On Iconoclasm

 

In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Iconoclasts put forward a much subtler argument rather than a simple reference to the biblical commandment forbidding images of God. They proceeded from the Chalcedonian creed that recognized two natures in Jesus Christ, human and divine, united within themselves unconfused, indivisible, inseparable, and unchangeable. “If that’s the case,” said the iconoclastic theologians, “then the icon image of Jesus Christ is indeed impossible because no image can represent both of His natures (His divine nature cannot be made out of any material - paint, mosaic, marble, gypsum, etc). Separating the two natures is the Nestorian heresy,” concluded the iconoclastic theologians.

The iconoclastic argument seemed to be logical. That is why the anti-icon movement lasted for so long (about 150 years), swallowing up many outstanding people of that time. Nevertheless, that argument had a fundamental theological error, and specifically a Christological one, which finally became fatal to the iconoclastic theory. The Orthodox defenders of images of Christ found out that the iconoclastic theologians kept passing in silence the other major category of this dogma: the category of person of Jesus Christ - the hypostasis!

The category of hypostasis is the basis for the iconography of Christ. The icon of Christ portrays neither His divinity nor His humanity but His hypostasis, marvelous and mysterious to human wit - it is the hypostasis that unites together both natures (human and divine) unconfused, indivisible, inseparable, and unchangeable according to the confession of Chalcedon.

The icon of Christ served as the basis for Christian iconography. On this basis, it was easy enough to prove the legitimacy of other icons: the icon of the Mother of God, the New Testament Saints, the Old Testament prophets and Righteous men. The veneration of holy relics of Saints and the veneration of the Cross were also proved by this icon. On the contrary, starting from the denial of the icon of Christ, Iconoclasts would inevitably, though sometimes not at once, deny all the icons, deny the Holy Relics and the Cross.

One of the major definitions of the Seventh [Ecumenical] Council of Nicaea (met in 787) is that the iconic images of the Savior, Mother of God, saints and also relics of the holy martyrs and the image of the Cross must always be venerated in the Orthodox Church.

- Fr. Vladimir Mustafin, Professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy.

 

Source (typos corrected): https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A2=ind1001B&L=ORTHODOX&T=0&F=&S=&P=1007 (since deleted).