363

certain exceptional things in a case of necessity, when no one who is saved is present, it has been permitted to do in a priestly manner, which your Perfection also understands, being already constrained in this. But, for instance, this presbyter, considering what was done by him before the barbarians and how he enlightened many here and that it was necessary, they say, on account of all these things for him to be released, did not endure to submit in the same way as those imprisoned here; therefore we have conceded to him the things concerning him, that he might decide how to act, neither releasing nor imprisoning him. Farewell in the Lord, most honored one; we and the brothers with us send you many greetings. 546 {1To John the Grammarian}1 I acknowledge thanks to holy God, that I heard from you, though late in the season, your beloved voice; for I would not say that I have thanks for the one who interrupted it with rude insolence. But since, along with the putting away of grief, your wise Honor also brought forth in response the argument concerning the sacred icon of Christ, this I have to say, O thrice-desired one, that I found your recent letter to be in agreement with, not in opposition to, what was sent long ago by me. For it is agreed, according to your previously prepared premises, that every icon is indicative of another, that is, of the prototype, and, if one must speak according to the art of grammar, this would be anaphoric, which is also called representative, deictic, and correlative. And indeed it is not to the matter that one must offer veneration to the icon of Christ, but as to Christ himself, since the honor of the icon passes over to the prototype, the matter being set aside by the process of thought from the form depicted on it. And one must offer veneration with latreia, as you say, to the savior Christ both before the flesh and after the incarnation and before the icon and through it, and I think no one of sound mind would oppose these correctly established doctrines. But indeed also to follow the examples of the sun in relation to water and of the immaterial triangle, that is, the mathematical one, in relation to the material one is not incongruous, since hypothetically, if the sun or the triangular form were to be taken as an object of latreia before the one flickered in water and the other appeared in matter, it is clear that also after its incidence there, that is, its conjunction, each is an object of latreia. For thus also you have demonstrated fittingly that our Lord Jesus Christ, both after the incarnation and as before the incarnation, is to be worshiped with latreia and venerated. Therefore, my friend, Christ is admittedly an object of latreia, but his sacred icon is not an object of latreia, just as the sun, hypothetically mixed with water, but not the image of the sun, and the triangle made material, but not the image of the triangle. For see that our latreia as Christians is one, offered only to the holy and consubstantial Trinity by all nature both visible and invisible, and it is not possible to say that the sacred icon of Christ is an object of latreia; for one of two things must be: either to include that which according to it is an object of latreia with the Trinitarian latreia, which is impossible (since it is not possible to introduce any addition to the Trinity; for it will be found to be a tetrad), or, if it is not included there but is an object of latreia on its own, to dogmatize that our latreia is two-fold; and what else would the Hellenic iconoclasts seek from us than to prove from this that we worship with a dual latreia, the creation alongside the creator, and are in no way less impious than the Arians? Therefore, one must venerate the icon of Christ, not worship it with latreia, but rather the Christ venerated in it according to the word of truth, since these two are distinct, icon and prototype, and the difference is not in the hypostasis, but according to the definition of the substance. 547 {1To Michael, syncellus of the Holy City}1 I am now writing to your Honor, when it has been granted to me by the will of God to find a bearer for the letter, since I would have intended to do this very thing from the time of your imprisonment, and not just once, but twice and perhaps many times; for it is not because you are strangers that we are of a different kind from you, but because we are born of one mother of adoption and in the same

