K. Holl has sufficiently demonstrated
that Epiphanius wrote three treatises against making or venerating them.
Fragments of these survive in the Acts of the Councils of 754 and 787, in the
works of St. John of Damascus, Theodore Studita, but especially in a tract
which Nicephorus composed in 815 against Epiphanius. The remains are sufficient
for the reconstruction of the three works.
a. The Pamphlet against
the Images
The earliest of them is a pamphlet
which Epiphanius composed shortly after the letter to John of Jerusalem,
perhaps in 394. The author calls it idolatry to manufacture images of Christ,
the Mother of God, martyrs, angels and prophets. He rejects the excuse that
they honor the saints. They are forgeries. First of all, the saints are with Christ
and are spirits. How can anyone represent them as bodies? The angels and saints
do not want veneration of their images, as can be proved from Scripture. It is
even more reprehensible to paint Christ. How can anyone dare to depict the
Inconceivable and the Ineffable after Moses was unable to look into His face?
The fact that Christ became man does not justify the practice. Christ never
sanctioned it while He was here on earth and if such a concession was ever
granted in the Church, it came from the devil. The custom is forbidden in the
Old as well as in the New Testament, because in both it is written: ‘The Lord
thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve’.
b. Letter to the
Emperor Theodosius I
The fore-going pamphlet did not have
the desired result. For this reason Epiphanius found it necessary to write a
letter to the Emperor Theodosius I, in which he complains of his futile
attempts to stop the manufacture of images. People mocked him and even his
fellow-bishops refused to listen. The author introduces himself as born of
Christian parents and brought up on the Nicene faith. He has no doubt of being
supported by the Ruler, who had won great admiration for the zeal with which he
destroyed pagan idols. He explains, how Satan, after the dangers of heresies
and paganism have been removed, intends to lead the Christians back to
idolatry. The Emperor should reflect on, whether it is proper for Christians to
have a painted God. This is a shocking innovation. Nobody among the Fathers or
former bishops even dishonored Christ by having an image of Him in the church
or in a private house. The painters have never seen the subjects of their
portraits. They represent them according to their own fancy. The saints are now
young, and again old. Christ has long hair, most probably because He was called
‘the Nazirite’. But Christ was no Nazirite; He drank wine, strictly forbidden
for Nazirites. St. Peter appears as an old man with a short beard, St. Paul
with bald head and a long beard. All these images are forgeries. Epiphanius
suggests that they should all be removed. The painted curtains should be taken
out of the churches and used for the burial of the poor. The wall paintings
should be covered with white paint. If the mosaics could not be destroyed, new
ones at least should be forbidden. The letter was written c. 394, and is highly
important for the history of Christian art.
c. The Testament
The letter apparently made little impression
upon the Emperor. Thus Epiphanius seizes a last opportunity; he leaves a last
will and testament in which he adjures his own community to keep the tradition as
a priceless heritage and never to abandon it; never should they place images of
saints in churches or cemeteries, but have the image of God in their hearts. ‘if
anyone should dare, using the Incarnation as an excuse, to look at the divine
image of the God Logos painted with earthly colors, be he anathema’. (Johannes
Quasten, Patrology, 4 vols. [Westminster, Md.: Christian Classics, Inc.,
1992], 3:391-93; the work by H. Holl is Die Schriften des Epiphanius Gegen die
Bilderverehrung; SAB [1916], 828-88)
Further Reading:
Answering Fundamentalist Protestants and Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox on Images/Icons