Treatise against Those Who Make Images
Tractatus contra eos qui imagines faciunt
Against Image Makers§1
1Having plastered the wall with colors that had been changed, they imprinted the images upon it.
For they say, 'we make the images of the saints for their remembrance and honor.'
But those who think they are honoring the apostles in this way should learn that, instead of honoring them, they are dishonoring them even more.
From where then did bones and sinews become manifestly joined together upon the inscription of the archangel?
For Paul, having rebuked the false-named priest, spoke against the plastered wall.
For John says, 'For we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him…' (1 John 3:2)
Greek · §1
Tractatus contra eos qui imagines faciunt Λόγος τοῦ ἁγίου ̓Επιφανίου κατὰ τῶν ἐπιτηδευόντων ποιεῖν εἰδωλικῷ θεσμῷ εἰκόνας εἰς ἀφομοίωσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς Θεοτόκου καὶ τῶν μαρτύρων, ετι δὲ καὶ ἀγγέλων καὶ προφητῶν. 1 τὸν τοῖχον κονιάσαντες χρώμασι διηλλαγμένοις τὰς εἰκόνας ἀνετύπωσαν. 2 οτι δή, φασί, τὰς εἰκόνας τῶν ἁγίων ποιοῦμεν εἰς μνημόσυνον καὶ τιμὴν αὐτῶν. 3 ψευδωνύμους 4 πόθεν δὲ αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀρχαγγέλλου γραφῆς οστεα καὶ νεῦρα ἐνηρμοσμένα κατάδηλα ἐγένετο, τῆς ἐκείνου ην λέγειν συνέσεως. 5 οἱ νομίζοντες ἐν τούτῳ τιμᾶν τοὺς ἀποστόλους, μαθέτωσαν οτι ἀντὶ τοῦ τιμᾶν, πλέον αὐτοὺς ἀτιμάζουσιν. Παῦλος γὰρ τὸν ψευδώνυμον ἱερέα ἐνυβρίσας τοῖχον κεκονιαμένον ἀπεφήνατο. 6 «οιδαμεν γάρ», φησὶν ̓Ιωάννης, «οτι οταν φανερωθῇ, ομοιοι αὐτῷ
Worship of Angels§2
2We will be conformed to the image of God's Son, and Paul preached that the saints will be conformed to the Son of God; how do you want to see the saints who will be glorified in glory, but are now in a state of dishonor, death, and silence, when the Lord says about them: 'they will be like angels of God' (Matthew 22:30)? How then do you worship angels, who are spirits and always living, as written by the prophet, 'he who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire' (Psalm 104:4)? I say, however, that not even they themselves wish to be worshiped. 'See that you do not do this; for I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God' (Revelation 22:9). Moreover, not even the apostles wanted to be worshiped, for they were sent to preach the gospel, and they considered themselves...
Greek · §2
ἐσόμεθα», καὶ Παῦλος τοὺς ἁγίους «συμμόρφους τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ» ἐκήρυξεν· πῶς ουν τοὺς ἐν δόξῃ μέλλοντας φαιδρύνεσθαι ἁγίους ἐν ἀδόξῳ καὶ νεκρῷ καὶ ἀλάλῳ θέλεις ὁρᾶν, τοῦ κυρίου λέγοντος περὶ αὐτῶν· «εσονται γάρ, φησίν, ὡς αγγελοι θεοῦ». 7 πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀγγέλους πνεύματα ὑπάρχοντας καὶ ἀεὶ ζῶντας ἐν νεκροῖς γράφων προσκυνεῖς, τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος «ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ πνεύματα καὶ τοῦς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον»; 8 λέγω δὲ ο τι οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ θέλουσι προσκυνεῖσθαι. 9 «Ορα μή· σύνδουλος γάρ σου εἰμὶ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου τῶν ἐχόντων τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ιησοῦ. τῷ θεῷ, φησίν, προσκύνησον». 10 ἀλλ' οὐδὲ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἠθέλησαν προσκυνεῖσθαι. καὶ γὰρ ο τε εὐαγγελίζεσθαι ἀπεστάλησαν, ἑαυτοὺς
Worship of Christ§3
3One should worship not himself, but the Christ who was sent, who has authority from him to bind and loose on earth and heaven; for he said to Cornelius, 'I am a human of like passions as you,' and he taught not to worship himself but the Savior Christ.
Regarding the angels, the fathers who gathered in Laodicea—for they certainly gathered for such a matter—say: 'If anyone leaves the church of God and names angels, let him be accursed, for he has left our Lord Jesus Christ and has come to idolatry.' How can one write about the incomprehensible and inexpressible and unknowable and indescribable…
Greek · §3
προσκυνεῖσθαι οὐκ η θελον, ἀλλὰ τὸν αὐτοὺς ἀποστείλαντα Χριστόν. ὁ γὰρ ἐξουσίαν παρ' αὐτοῦ λαβὼν δεσμεύειν καὶ λύειν ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ οὐρανοῦ, ελεγε Κορνηλίῳ ο τι «ὁμοιοπαθής εἰμι κατὰ σὲ ανθρωπος», καὶ ἐδίδασκε μὴ ἑαυτὸν προσκυνεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ τὸν σωτῆρα Χριστόν. 11 περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων οἱ πατέρες οἱ ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ συνελθόντες– πάντως γὰρ οτι διὰ τοιαύτην ὑπόθεσιν συνήχθησαν–λέγουσιν· «ει τις ἐγκαταλείπει τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀγγέλους ὀνομάζει, ἀνάθεμα εστω· οτι ἐγκατέλιπε τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν ̓Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν καὶ εἰδωλολατρείᾳ προσελήλυθε». 12 πῶς τὸν ἀκατάληπτον καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητον καὶ ἀπερινόητον ἀπερίγραφόν τε γράφειν λέγει τις,
Warning Against Idolatry§4
4Why was Moses unable to gaze? Some say that because a perfect man was born of Mary, the ever-virgin, we make him a man. And because of this, he became human so that the one beyond understanding, through whom all things were made, could be written about through your hands. He is not like the Father, nor does He give life to the dead. Where did he command you to come to earth, make him similar, worship, and gaze? This is the devil's command, that you may despise God. For God, in both the Old and New Testaments, abolishes these things, saying: 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.'
Greek · §4
ον οὐκ ι σχυσε Μωυσῆς ἀτενίσαι; 13 φασίν τινες οτι ἐπειδὴ τέλειος ανθρωπος ἐγένετο ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς ἀειπαρθένου, διὰ τοῦτο ανθρωπον αὐτὸν ποιοῦμεν. 14 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνηνθρώπησεν, ινα τὸν ἀκατάληπτον δι' ου τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, διὰ χειρῶν σου γράψαι δυνηθῇς; 15 οὐκοῦν οὐκ εστιν ομοιος τοῦ πατρὸς οὐδὲ ζωοποιεῖ τοὺς νεκρούς; 16 ποῦ σοι διέταξε ταῦτα ἐλθὼν ἐπὶ γῆς, ποιῆσαι ομοιον αὐτῷ καὶ προσκυνεῖν καὶ ὁρᾶν; 17 αυ τη ἡ διάταξις τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστιν, ινα καταφρονήσῃς θεοῦ. 18 ὁ θεὸς γὰρ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ παλαιᾷ καὶ καινῇ ταῦτα ἀναιρεῖ, ἀκριβῶς λέγων· «κύριον τὸν θεὸν προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις».