Oxford history of the christian church

5. The significance of the controversy over icons.

The controversy itself was by no means a frustrating waste of time. it did at least clarify certain issues and it stimulated lively discussion on a subject which was to be of importance in Orthodox church life. As the support for the icons moved from Germanus and John of Damascus's traditional defence to the Christological challenge of Constantine V's reign, and then to the more 'scholastic' approach of Theodore Studites and Patriarch Nicephorus, ⁸⁷ there was an increasing emphasis on the meaning of the Incarnation in relation to the Christian view of matter and it was not without a struggle that this was given its true value (monastic spirituality had to face the same problem). Moreover the quality of the protagonists, for instance men such as Theodore Studites or Nicephorus who had their roots in the eighth century, bore witness to the availability of educational opportunities at that time. ⁸⁸

It is often maintained that monastic opposition formed the backbone of the iconodule opposition and was henceforth a strong element in public life. It certainly had outspoken leadership and both Theodore Studites and John of Damascus protested against imperial interference in ecclesiastical affairs. Certain centres, notably the communities on Bithynian Mount Olympus and in the Studite house in Constantinople, offered recognized resistance. But some houses appear to have swum with the tide. The strengthening of widespread monastic influence on the actual policy of the Byzantine state really took place rather later, after the development of the powerful houses on Mount Athos and particularly as the state weakened after 1204. Probably the guidance of Theodore Studites in the conduct of monastic life was a more important factor in the development of monasticism than in the actual iconoclast controversy. This is not to deny the influence of the individual holy man at all times as a potent but occasional factor, or the temporary troubles caused by mobs of monks liable to gather in the capital and whip up trouble at times of crisis. Nor is it to detract from the varied contributions made by monastic houses in the daily life which went on after the controversy as it had done before: this was not an effect of iconoclasm. As far as the iconoclast controversy is concerned it is in fact almost impossible to identify classes or territorial regions which were consistently for or against. ⁸⁹ For the ordinary man much depended on the lead given by the ruling power of the moment, and for the soldier the success or otherwise of military leadership was the telling factor.

In matters concerning Rome and the West it was not iconoclasm which was the primary factor in loosening ties with the papacy or provoking the imperial pretensions of the Carolingian rulers. Here a far more important part was played by political factors, though an exception might be made for the transference of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over South Italy, Sicily, and part of the Balkans to the patriarchate of Constantinople in so far as it was provoked by religious difference between an iconoclast Emperor and an iconophile Rome. This action was certainly an abiding irritant in papal and Byzantine relations, but it was in no sense responsible for anything approaching a rift. This was yet to come.

The most important and permanent result of the controversy was the firm establishment of icons in the daily life of the orthodox. But at first it was only gradually that they were restored to full use in churches. On 29 May 867 when Photius preached in Hagia Sophia to inaugurate the mosaic of the Theotokos and Child he made it clear that this was the first icon to replace those which had been 'scraped off' the walls, though it is known that at least some had already been placed in certain imperial buildings. ⁹⁰ During the later ninth century literary evidence testifies to the splendour of the new figural decoration. An epigram in the Greek Anthology praises the glories of the figures in the Chrysotriclinus in the imperial palace. 'The ray of truth is radiant once more . . . For see how once again Christ in his icon shines above the ruler's thrones and drives out dark heresies. Above the entrance the Theotokos rises up like a divine gate and guardian. Near her are the ruler and the patriarch who with her help have put an end to heresy.' ⁹¹ The Empress Theodora was no longer in power and therefore did not stand with Michael III and Patriarch Methodius. Thus the iconophile victory certainly gave a stimulus to religious art, though it must be remembered that the iconoclast period was by no means devoid of art, but it made use of it in a different way and with a different purpose. ⁹² Now with Nicaea II icons became a regulated part of liturgical and architectural developments. So there came into being an accepted iconography which laid down the pattern of ecclesiastical representation (though not to the exclusion of other styles elsewhere, both classical and realist, and for different purposes). Such figural representation was usually either in mosaic, or, especially as expense became a factor, in fresco.

These icons in churches and monasteries, as well as those in private devotional use, had a sacramental value to the beholder. They were held to be possessed of special graces. Their presence stressed the strongly held belief in the sanctity of matter, a belief that found its fulfilment in theosis or the deification of human beings. In his three apologies on the divine icons John of Damascus wrote 'I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who was willing to dwell in matter, who worked out my salvation through matter'; ⁹³ and 'Although the mind wears itself out with its efforts it can never cast away its bodily nature (πὰ*ατικα+́). ⁹⁴ This was a conception not unknown in the West (and found in writings ranging from St Augustine to Teilhard de Chardin), but in general it was not so much emphasized by western modes of thought. This may be one reason why icons never played so powerful a role in Latin worship as in that of the Orthodox Churches, nor was deification generally so stressed in the West.