THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
clastic tendencies were shared by bis son, Leo IV., after the latter's early death, his widow Irene, as regent for her son, began its restoration, moved thereto by personal inclination and political considerations (see Images and Image Worship, II.). When in 784 the imperial secretary Tarasius was appointed successor to the patriarch Paul, he accepted on condition that the intercommunion with the other churches should be reestablished, that is, that the images should be restored. However, as a council claiming to be ecumenical had abolished image-worship, another ecumenical council was necessary for its restoration. Pope Hadrian was invited to participate and gladly accepted. The invitation intended for the oriental patriarchs could not even be delivered to them. The Roman legates were an archbishop and an abbot, each named Peter.
In 786 the council met in the Church of the Apostles in Constantinople, but soldiers in collusion with the opposition entered the church and broke up the assembly. The government now resorted to a stratagem. Under the pretext of a campaign, the iconoclastic bodyguard was sent away from the capital, disarmed, and disbanded. The council was again summoned to meet, this time in Nice, since Constantinople was still distrusted, assembling Sept. 24, 787. It numbered about 350 members; 308 bishops or their representatives signed. Tarasius presided, and seven sittings were held in Nice. Proof of the lawfulness of image- worship was drawn from Ex. xxv. 17sqq.; Num. vii. 89; Heb. ix. 1 sqq.; Ezek. xli., and Gen. xxxi. 34, but especially from a series of passages of the Church Fathers; the authority of the latter was decisive. It was determined that "As the sacred and life-giving cross is everywhere set up as a symbol, so also should the images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the holy angels, as well as those of the saints and other pious and holy men be embodied in the manufacture of sacred vessels, tapestries, vestments, etc., and exhibited on the walls of churches, in the homes, and in all conspicuous places, by the roadside and everywhere," to be revered by all who might see them. For the more they are contemplated, the more they move to fervent memory of their prototypes. Therefore, it is proper to accord to them a fervent and reverent adoration, not, however, the veritable worship which, according to our faith, belongs to the Divine Being alone — for the honor accorded to the image passes over to its prototype, and whoever adores the image adores in it the reality of what is there represented.
The clear distinction between the adoration offered to God and that accorded to the images may well be looked upon as a result of the iconoclastic reform. The twenty-two canons drawn up in Constantinople also served ecclesiastical reform. Careful maintenance of the ordinances of the earlier councils, knowledge of the Scriptures on the part of the clergy, and care for Christian conduct are required, and the desire for a renewal of ecclesiastical life is awakened. The papal legates voiced their approval of the restoration of image- worship . in no uncertain terms, and the patriarch sent a full
account of the proceedings of the council to Hadrian, who caused the same to be translated, which translation Anastasius later replaced with a better one. For a treatment of the opposition view, see Caroline Books. (N. Bonwetsch.)
Bibliography: I. The collection of sources which supersedes all others is Patrum Niccenorum nomina . . sociata opera, ed. H. Gelzer, H. Hilgenfeld, O. Cuntz, adjecta est tabula geographica, Leipsic, 1899. The canons are in the collections of Mansi and Labbe, and in Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, i. 376-431, Eng. transl. i. 262-447, and Fr. transl., vol. i„ note the material on the Coptic fragments in this transl., i. 1125-1138, on various editions of the canons, pp. 1139-1176, and on canon 6, pp. 1182- 1202; an Eng. transl. with voluminous discussion is in J. Chrystal, Authoritative Christianity, vol. i., Jersey City, 1891. Consult: J. Kaye, Some Account of the Council o{ Niccea, London, 1853; B. H. Cowper, Analecta Nicoena, London, 1857; E. Revillout, Le Concile de Nic£e cCapres les textes coptes, 2 vols., Paris, 1880-99; W. Bright, Notes on the Canons of the First Four General Councils, London, 1892; C. A. Bernoulli, Das Konzil von Nicaa, Freiburg, 1896; J. J. Lias, The Nicene Creed, London, 1897, new ed., 1910; O. Braun, De sancta Nicasna synodo, Munster, 1898; Schaff, Christian Church, iii. 622-632, and in general works on the church history of the period; Harnack, Dogma, vols, ii.-iv. passim, and in general works on the history of doctrine; consult also the literature on the Con-