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Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part I
With the ever-present conviction of my own unworthiness, I ought to have kept silence and confessed my shortcomings before God, but all things are good at the right time. I see the Church which God founded on the Apostles and Prophets, its corner-stone being Christ His Son, tossed on an angry sea, beaten by rushing waves, shaken and troubled by the assaults of evil spirits. I see rents in the seamless robe of Christ, which impious men have sought to part asunder, and His body cut into pieces, that is, the word of God and the ancient tradition of the Church.
Recognising the power
Therefore I have judged it unreasonable to keep silence and to hold my tongue, bearing in mind the Scripture warning:–“If thou withdrawest thyself, my soul shall not delight in thee,” (Heb. 10.38) and “If thou seest the sword coming and dost not warn thy brother, I shall require his blood at thy hand.” (cf. Ez. 33.8) Fear, then, compelled me to speak; the truth was stronger than the majesty of kings. “I bore testimony to Thee before kings,” I heard the royal David saying, “and I was not ashamed.” (Ps. 119.46) No, I was the more incited to speak. The King’s command is all powerful over his subjects. For few men have hitherto been found who, whilst recognising the power of the earthly king to come from above, have resisted his unlawful demands.

In the first place, grasping as a kind of pillar, or foundation, the teaching of the Church, which is our salvation, I have opened out its meaning, giving, as it were, the reins to a well caparisoned charger. For I look upon it as a great calamity that the Church, adorned with her great privileges and the holiest examples of saints in the past, should go back to the first rudiments, and fear where there is no fear.

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 18

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Commentary.-The remembrance of the saints is thus, you see, a glory to God, praise of the saints, joy and salvation to the whole world. Why, then, would you destroy it? This remembrance is kept...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 17

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If you say that only intellectual worship befits God, take away all corporeal things, light, and fragrance, prayer itself through the physical voice, the very divine mysteries which are offered through matter, bread, and...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 16

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Commentary.-If, then, it be rational that we are led to the divine vision by sensible images, and if Divine Providence mercifully clothes in form and image that which is without either for our benefit,...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 15

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We have seen that prophets worshipped angels, and men, and kings, and the impious, and even a staff. David says, “And you adore His footstool.” (Ps. 99.5) Isaias, speaking in God’s name, says, “The...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 14

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These are the great Basil’s words. How do we know the Holy place of Calvary, or the Holy Sepulchre? Does it not rest on a tradition handed down from father to son? It is...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 13

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The just man is not bound by the law. (I. Tim. 1.9) We are not held by the letter of the law, nor do we serve as children, (Gal. 4.1) but grown into the...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 12

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They have withstood sin unto blood, and followed Christ in shedding their blood for Him, who shed His blood for them. I put on record the excellencies and the sufferings of those who have...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 11

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God charged David to build Him a temple through his son, and to prepare a place of rest. Solomon, in building the temple, made the cherubim, as the book of Kings says. And he...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 10

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And God ordered twelve stones to be taken out of the Jordan, and specified why. For he says: “When your son asks you the meaning of these stones, tell him how the water left...

Apologia of St John Damascene Against those who Decry Holy Images Part 9

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And I have given him for his companion, Ooliab, the son of Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan. And I have put wisdom in the heart of every skilful man, that they may make...

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