Iconoclasm
Liturgical · 754–787 · imperial
Whether Christ may be depicted, argued from Chalcedon by both sides: Hieria held that the two natures cannot be painted, since one cannot be circumscribed and the other cannot be shown alone; Nicaea II answered on the same ground and reached the opposite conclusion.
How it ended. The images restored at Nicaea in 787 — and again in 843 after a second iconoclasm, which the East keeps as the Sunday of Orthodoxy.
How it ran
- 754 — Council of Hieria (where it hardened). Declares the images unlawful.
- 787 — Second Council of Nicaea (where it was settled). Restores them, and answers Hieria clause by clause.
- 794 — Council of Frankfurt (where it hardened). The Frankish reply, working from a translation that had lost the distinction.
What was at issue
- Images of Christ are idols what was at issue
- Icons may be venerated what was at issue
- Veneration is not worship what was at issue
Who stood in it
- Leo III the Syrian a principal
- Theodore the Studite a principal
- Germanus I of Constantinople a principal
- John of Damascus a principal
What was written
- Definition (Horos) of Hieria written against
- Decree (Horos) on the Holy Images legislated in
After The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · Nicaea II (787), the Decree on the Holy Images.