Produced by Andrew Dunning. Created from scans by the University of Toronto, available through the Internet Archive. Transcriber’s Note Minor emendations have been made to punctuation and spelling. ST JOHN DAMASCENE _Imprimatur_ _Herbertus Cardinalis Vaughan_ _Archiepiscopus Westmonasteriensis_ _Die 12 Augusti 1898_ ST JOHN DAMASCENE ON HOLY IMAGES (πρὸς τοὺς διαβάλλοντας τᾶς ἁγίας εἰκόνας) FOLLOWED BY THREE SERMONS ON THE ASSUMPTION (κοίμησις) TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK BY MARY H. ALLIES _London_ THOMAS BAKER 1 SOHO SQUARE, W. 1898 TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE _A Treatise_ on Images will not be out of place in a public, which is confusing the making of images with the making of idols. A great Christian of the eighth century found himself called upon to face an imperial Iconoclast. He would willingly have remained silent, but he would not bury his talent of eloquence. He brought it forth and witnessed to the teaching of the Church in language which present ‘exciting scenes’ in Anglican churches brings home in the most forcible way. Our English image breakers are in the camp of Leo the Isaurian, who in the eighth century waged war against holy images, on the plausible pretext that they withdrew honour from God. The seventh General Council condemned his assault, and it determined the different kinds of worship, using the Greek terms of latreia and douleia. The special champion of holy Images is St John Damascene, whose treatise is now published for the first time in English. Every article in the creed has its special defender. St John Damascene proclaims the Communion of Saints and the honour of God through His chosen and favoured servants. No part of Catholic belief is a vain word, nor can the true children of the Church say with their lips what they do not hold in their hearts. I believe in the Communion of Saints follows upon I believe in God, so that the enemies of the Saints are the enemies of God. This is the doctrine which St John Damascene traces back to the eternal ages before time was, in the divine ἐικων of the Father in the Person of the Son. God, the Son, is the Image by essence, and then He becomes a visible image or form in time, clothed in flesh and blood, showing us by His own example that our worship of God is through corporeal things. Again and again the Saint repeats that as we must not make an image of the Invisible God, so neither must we refuse to look upon the Son, His Image, first in