19 November 2019
Word of the Day: Iconoclasm
ICONOCLASM. A heresy that rejected as superstition the use of religious
images and advocated their destruction. It was occasioned by the rise of Islam,
which considers all sacred images idolatrous. Moslem pressure on those in political
power precipitated the crisis, which came in two phases. The first phase began
with Emperor Leo the Isaurian in 726 and closed with the seventh general council
and Second Council of Nicaea in 787. The second phase started with Emperor Leo
V, the Armenian, and ended when the Feast of Orthodoxy was established in 842
under Empress Theodora. Sts. John Damascene and Theodore were the principal
defenders of sacred images. As defined by II Nicaea, these images may be lawfully
displayed and venerated. The respect shown them really is given to the person
they represent. (Etym. Greek eikōn, image + klaein, to break.)
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