Why were icons controversial in the Byzantine Empire?

Why were icons controversial in the Byzantine Empire?

The Iconoclasts (those who rejected images) objected to icon veneration for several reasons, including the Old Testament prohibition against images in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:4) and the possibility of idolatry.

Who were the Iconophiles?

The Iconoclasm is the period in Byzantine history when the validity of icons were debated. Some iconophiles, people who loved and supported icons, wanted the icons to remain. However, the iconoclasts were people who wanted icons removed and destroyed; did not want the icons to remain.

Why did the iconoclasts want to destroy images?

Iconoclasm literally means “image breaking” and refers to a recurring historical impulse to break or destroy images for religious or political reasons. For example, in ancient Egypt, the carved visages of some pharaohs were obliterated by their successors; during the French Revolution, images of kings were defaced.

Why did the use of icons anger iconoclasts?

Q. Why did the use of icons anger iconoclasts? They believed using icons was like worshiping objects.

Who initiated Caesaropapism?

Although Justus Henning Böhmer (1674–1749) may have originally coined the term caesaropapism (Cäseropapismus), it was Max Weber (1864–1920) who wrote: “a secular, caesaropapist ruler… exercises supreme authority in ecclesiastic matters by virtue of his autonomous legitimacy”.

What were icons typically depicting?

Icons (from the Greek term for “likeness” or “image”) are one of the oldest types of Christian art, originating in the tradition of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Typically they are small-scale devotional panel paintings, usually depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary or the Saints.

What were icons used for?

icon, in Eastern Christian tradition, a representation of sacred personages or events in mural painting, mosaic, or wood.

What was a consequence of the controversy over icons in the Eastern Orthodox Church?

As a consequence of the controversy, a huge number of icons were destroyed or defaced with many wall paintings repainted with simple crosses, the only symbol permissible to the iconoclasts. A large number of icons were, though, saved and spirited away to the greater safety of the eastern parts of the empire.

What was the significance of caesaropapism?

The fundamental idea underlying caesaropapism was that the emperor as the divinely appointed vicegerent of divinity on earth, that is, of the pantokrator, was the autokrator who alone considered himself called upon to provide unity, peace, and order within the Christian empire.

Why is caesaropapism important?

caesaropapism, political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the church and supreme judge in religious matters. The term is most frequently associated with the late Roman, or Byzantine, Empire.