Iconclast

[Kendall K. Down]

When the saintly patriarch of Byzantium, Paul, suddenly resigned his
position and shortly thereafter died, the Empress Irene - a rather
unpleasant female who, in later years, blinded her own son in order to
retain the power she craved, could find no better candidate than
Tarasius, her Master of Horse, a man not notable for his religious
leanings but known to be in favour of the worship of icons.

After a hypocritical reluctance to accept the post, Tarasius was duly
consecrated - a layman elevated in one step to head of the Orthodox
Church - and immediately set about calling a council to reverse the
iconoclast decrees of a previous council. At first the council was
summoned to Byzantium, but when the soldiery rioted and refused to allow
it to meet, the meeting was postponed for a year while the soldiers were
quietly marched off to the east and then discharged (with the result
that Byzantium lost its most effective force against the Muslims and
from then on suffered one defeat after another.)

The council then met at Nicea, in the church which both Mike and I have
visited (and which has now been transformed back into a mosque), the
Church of Holy Wisdom.

Delegations were requested from the whole church and duly appointed
legates were sent by Pope Hadrian (or Adrian) of "Old Rome".
Charlemagne, for reasons that are not clear, also sent a delegation
which had no speaking or voting rights but which did include a number of
secretaries skilled in taking down speeches. These compiled a record of
all the proceedings of the council.

Charlemagne was appalled at the decision taken by the council and wrote
a letter of protest to the pope. Hadrian was, by inclination, an
"iconodule" and replied, stoutly defending the council and its decision,
and these documents - the stenographic recording of the council,
Charlemagne's rebuttal of its decisions and the pope's defence of them -
have been preserved.

The first two sessions of the council were taken up with those bishops
who had previously denounced icon worship (or seemed to) and who now,
seeing which way the wind was blowing, hastily affirmed that they had
worshipped icons all along. By thus stating their orthodoxy they were
able to retain their posts. Three will suffice to show the length to
which men will crawl when it comes to hanging onto power and position.

=========
Peter, Bishop of Nicomedia: "According to the letters now read from
Adrian, most holy Pope of old Rome, so I confess, so I hold, concerning
holy images, nor have I ever wavered; and I worship and adore them, as
being ready in the day of judgement to give account to our God and our
Judge."

Elias, Bishop of Crete: "According to the precious letters of the most
holy Pope of Old Rome, so I confess and hold concerning holy and
venerable images, never having wavered about them: for it is not now
that for the first time I worship them. And those who confess not thus I
anathematise."

Stauracius, Bishop of Chalcedon: "According to the epistle sent from
Adrian, most holy Pope of Old Rome, to our most holy Patriarch Tarasius,
so I receive, embrace and salute holy and venerable images as being the
pledge of my salvation. And all those who think not thus I anathematise."

Quoted from "The Seventh General Council" translated by Rev John
Mendham, Rector of Clophill p. 82 The book was published so long ago
that there is no date given for its publication.
==========

I would not read too much into the references to "most holy Pope";
Tarasius is also "most holy" and the council was "most holy" and even
Irene came in for the occasional "most holy".

Charlemagne's scribes were so horrified by the worship of the Bishop of
Chalcedon that they even inserted the actual Greek as well as its Latin
translation, to show that he was ascribing to icons the terms "pledge of
salvation" that Scripture applies to the Holy Spirit alone.

Protestants generally do not accept this seventh council (second of
Nicea), for obvious reasons. Those who do will, no doubt, rest easier in
their beds for knowing that statues and paintings guarantee their salvation.

God bless,
Kendall K. Down

[steve hague]

> ==========
>
> I would not read too much into the references to "most holy Pope";
> Tarasius is also "most holy" and the council was "most holy" and even
> Irene came in for the occasional "most holy".
>
> Charlemagne's scribes were so horrified by the worship of the Bishop of
> Chalcedon that they even inserted the actual Greek as well as its Latin
> translation, to show that he was ascribing to icons the terms "pledge of
> salvation" that Scripture applies to the Holy Spirit alone.
>
> Protestants generally do not accept this seventh council (second of
> Nicea), for obvious reasons. Those who do will, no doubt, rest easier in
> their beds for knowing that statues and paintings guarantee their
> salvation.
>
> God bless,
> Kendall K. Down
>

Have you noticed that anything noticeable these days is described as
"Iconic"?

[Kendall K. Down]

On 07/09/2021 13:33, steve hague wrote:

> Have you noticed that anything noticeable these days is described as
> "Iconic"?

Ironic. The Greek word "icon" means an exact likeness (or nearly exact),
whereas the usage to which you refer means "typical" or "characteristic".

Thus do words change their meanings.

[Madhu]

* "Kendall K. Down" <sh8g0f$cfc$3...@dont-email.me> :
Wrote on Tue, 7 Sep 2021 20:53:50 +0100:

> On 07/09/2021 13:33, steve hague wrote:
>
>> Have you noticed that anything noticeable these days is described as
>> "Iconic"?

I thought the devil had franchised idolatry among all nations through
his reality television shows ( "American Idol", "Indian Idol", "Paskitan
Idol", etc.) but I hadn't heard of a Britian Idol. I now see it
*started* off in the UK as "Pop Idol"

[steve hague]

On 07/09/2021 13:33, steve hague wrote:
>

Not noticable, notable.