iconoclasm | Martyria

Studia Theologica No. II (XX) / 2025 The veneration of holy icons, or the devout prayer of the believer to the prototype depicted in the icon Rev. Prof. Dr. Nicolae Chifăr

This article analyses the theology of the veneration of holy icons in the Orthodox Christian tradition, examining the contributions of Saints John of Damascus, Nicetas of Constantinople and Theodore the Studite regarding the relationship between the icon and its prototype, and the distinction between worship (latreia) and veneration (proskinisis kata timin). Icons are presented not as decorative or didactic objects, but as liturgical and sacramental means of communion with the prototype they represent, grounded Christologically in the reality of the Incarnation and validated by the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787).

Studia Theologica No. II (XVIII) / 2024 Art, creativity and dogma in the Christian Orthodox tradition Associate Professor, Dr Svetoslav Ribolov

This article traces the development of the theology of Christian art, from the reservations regarding images and music in the early centuries to the patristic and synodal justification of the icon, with a focus on the contributions of Saints John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite. Church art — iconography, unison chanting, sacred architecture — is understood as a Christological, Eucharistic and soteriological expression of the faith of the Orthodox Church.

Studia Humanitatis No. I (XV) / 2023 The Aesthetics of Beauty. Notes on the Byzantine Icon: Theology and Art The Nun Atanasia Văetiși

The Byzantine icon is analysed from the perspectives of theology, history and aesthetics, beginning with the iconoclastic controversy of the 8th–9th centuries and the dogmatic arguments put forward by Patriarch Germanus I, Saint John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite and Nicephorus of Constantinople. The iconographic canon, the iconographic programme of the church and the stylistic features of Byzantine art—understood as an image of reality transfigured by grace—are described.

The Words of the Fathers No. I (X) / 2020 On Gratitude. A teaching on the veneration of the icon of Christ and on the testimony of our brother Thaddeus Teodor Studitul

A monastic sermon, translated from Greek by Octavian Gordon, urges gratitude towards God as the foundation of the spiritual life, drawing on Scripture and the example of Brother Thaddeus, a slave of Scythian origin who became a monk and martyr. Faith and a pure life are presented as inseparable, whilst the iconoclasts are condemned for their refusal to recognise the icon of Christ.

The Words of the Fathers No. I (V) / 2018 A homily by our Most Holy Father and Confessor Theodore, Abbot of the Monastery of Studios, on the veneration of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross, in the middle of Lent Teodor Studitul

The text is a festive homily dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, attributed to the patristic tradition, in which the Wood of the Cross is glorified as the antithesis of the wood of Paradise: a source of life in place of death, of incorruption in place of corruption. The author cites Old Testament prefigurations of the Cross — Moses’ staff, Noah’s ark, Abraham’s sacrifice — and argues, against iconoclasm, that the veneration of the icon of Christ stems from the same logic as the veneration of the image of the Cross. The homily concludes with a doxology addressed directly to the Cross, invoked as the protector of hierarchs, kings, monks and laypeople.

Related tags