363

ἐξαίρετά τινα κατ' ἀπορίαν, μὴ παρόντος σεσωσμένου, συγκεχώρηται δρᾶν ἱερατικῶς, ἃ καὶ συνεπίσταται ἡ τελειότης σου, ὁ ἤδη εἰργμένος ταύτῃ. ἀλλ', οἷον ὅσδε ὁ πρεσβύτερος, καὶ πρὸ τῆς βαρβάρων πεπραγμένα αὐτῷ συννοῶν καὶ ὡς πολλοὺς τῇδε ἐφώτισε καὶ δεῖν, φασί, διὰ πάντα ταῦτα λελυμένον εἶναι, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο ὑπελθεῖν ὁμοιοπαθῶς τοῖς ἐνταῦθα εἰρχθεῖσι· διὸ παρακεχωρήκαμεν αὐτῷ τὰ κατ' αὐτόν, ὡς ἂν διακρίνοιτο πρᾶξαι, οὔτε λύσαντες οὔτε εἴρξαντες. Ἔρρωσο ἐν Κυρίῳ, ὑπερεύφημε, ἡμεῖς τε καὶ οἱ μεθ' ἡμῶν ἀδελφοὶ πλεῖστα προσαγορεύομεν. 546 {1Ἰωάννῃ Γραμματικῷ}1 Χάριν ὁμολογῶ τῷ ἁγίῳ θεῷ, ὅτι σου ἠκουτίσθην, εἰ καὶ ὀψὲ τοῦ καιροῦ, τὴν φίλην φωνήν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμι χάριν ἔχειν τῷ ταύτην ἀσυφήλῳ προπετείᾳ διακόψαντι. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ὁμοῦ τῇ ἀποσκευῇ τῆς λύπης ἡ σοφή σου τιμιότης καὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς σεπτῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγον ἀντεπεξήγαγεν, ἐκεῖνο ἔχω λέγειν, ὦ τριπόθητε, ὅτι συνηγοροῦσαν ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀντηγοροῦσαν τοῖς πρὸς ἐμοῦ ἀπεσταλμένοις πάλαι τὴν ἔναγχός σου ἐπιστολὴν συμβαίνουσαν εὗρον. ὁμολογουμένως γὰρ κατὰ τὰ προκατασκευασθέντα σου λημμάτια ὅτι πᾶσα εἰκὼν ἄλλου ἐστὶ δηλωτική, δηλονότι τοῦ πρωτοτύπου, καί, εἰ χρὴ φάναι κατὰ τὴν γραμματικὴν τεχνολογίαν, τοῦτ' ἂν εἴη ἀναφορικόν, ὃ καὶ ὁμοιωματικὸν καὶ δεικτικὸν καὶ ἀνταποδοτικὸν καλεῖται. καὶ μὴν οὐχ ὡς ὕλῃ δεῖν προσάγειν τῇ Χριστοῦ εἰκόνι τὴν προσκύνησιν, ἀλλ' ὡς αὐτῷ Χριστῷ, εἴπερ ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος τιμὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον ἀναβαίνει, ὑπεξαιρουμένης τῆς ὕλης τῷ τῆς ἐπινοίας λόγῳ ἐκ τοῦ ἐν αὐτῇ σχηματιζομένου χαρακτῆρος. καὶ λατρευτῶς προσακτέον, ὡς φῆς, τὴν προσκύνησιν τῷ σωτῆρι Χριστῷ καὶ πρὸ σαρκὸς καὶ μετὰ σάρκωσιν καὶ πρὸ τῆς εἰκόνος καὶ δι' αὐτῆς, καὶ οὐδεὶς τῶν εὖ φρονούντων οἶμαι ἀντιφέρεσθαι τοῖς ὀρθῶς δεδογματισμένοις. ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ὑποδείγμασι τοῦ τε ἡλίου πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τοῦ ἀύλου τριγώνου, ἤτοι μαθηματικοῦ, πρὸς τὸ ἔνυλον οὐκ ἀπεμφαῖνον ἕπεσθαι, ἐπεὶ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν, εἰ ληφθείη λατρευτὸς ὁ ἥλιος ἢ τὸ τρίγωνον σχῆμα πρὸ τοῦ τὸν μὲν ἐν ὕδασι πάλλειν, τὸ δὲ πρὸ τοῦ ἐν ὕλῃ ὑποφανθῆναι, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐκεῖσε ἔμπτωσιν, ἤτοι συμφυΐαν, λατρευτὸν ἑκάτερον. οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἀραρότως ὑπέδειξας καὶ μετὰ σάρκωσιν ὡς πρὸ σαρκώσεως λατρευτὸν εἶναί τε καὶ προσκυνεῖσθαι. Λατρευτὸς οὖν, ὦ τᾶν, ὁ Χριστὸς ὁμολογουμένως, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ἡ σεπτὴ αὐτοῦ εἰκὼν λατρευτή, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ ἥλιος καθ' ὑπόθεσιν συμμιγεὶς τῷ ὕδατι, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ ἡλίου, καὶ τὸ τρίγωνον ὑλωθέν, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ἡ εἰκὼν τοῦ τριγώνου. ὅρα γὰρ ὅτι μία ἡ λατρεία ἡμῶν τῶν χριστιανῶν, μόνῃ τῇ ἁγίᾳ καὶ ὁμοουσίῳ Τριάδι προσενηνεγμένη ὑπό τε πάσης ὁρατῆς φύσεως καὶ ἀοράτου, καὶ οὐκ ἐγχωρεῖ τὴν σεπτὴν εἰκόνα Χριστοῦ λατρευτὴν φάναι· δυοῖν γὰρ θάτερον, ἢ τὸ κατ' αὐτὴν λατρευτὸν τῇ τριαδικῇ λατρείᾳ συνεισκρίνειν, ὅπερ ἀδύνατον (ἐπείπερ οὐκ ἐνδέχεται προσθήκην τινὰ συνεισοίσειν τῇ Τριάδι· εὑρεθήσεται γὰρ τετρὰς οὖσα), ἤ, μὴ συνεισκρινομένου ἐκεῖσε, καθ' ἑαυτὸ δὲ ὄντος λατρευτοῦ, δύο τὰς λατρείας ἡμῶν δογματίζειν· καὶ τί ἂν ἄλλο ζητοῖεν Ἑλλήνιοι εἰκονομάχοι πρὸς ἡμῶν ἢ τὸ ἐντεῦθεν ἀποδεῖξαι ἡμᾶς τῇ δυϊκῇ λατρείᾳ λατρεύοντας, τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν Ἀρειανῶν ἐλάττους κατὰ ἀσέβειαν; Προσκυνητέον οὖν τῇ εἰκόνι Χριστοῦ, οὐ λατρευτέον, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐν αὐτῇ προσκυνουμένῳ Χριστῷ κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας λόγον, ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα δύο, εἰκών τε καὶ πρωτότυπον, καὶ ἡ διαφορότης οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς ὑποστάσεως, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν τῆς οὐσίας λόγον. 547 {1Μιχαὴλ συγκέλλῳ Ἁγιοπολίτῃ}1 Ἄρτι ἐπιστέλλω τῇ τιμιότητί σου, ὁπηνίκα εὐωδώθη μοι ἐν τῷ θελήματι τοῦ θεοῦ εὑρεῖν διάκονον τοῦ γράμματος, ἐπεὶ ἔμελλον ἂν ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς καθείρξεως ὑμῶν αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, καὶ οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ καὶ δὶς καὶ πολλάκις ἴσως· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅτι ὑμεῖς ἀλλοδαπεῖς ἡμεῖς ὑμῶν ἑτεροειδεῖς, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐκ μιᾶς μητρὸς τῆς υἱοθεσίας γεγεννημένοι καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