NIC^AN COUNCILS
47
NICAISE
sq., and the Syriac fragments in Analecta Niccena. Fragments relating to the Council of Niaea. The Syr- iac text from an ancient MS. by H. Cowper (London, 1857).
II. The second Council of Nicfea, called also the seventh CEcumenical Council, though falsely so, was as- sembled Aug. 17, 78G, by order of the empress Irene and her son Constantine. Owing to the tumults raised by the Iconoclastic party, it Avas dissolved and reconvened on Sept. 24, 787. (Theophanes, who was present, says that the opening of the council was made on Oct. 11.) Three hundred and seventy-five bishops were present from Greece, Thrace, Natolia, the Isles of the Archi- pelago, Sicily, and Ital\\ Pope Hadrian and all the Oriental patriarchs sent legates to represent them in the synod, those of Rome taking the first place; two com- missioners from the emperor and empress also assisted at it. The causes which led to the assembling of this council were briefly as follows : The emperor Leo (and afterwards his son Constantine Copronymus), offended at the excess of veneration often offered to the images of Christ and the saints, made a decree against the use of images in any way, and caused them everywhere to be removed and destroyed. These severe and ill- advised proceedings raised an opposition almost as vio- lent, and both the patriarch of Constantinople (Germa- nus) and the pope (Hadrian) defended the use of im- ages, declaring them to have been always in use in the churches, and showing the difference between absolute and relatire worship. Howevsr, in a council assembled at Constantinople in 754, composed of three hundred and thirty-eight bishops, a decree was published against the use of images. But at this time Constantine Co- pronymus died, and Tarasius, patriarch of Constantino- ple, induced the empress Irene and her son Constantine to convoke this council, in which the decrees of the council of 754 at Constantinople were set aside.
The first session was held in the church of St. Sophia. Tarasius, the patriarch, spoke first, and exhorted the bishops to reject all novelties, and to cling to the tradi- tions of the Church. After this, ten bishops were brought before the council, accused of following the party of the Iconoclasts. Three of whom, Basil of An- cyra, Theodore of INIyra, and Theodosius of Amorumi, recanted, and declared that they received with all honor the relics and sacred images of Jesus Christ, the blessed Virgin, and the saints; upon which they were permitted to take their seats; the others were remanded to the next session. The forty-second of the apostolical canons, and the eighth of Nictea, and other canons relating to the reception of converted heretics, were read.
In the second session the letters of pope Hadrian to the empress and to the patriarch Tarasius were read. The latter then declared his entire concurrence in the view taken of the question by the bishop of Rome, viz. that images are to be adored with a relative worship, reserving to God alone faith and the worship of Latria. This opinion was warmly applauded by the whole council.
In the third session the confession of Gregory of Neo-Cfflsarea, the leader of the Iconoclast party, was re- ceived, and declared by the council to be satisfactory ; whereupon he was, after some discussion, admitted to take his seat, and with him the bishops mentioned above. Then the letters of Tarasius to the patriarchs Df Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, and their replies, as well as the confession of Theodore of Jerusalem, were read and approved. The passages of Holy Scripture relating to the cherubim which overshadowed the ark of the covenant, and which ornamented the interior of the Temple, were read, together with other passages taken from the fathers, showing that God had, in other days, worked miracles by means of images.
In the fifth session the patriarch Tarasius endeavored to show that the innovators, in their attempts to destroy all images, were following in the steps of the Jews, pa- gans, Manichajans, and other heretics. The council then came to the conclusion that the images should be re-
stored to their usual places, and be carried in processions as before.
In the sixth session the refutation of the definition of faith made in the council of Iconoclasts at Constanti- nople was read. They had there declared that the eucharist was the only image allowed of our Lord Jesus Christ; but the fathers of the present synod, in their refutation, maintained that the eucharist is nowhere spoken of as the image of our Lord's body, but as the very body itself. After this, the fathers replied to the passages from Holy Scripture and from the fathers which the Iconoclasts had adduced in support of their views, and in doing so insisted chiefly upon perpetual tradition and the infallibility of the Church.
In the seventh session a definition of faith was read, which was to this effect : " We decide that the holy images, whether painted or graven, or of whatever kind they may be, ought to be exposed to view; whether in churches, upon the sacred vessels and vestments, upon walls, or in private houses, or by the wayside ; since the oftener Jesus Christ, his blessed mother, and the saints are seen in their images, the more will men be led to think of the originals, and to love them. Salutation and the adoration of honor ought to be paid to images, but not the worship of Latria, which belongs to God alone: nevertheless it is lawful to burn lights before them, and to incense them, as is usually done with the cross, the books of the Gospels, and other sacred things, according to the pious use of the ancients; for honor so paid to the image is transmitted to the original, which it represents. Such is the doctrine of the holy fathers and the tradition of the Catholic Church ; and we order that they who dare to think or teach otherwise, if bishops or other clerks, shall be deposed ; if monks or laymen, shall be excommunicated."' This decree was signed by the legates and all the bishops.