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| | However, the same Eusebius of Caesarea '''Church History, Book 7''' (A.D. 295-340) testifies to the approved proper use of images of Jesus, Peter and Paul: "They say that this statue is an image of Jesus. It has remained to our day, so that we ourselves also saw it when we were staying in the city. Nor is it strange that those of the Gentiles who, of old, were benefited by our Savior, should have done such things, since we have learned also that the likenesses of his apostles Paul and Peter, and of Christ himself, are preserved in paintings, the ancients being accustomed, as it is likely, according to a habit of the Gentiles, to pay this kind of honor indiscriminately to those regarded by them as deliverers."<ref name=Fathers/> | | However, the same Eusebius of Caesarea '''Church History, Book 7''' (A.D. 295-340) testifies to the approved proper use of images of Jesus, Peter and Paul: "They say that this statue is an image of Jesus. It has remained to our day, so that we ourselves also saw it when we were staying in the city. Nor is it strange that those of the Gentiles who, of old, were benefited by our Savior, should have done such things, since we have learned also that the likenesses of his apostles Paul and Peter, and of Christ himself, are preserved in paintings, the ancients being accustomed, as it is likely, according to a habit of the Gentiles, to pay this kind of honor indiscriminately to those regarded by them as deliverers."<ref name=Fathers/> |
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| − | Basil '''Letter 360''' (A.D. 329-379) cites with approbation the approved use of images, saying, "I acknowledge also the holy apostles, prophets, and martyrs; and I invoke them to supplication to God, that through them, that is, through their mediation, the merciful God may be propitious to me, and that a ransom may be made and given me for my sins. Wherefore also I honor and kiss the features of their images, inasmuch as they have been handed down from the holy apostles, and are not forbidden, but are in all our churches."<ref name=Fathers/> | + | Basil '''Letter 360''' (A.D. 329-379) cites with approbation the approved use of images, saying, "I acknowledge also the holy apostles, prophets, and martyrs; and I invoke them to supplication to God, that through them, that is, through their [[Intercession|mediation]], the merciful God may be propitious to me, and that a ransom may be made and given me for my sins. Wherefore also I honor and kiss the features of their images, inasmuch as they have been handed down from the holy apostles, and are not forbidden, but are in all our churches."<ref name=Fathers/> |
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| | Epiphanius (inter 310–320 – 403), bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus wrote, in '''Letter 51''' (c. 394), to John, Bishop of Jerusalem about an incident of finding an image in a church in his jurisdiction: "I went in to pray, and found there a curtain hanging on the doors of the said church, dyed and embroidered. It bore an image either of Christ or of one of the saints; I do not rightly remember whose the image was. Seeing this, and being loath that an image of a man should be hung up in Christ's church contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures, I tore it asunder and advised the custodians of the place to use it as a winding sheet for some poor person." He goes on to tell John that such images are “contrary to our religion” and to instruct the presbyter of the church that such images are “an occasion of offense.”<ref>John B. Carpenter, "Icons and the Eastern Orthodox Claim to Continuity with the Early Church," ''Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics'', Vol. 6, No. 1, 2013, p. 118.</ref> | | Epiphanius (inter 310–320 – 403), bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus wrote, in '''Letter 51''' (c. 394), to John, Bishop of Jerusalem about an incident of finding an image in a church in his jurisdiction: "I went in to pray, and found there a curtain hanging on the doors of the said church, dyed and embroidered. It bore an image either of Christ or of one of the saints; I do not rightly remember whose the image was. Seeing this, and being loath that an image of a man should be hung up in Christ's church contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures, I tore it asunder and advised the custodians of the place to use it as a winding sheet for some poor person." He goes on to tell John that such images are “contrary to our religion” and to instruct the presbyter of the church that such images are “an occasion of offense.”<ref>John B. Carpenter, "Icons and the Eastern Orthodox Claim to Continuity with the Early Church," ''Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics'', Vol. 6, No. 1, 2013, p. 118.</ref> |