Iconodulism (also iconoduly or iconodulia) designates the religious service to

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s (kissing and honourable veneration, incense, and candlelight). The term comes from Neoclassical Greek εἰκονόδουλος (''eikonodoulos'') (from – ''

(image)'' + – ''servant''), meaning "one who serves images (icons)". It is also referred to as iconophilism (also iconophily or iconophilia from – ''

(image)'' + – ''love'') designating a positive attitude towards the religious use of icons. In the history of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, iconodulism (or iconophilism) was manifested as a moderate position, between two extremes:

iconoclasm Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

(radical opposition to the use of icons) and iconolatry (idolatric veritable (full) adoration of icons).

History

In contrast to moderate or respectful

adoration Adoration is respect, reverence, strong admiration, and love for a certain person, place, or thing. The term comes from the Latin ''adōrātiō'', meaning "to give Homage (arts), homage or worship to someone or something". Ancient Rome In class ...

, various forms of latria of icons (''iconolatry'') were also starting to appear, mainly in popular worship. Since veritable (full) adoration was reserved for God alone, such an attitude towards icons as objects was seen as a form of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

. In reaction to that, the idolatrous misuse of icons was criticized and by the beginning of the 8th century some radical forms of criticism (''iconoclasm'') were also starting to emerge, arguing not only against adoration of icons, but also against any form of adoration and use of icons in religious life. The

iconoclastic controversy The Byzantine Iconoclasm () are two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate (at the time still comprising th ...

emerged in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and lasted through the 8th and the 9th centuries. The most famous ''iconodules'' (proponents of the veneration of icons) during that time were saints John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite. The controversy was instigated by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III in 726, when he ordered the removal of the image of Christ above the Chalke Gate of the imperial palace in Constantinople. Lowden, John. (1997) ''Early Christian and Byzantine Art''. London: Phaidon Press, p. 155. A wider prohibition of icons followed in 730. St. John of Damascus argued successfully that to prohibit the use of icons was tantamount to denying the

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

, the presence of the Word of God in the material world. Icons reminded the church of the physicality of God as manifested in

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. Kissing and respected worship (; ), incense and candles for icons was established by the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics and others. ...

(Seventh

Ecumenical Council An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...

) in 787. The Council decided that icons should not be destroyed, as was advocated and practiced by the iconoclasts, nor veritable (full) worshiped or adored (; ), as was practiced by iconolatrists, but they needed to be kissed and they needed respectful worship as symbolic representations of God, angels or saints. Such a position was approved by Pope Adrian I, but due to mis-translations of conciliar acts from Greek into Latin, a controversy arose in the Frankish kingdom, resulting in the creation of Libri Carolini. The last outburst of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire was overcome at the Council of Constantinople (843), which reaffirmed the adoration of icons in an event celebrated as the

Feast of Orthodoxy The Feast of Orthodoxy (or Sunday of Orthodoxy or Triumph of Orthodoxy) is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and other churches using the Byzantine Rite to commemorate, originally, only the final defeat ...

. The

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

(XIX Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church) in 1563 confirmed iconodulism. But this council, unlike the Council of Nicaea, used a different expression in relation to icons: "honour and veneration" (). Its decree reads: "we kiss, and before which we uncover the head, and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ; and we venerate the saints, whose similitude they bear" ().The Council of Trent. The Twenty-Fifth Session. On the invocation, veneration, and relics of saints and of sacred images./ The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent, / Ed. and trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848), 232–289.
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* * * * {{Authority control Byzantine Iconoclasm Christian terminology pl:Ikonodulia

History

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