Testament to the Citizens

Name: Testament to the Citizens
Author: Epiphanius of Salamis

Testamentum ad cives

Epiphanius of Salamis · c. 310–403 AD · PG 41-43

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Contents4 passages

1Prohibition of images in churches, cemeteries, and homes
2The testament's first command against images
3Hold the traditions; keep God in memory, not images
4No images even in a common house; anathema on depicting the incarnate Word

Author

Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 310/320–403) — Bishop of Salamis (Constantia) on Cyprus. Best known for the Panarion (Medicine Chest), a vast catalogue of heresies, with the Ancoratus as a shorter doctrinal anchor for the churches. A fierce defender of Nicene orthodoxy and monastic discipline.

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About this text

Epiphanius of Salamis, Testamentum ad cives (Greek).

Catalogue & scope

Khazarzar scan

Witnesses

Copy-text PG 41–43 (Khazarzar) (Greek)

This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.

Prohibition of images in churches, cemeteries, and homes§1

1He presents a testament to the citizens, a binding testament, in which he urges them not to bring images into churches or into the cemeteries. "Pay attention to yourselves and hold fast the traditions you received. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. And in this matter, beloved children, keep memory: do not bring images into churches or into the cemeteries of the saints. Instead, always keep God in memory in your hearts. But not even in an ordinary house is this permitted, for a Christian must not be distracted through the eyes and the wanderings of the mind. Let the things toward God be written and impressed on all. If anyone deliberately endeavors to depict the divine character of God's Word according to the incarnation from material colors, let him be anathema."

Greek · §1

The Greek is on each section page: §1

The testament's first command against images§2

2They put forward, then, a testament to the citizens, in which it urges that images not be brought into churches or into the cemeteries.

Greek · §2

The Greek is on each section page: §2

Hold the traditions; keep God in memory, not images§3

3Pay attention to yourselves, and hold fast the traditions you received. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. And in this, beloved children, keep the memory of not bringing images into churches or into the cemeteries of the saints, but always keep God in memory in your hearts.

Greek · §3

The Greek is on each section page: §3

No images even in a common house; anathema on depicting the incarnate Word§4

4But not even in an ordinary house. A Christian must not be distracted through the eyes and the wanderings of the mind; rather, the things that pertain to God should be written and impressed upon everyone. If anyone deliberately endeavors to comprehend the divine character of God's Word according to the incarnation from material colors, let him be anathema.

Greek · §4

The Greek is on each section page: §4

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