medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Christopher asked about:
>> http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF2-14/7nice2/decree.htm
>
>
>wherein is this famous statement ... :
>
>"For the honour which is paid to the image passes on to that which the image
>represents, and he who reveres the image reveres in it the subject
>represented."
The seventh paragraph at that page. If it's not obvious, use your
browser's "Find" command ("revere" appears on the page only in this
sentence, so it's a good search term).
>does anyone happen to know if this idea actually appears in earlier writings,
>as the next sentence seems to imply
St. John of Damascus based part of his argument in favor of the
veneration of images (The Orthodox Faith 4:16):
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-09/Npnf2-09-31.htm#P4068_1986418
on a passage in St. Basil's treatise on the Holy Spirit (18):
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-08/Npnf2-08-06.htm#P1123_256929
The sovereignty and authority over us is one, and so the doxology
ascribed by us is not plural but one; because the honour paid to the
image passes on to the prototype. Now what in the one case the image
is by reason of imitation, that in the other case the Son is by
nature; and as in works of art the likeness is dependent on the form,
so in the case or the divine and uncompounded nature the union
consists in the communion of the Godhead.
(end quote)
There may be other pre-Nicaea II expressions of the idea that are
more clearly related to icons, but none of my icon books are
convenient right now and I'll leave the pursuit of others to someone
else.
John
--
*** John McChesney-Young ** [log in to unmask] ** Berkeley,
California, U.S.A. ***
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