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to follow with prayers in your precious footsteps. 409 {1To my child Naucratius}1 Since I learned from the letter-carrier, O good brother, that strifes have arisen among you (I say this, because one says, "4I venerate the icon of Christ as Christ himself"5, while another refuses), I did not receive this without sorrow, knowing that these quibbles, sown by the devil, are accustomed to cut even the healthy part of orthodoxy, which is a cause of joy to our adversaries, who confirm from our illnesses that their own impiety is well-founded, nor, indeed, did I think it good to suppress in silence what I had heard, but rather to find some remedy of healing from myself, with God's good pleasure. The proposition, then, is this: the word "4as"5 is sometimes taken in the God-inspired Scripture in the sense of similitude, and sometimes in the sense of affirmation. The first: I am become as a sparrow alone upon the house top, and I am like a fruitful olive tree. The second: How good is God to Israel, and How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts; for here the word is not in the sense of similitude but of affirmation. If, therefore, one says he venerates the icon of Christ as Christ himself, in the sense of similitude, he is sound in mind, but if affirmatively, by no means; for an icon and its archetype are not the same in nature, but they are the same in similitude. For if both were identified in substance they would differ in every way, I mean in the case of man-made icons. How then can one venerate the icon as Christ himself affirmatively, when Christ is not in it by nature but by relation, that is, by likeness? What is said is otherwise false to the truth. In an icon the archetype is revealed, and in an icon Christ is venerated; therefore, to say "4in an icon"5 means one thing is in another and through one thing another is venerated. Chrysostom saw an angel in an icon, but Cornelius saw the angel himself; we see Christ in an icon, but the apostles saw Christ himself; for, he says, we have seen the Lord. we venerate him in his own icon, but they venerated that very one; and seeing him, it says, they venerated him. Christ, therefore, is venerated in an icon by way of likeness or by relation or by homonymy (for both come to the same thing), not by direct sight. And so even without an icon he is venerated intellectually; for he would not in every case and always be seen in a sensible icon. But if someone should say, "4Therefore, since it is possible for me to venerate intellectually, it is superfluous to do so in an icon"5, let such a person know that he has denied also the intellectual veneration of Christ; for unless the mind should see reflected in the likeness of a man that he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, it will not offer veneration, unless perhaps it rejects that the Word became flesh. And that he was made like man, his icon is a faithful witness; and by its reception and veneration Christ is received and venerated, as conversely in the case of its rejection. Abgar, having received faith, venerated Christ intellectually, but he venerated him even more clearly in the icon not made by hands sent to him by Christ himself. So that in it Christ has been venerated by way of likeness and intellectually at the same time, now in this way, but in the age to come by direct sight, being filled with his visible theophany, as the most wise Dionysius says, in all-holy contemplations, as it flashes around us with the most brilliant splendors, as with the disciples in that most divine transfiguration, and partaking of his intelligible light-giving in an impassible and immaterial mind. These things from us, whether deficiently or sufficiently. But I exhort you in discussions concerning God to make your inquiries both reverently and attentively and to find the truth either from yourselves or from others, putting far away quibbling, and indeed, if there is anything mistaken in what has been said, that it might receive correction, since I am of little learning and a sinner. 410 {1A Catechesis}1 That I am now writing to all in common and not to each one individually is not from contempt nor from negligence, far from it (for how could I

