Veneration is not worship
Doctrine · On images and the saints · from 787
The reverence given to images is honour, and not the worship which belongs to the divine nature alone.
The distinction the decree turns on, and the one the Frankish reply of 794 did not have in Latin — the Greek separates proskynesis from latreia, and the translation Charlemagne read did not.
Part of Icons may be venerated.
Held it
- 730 — John of Damascus (Formulates). Separates the honour given to what is holy from the worship given to God alone. New Advent (Fathers and Catholic Encyclopedia) · John of Damascus, On the Divine Images, oration 1
- 787 — The Second Council of Nicaea (Defines). Distinguishes honourable reverence from the true worship which belongs to the divine nature alone. The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · Nicaea II (787), the Decree on the Holy Images
In the disputes
- Iconoclasm 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.
First stated in this form after The Seven Ecumenical Councils (NPNF series 2 vol. 14) · Nicaea II (787), the Decree on the Holy Images.