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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>

[[John Chrysostom]] '''Homilies 10 Ephesians''' [A.D. 347-407] praises the use of images overlaid with gold as contributing beauty and grace, and condemns those who destroy them as a destructive fire lighting on the Church: "For like a conflagration indeed, or like a thunderbolt hurled from on high, have they lighted upon the roof of the Church, and yet they rouse up no one; but whilst our Father's house is burning, we are sleeping, as it were, a deep and stupid sleep. And yet who is there whom this fire does not touch? Which of the statues that stand in the Church? for the Church is nothing else than a house built of the souls of us men. Now this house is not of equal honor throughout, but of the stones which contribute to it, some are bright and shining, whilst others are smaller and more dull than they, and yet superior again to others. There we may see many who are in the place of gold also, the gold which adorns the ceiling. Others again we may see, who give the beauty and gracefulness produced by statues. Many we may see, standing like pillars. For he is accustomed to call men also on account of their beauty, adding as they do, much grace, and having their heads overlaid with gold.<ref name=Fathers/>

[[Saint John Chrysostom]] '''Homilies 10 Ephesians''' [A.D. 347-407] praises the use of images overlaid with gold as contributing beauty and grace, and condemns those who destroy them as a destructive fire lighting on the Church: "For like a conflagration indeed, or like a thunderbolt hurled from on high, have they lighted upon the roof of the Church, and yet they rouse up no one; but whilst our Father's house is burning, we are sleeping, as it were, a deep and stupid sleep. And yet who is there whom this fire does not touch? Which of the statues that stand in the Church? for the Church is nothing else than a house built of the souls of us men. Now this house is not of equal honor throughout, but of the stones which contribute to it, some are bright and shining, whilst others are smaller and more dull than they, and yet superior again to others. There we may see many who are in the place of gold also, the gold which adorns the ceiling. Others again we may see, who give the beauty and gracefulness produced by statues. Many we may see, standing like pillars. For he is accustomed to call men also on account of their beauty, adding as they do, much grace, and having their heads overlaid with gold.<ref name=Fathers/>

John Chrysostom '''Homilies 21 on the Statues''' paragraph 10 [A.D. 347-407] admonishes those who were disconsolate over the destruction of holy images by the [[Iconoclasm|iconoclasts]]: "Were your Statues thrown down? You have it in your power again to set up others yet more splendid."<ref name=Fathers/>

John Chrysostom '''Homilies 21 on the Statues''' paragraph 10 [A.D. 347-407] admonishes those who were disconsolate over the destruction of holy images by the [[Iconoclasm|iconoclasts]]: "Were your Statues thrown down? You have it in your power again to set up others yet more splendid."<ref name=Fathers/>