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προσευχαῖς κατόπιν ἰέναι τῶν τιμίων ὑμῶν ἰχνῶν. 409 {1Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ}1 Ἐπειδὴ ἔμαθον παρὰ τοῦ γραμματηφόρου, ὦ καλὲ ἀδελφέ, ὅτι ἔριδες ἐν ὑμῖν ἀνεφύησαν (λέγω δὲ τοῦτο, ὅτι ὁ μὲν λέγει, "4ἐγὼ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστὸν προσκυνῶ"5, ὁ δὲ ἀπαναίνεται), οὔτε ἀλύπως ἐδεξάμην, εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐρεσχελίαι αὗται παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου ὑποσπειρόμεναι τέμνειν εἴωθεν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ὑγιαῖνον μέρος τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας, ὅπερ ἐστὶ χαροποιὸν τοῖς ἐναντίοις, ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀρρωστημάτων τὸ οἰκεῖον ἀσέβημα βεβαιουμένοις εὖ ἔχειν, οὔτε μὴν σιωπῇ τὸ ἀκουσθὲν κατασχεῖν καλὸν ἐνόμισα, ἀλλά τι καὶ παρ' ἐμαυτοῦ φάρμακον ἐξευρεῖν θεραπείας, θεοῦ εὐδοκοῦντος. Ἔστιν οὖν τὸ λῆμμα τοιοῦτον· τὸ "4ὡς"5 πῇ μὲν ἐπὶ ὁμοιώσεως εἴληπται παρὰ τῇ θεοπνεύστῳ Γραφῇ, πῇ δὲ ἐπὶ βεβαιώσεως. τὸ πρῶτον· ἐγενόμην ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματι καὶ ἐγὼ ὡσεὶ ἐλαία κατάκαρπος. τὸ δεύτερον· ὡς ἀγαθὸς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ὡς ἀγαπητὰ τὰ σκηνώματά σου, Κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων· οὐ γὰρ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἀλλὰ βεβαίωσιν ἐνταῦθα ὁ λόγος. εἰ οὖν οὕτω λέγοι τις προσκυνεῖν τὴν εἰκόνα Χριστοῦ, ὡς αὐτὸν Χριστόν, ἔρρωται τῷ φρονήματι, εἰ δὲ βεβαιωτικῶς, οὐδαμῶς· οὐ γὰρ ταὐτὸν εἰκὼν καὶ ἀρχέτυπον τῇ φύσει, ἀλλὰ ταὐτὸν τῇ ὁμοιώσει. ταὐτιζόμενα γὰρ ἄμφω τῇ οὐσίᾳ διαφορεῖται παντάπασιν, ἐπὶ τῶν τεχνητῶν εἰκόνων δὴ λέγω. πῶς οὖν τὴν εἰκόνα ὡς αὐτὸν Χριστὸν προσκυνήσει βεβαιωτικῶς, οὐκ ἐν αὐτῇ ὄντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ φυσικῶς ἀλλὰ σχετικῶς, ἤγουν ὁμοιωματικῶς; διέψευσται τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ἄλλως τὸ λεγόμενον. ἐν εἰκόνι ἐκφαίνεται τὸ ἀρχέτυπον καὶ ἐν εἰκόνι προσκυνεῖται Χριστός· τὸ οὖν εἰπεῖν "4ἐν εἰκόνι"5 ἐν ἑτέρῳ ἕτερον δεδήλωται καὶ δι' ἄλλου ἄλλο προσκυνεῖται. εἶδεν ὁ Χρυσόστομος ἄγγελον ἐν εἰκόνι, ὁ δὲ Κορνήλιος αὐτὸν τὸν ἄγγελον· βλέπομεν Χριστὸν ἐν εἰκόνι, οἱ δὲ ἀπόστολοι αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστόν· ἑωράκαμεν γάρ, φησί, τὸν Κύριον. προσκυνοῦμεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ εἰκόνι, οἱ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον· καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτόν, φησίν, προσεκύνησαν. ὁμοιωματικῶς οὖν προσκυνεῖται ἐν εἰκόνι εἴτ' οὖν σχετικῶς εἴτ' οὖν ὁμωνύμως ὁ Χριστὸς (εἰς ταὐτὸν γὰρ ἀμφότερα συντρέχει), οὐκ αὐτοπτικῶς. καὶ δίχα οὖν εἰκόνος ἐστὶ προσκυνούμενος νοερῶς· οὐ γὰρ πάντως πάντοτε αἰσθητῇ εἰκόνι βλέποιτο. εἰ δέ τις φαίη, "4οὐκοῦν, ἐπειδὴ ἔστι μοι νοερῶς προσκυνεῖν, παρέλκον ἐν εἰκόνι"5, ἴστω ὁ τοιοῦτος ἠρνῆσθαι καὶ τὸ νοερῶς προσκυνεῖν Χριστόν· εἰ μὴ γὰρ ὁ νοῦς ἐνοπτρισθείη ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπου αὐτὸν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς κεκαθῆσθαι, οὐκ εἰσοίσει τὴν προσκύνησιν, εἰ μή τι ἄρα ἀποσκευάζει σάρκα γενέσθαι τὸν λόγον. τὸ δὲ ὡμοιῶσθαι αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπῳ μάρτυς ἡ εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ πιστή· καὶ τῇ αὐτῆς παραδοχῇ καὶ προσκυνήσει παραδέδεκται καὶ προσκυνεῖται Χριστός, ὡς ἔμπαλιν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀθετήσεως. προσεκύνησεν Αὔγαρος δεξάμενος πίστιν νοερῶς Χριστόν, προσεκύνησεν δὲ μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ἐμφανέστερον ἐν τῇ πρὸς αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ πεμφθείσῃ αὐτῷ ἀχειροποιήτῳ εἰκόνι. ὥστε ἐν αὐτῇ ὁμοιωματικῶς ὁμοῦ τε καὶ νοερῶς προσκεκύνηται Χριστός, νῦν μὲν οὕτως, ἐν δὲ τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι αὐτοπτικῶς, τῆς μὲν ὁρατῆς αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας, ὥς φησιν ὁ πολύσοφος ∆ιονύσιος, ἐν πανάγνοις θεωρίαις ἀποπληρούμενοι, φανοτάταις ἡμᾶς μαρμαρυγαῖς περιαστραπτούσης, ὡς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ θειοτάτῃ μεταμορφώσει, τῆς δὲ νοητῆς αὐτοῦ φωτοδοσίας ἐν ἀπαθεῖ καὶ ἀύλῳ τῷ νῷ μετέχοντες. Ταῦτα εἴτε ἐλλιπῶς εἴτε ἀρκούντως πρὸς ἡμῶν. ὑμᾶς δὲ παρακαλῶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ θεοῦ λόγοις εὐλαβῶς τε ἅμα καὶ προσεκτικῶς τὰς ἐπιζητήσεις ποιεῖσθαι καὶ ἢ παρ' ἑαυτῶν ἢ καὶ παρ' ἑτέρων τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐξευρίσκειν, πόρρω ἀφέντας τὸ ἐρεσχελεῖν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴ τι ἐσφαλμένον ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις διορθώσεως τυχεῖν, ἐπείπερ ὀλιγόνους καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ἐγώ. 410 {1Κατήχησισ}1 Τὸ παρὸν κοινῶς πᾶσι καὶ οὐκ ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ ἐπιστεῖλαί με οὐκ ἐκ καταφρονήσεως οὐδὲ ἐξ ὀλιγωρίας, ἄπαγε (πῶς γὰρ ἂν