In the 10th century text, “The Story of the Image of Edessa,” we see how, over two centuries after the Second Council of Nicea (787), the very high view of religious images:
The miracles of the image in Edessa
33 With this
divine representation of the God-human Christ in hand, he went with greater
hope to that place where the Persians had come in their digging, made evident
from the noise of the bronze utensils. The people of the city began to dig from
inside and when the two parties came near each other, the citizens dripped oil
from that lamp into the fire they had prepared for use against their enemies,
dropped it on the Persians who were in the underground passage, and killed them
all. Delivered from the plot here, they carried forth a similar attempt against
the war machinery that was outside the wall. They set these ablaze in heaps as
well and killed most of the enemies that were in them. Now encouraged anew,
they were launching clusters of stones from the walls, under which the
commander of the enemy army happened to fall and many others with him. 34
But this was not all. There was a pyre that had been lit by the Persians from
outside for use against those inside, kept fed by an incalculable amount of
wood from olive and bunches of other felled trees; the power of the auxiliary
divine image made it go after them! For when Eulalius was going through the
city from atop the wall with it extended in his own hands, suddenly, when he
came to this very place, a violent wind was raised, and it turned this fiery
flame back against those who were keeping it lit. IT even pursued and burned
them up like the Chaldeans in the past.
35 (18) These
events are not a story without a witness, fabricated by us for the pleasure of
hearing or for deceit. Rather, three patriarchs together—Job or Alexandria,
Christopher of Antioch, and Basil of Jerusalem—recorded the account and made it
known that these things happened in this manner when they wrote to Theophilius,
the emperor who abused the sacred images. This was when they were demonstrating
the holiness and venerability of divine images through many examples and gave
it a clear treatment. It is possible for someone who wishes to read that
many-lined letter to learn about it too.
36
Moreoever, if someone were reading the Ecclesiastical History of
Evagrius with diligence, then they would by all means know what he says about
this holy image in the fourth book. (19) He records how Khusro, since he openly
wished to prove false the claim repeated by the Christians about this city—namely,
how it was unsackable—did the following along with the other things. By issuing
a command, he assembled a great wealth—a boundless multitude—of wood in a short
time through the many hands of his army. He then fixed the wood in a double
wall in a circle around the city and tossed dirt in between the posts,
constructing another wall facing the city. It was higher than the walls of
Edessa, and thus he was going to launch projectiles down on those who were
braving engagement on behalf of the city to a degree that he had not
previously. 37 When the Edessenes saw it being raised like a mountain
opposite their walls (by means of which their enemies were hoping to attack the
city as if from level ground), they devised what they could in opposition, even
though they were without recourse. They were attempting to dig a trench in
front of that newly built wall, so that if they were able to set fire to the
palisades in front of the mound from underneath, then they would filch the dirt
down toward the ditch In this way, that great wall would quickly be brought
down and fall away as if it had been fabricated on the basis of a dream. 38
But when the trench had been completed, they were falling short of their goal
as they threw the fire onto the wood. The fire was not able to catch hold of
any empty space that lacked fuel since the dirt was packed in tight and the
wood was still green. But once they brought this holy image to that newly
constructed ditch, sanctified water with it, and dripped the water onto the
fire and the wood, they coaxed the fire into combustion. Since divine power assisted
the faith of those who did this, the water became like oil to the fire and ignited
the flame; it consumed everything it met. At this point, the king of the Persians
gave up hope of capturing the city. Once he learned what the source of their
aid was, he moved for negotiations, made peace treaties, and returned again to
his own lands.
The healing of Khusro’s daughter
39 (20) In
any case, this man was soon about to encounter benefactions from this holy
image, the benefactress of his enemies and destroyer of his people. The daughter
of this man, because she was seized by a demonic spirit and had abandoned her
natural state, was roused through its agency to be constantly shouting. “Unless
the not-made-by-hand image comes from Edessa, the one dwelling in her will not
thence depart!” Once the king heard this, he thought back to the events of the
siege—the unexpected, sudden strength and courage of the Edessenes did not,
after all, escape his notice. At once, he wrote to the leader of the city, to
Eulalius the Metropolitan, and to the community of the city, asking for the divine
and all-powerful representation to be sent to him with haste. He added that the
reason was the misfortune of his daughter, and he was asking in every way,
seeking forcefully not to fail at his request.
40 The
Edessenes, for their part, surmising the untrustworthiness of the Persian
character and suspecting that the Persians wanted to use deceit to make off
with their strength, were not planning to give up their champion and
benefactress. However, neither were they planning to break the peace for the
sake of such an excuse, so they came up with a keen plan that also benefited
them. They copied a painted image of the unpainted one as best they could—equal
and alike in every regard—and once they made the representation conform in
exact resemblance as much as possible, they sent it to the one who had
requested it. 41 As soon as those who were conveying the image came
within the boundaries of Persia, immediately the demon cried out through the
daughter of the king that it would depart with haste and change dwellings
because of the power of the one coming, but only if the likeness that had been
summoned would turn back and not approach the royal precincts or the city of
the Persians. It was begging for this and beseeching the king earnestly. Once the
king promised, the demon departed from the maiden, and the child of the king
came into a healthy state. Khusro, either fulfilling the petition of the demon
who was beginning and upholding his promise or because he feared the power of
the one coming because of the poor and abominable quality of his own deeds,
sent messengers with gifts he contributed from his own person for those who
sent it and ordered that this image return to the city whence it came. (Nathan
J. Hardy, “The Story of the Image of Edessa,” in New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Tony Burke, 3 vols.
[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023], 3:97-99)
Further Reading:
Answering Fundamentalist Protestants and Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox on Images/Icons
