκνον Ἰωσήφ, ἐξένεγκον τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐντύπωσον αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ πυργίσκῳ, ἵνα ἴδωσιν οἱ λαοὶ ποίαν μορφὴν ἀνέλαβεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα ἰδόντες ἐπὶ πλέον πιστεύσωσιν, ὁρῶντες τὸν τύπον τῆς μορφῆς, καὶ ὑπόμνησιν λαμβάνωσι τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν εἰς αὐτοὺς κηρυχθέντων"5.