Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD)

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Background

Around 726-730, Emperor Leo III began removing images, and the movement known as iconoclasm ("image-breaking") convulsed the Byzantine world. His son Constantine V convened the Council of Hieria in 754, which claimed to be ecumenical, declared images idolatrous, and persecuted their defenders, especially monks. John of Damascus, writing from beyond imperial reach, defended icons on the basis of the incarnation [10].

The Council

After Leo IV's death, Empress Irene, regent for her son, and Patriarch Tarasius called a council. A first attempt in Constantinople in 786 was broken up by soldiers. The council convened at Nicaea in 787, with some 350 bishops and legates of Pope Hadrian I [10].

What Was Decided

The council distinguished two kinds of honor:

• Latreia (worship, adoration) is due to God alone.
• Proskynesis (veneration, reverence) may be shown to icons, since "the honor paid to the image passes on to its prototype" (a line from Basil of Caesarea) [10].

Icons of Christ, Mary, angels, and saints could be displayed and honored. The decrees of Hieria were annulled [10].

Scripture on Both Sides

Texts used by the iconoclasts:

• "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5).

Texts used by the defenders:

• God Himself commanded images in the tabernacle: "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold... of beaten work shalt thou make them" (Exodus 25:18). Solomon's temple likewise carried carved figures (1 Kings 6:23-29).
• God commanded the bronze serpent: "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole" (Numbers 21:8).
• The incarnation changed the situation: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory)" (John 1:14). Christ "is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). If God took visible form, He can be depicted.
• "And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat" (Hebrews 9:5) shows images of heavenly beings in sacred space.

Aftermath

Iconoclasm returned from 814 to 842 and ended with the Triumph of Orthodoxy in 843, celebrated by the Orthodox to this day. In the West, Charlemagne's court, working from a flawed Latin translation, criticized Nicaea II in the Libri Carolini. Rome nonetheless accepted it [10].

The Protestant Question

This is the council Protestants most often question. Lutherans and Anglicans have generally permitted sacred art, while many Reformed churches, citing the Second Commandment, have rejected images in worship. John Calvin's Institutes (1.11) argued against images of God in particular; Nicaea II concerned veneration of images of Christ and the saints. Debate continues [11].

CHAPTER 8