St. John Of Damascus: Iconoclasm Analysis

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The results of the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 regarding iconoclasm found that venerating icons could be a useful tool for religious teaching. The belief prior to the council was that it is impossible to depict God in an image because he is invisible and unknowable to man. Also, that it goes against the teachings of God because it was believed that honoring the icon was not, in fact, showing worship to God but the material that the icon was depicted on. However, St. John of Damascus argued that these beliefs were part of the old Orthodox Church and shouldn’t be relevant in the new teachings. He refutes these arguments by saying, “I do not draw an image of the immortal Godhead, but I paint the image of God who became visible in the flesh” …show more content…

The use of worship in the form of adoration is meant for God because he is the only one worthy of complete worship. However, this is not the only way to show worship, it can be displayed on a lesser level through a form of respect. Through the use of images, Christians can show respect to other religious figures such as Saints by bowing, burning candles, and lighting incense in front of their likeness (Bettenson, pg. 99). This allows for worshipers to shows respect for all religious figures while leaving the highest level of worship for God himself (St. John of Damascus, pg. 22). This idea also allows for the worship of important events by crediting landmarks as icons for important religious events throughout history. St. John demonstrates this by saying, “For it is written that the Lord was crucified at the place of the skull, and buried in a tomb which was hewn out of a rock by Joseph; but it is from unwritten tradition that we know the location of these places, and worship there now.” (St. John of Damascus, pg. 31). Without the ability to use icons, Christians would not have been able to use these historic places as tools to worship. Due to the Seventh Ecumenical council, Christian can use these locations both to worship God and show their respect for all those involved, like St. Joseph at the burial location of

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