E05373: Hypatius, bishop of Ephesus, in a letter to a fellow bishop defends the use of icons of Christ and the saints for the sake of teaching the uneducated, even if that means a certain compromise on the scriptural prohibition against images. Written in Greek at Ephesus, in the early 6th c..

Hypatius of Ephesus, Miscellaneous Questions (Fragment) (CPG 6806)

Book 1, chapter 5. Letter to Ioulianos, bishop of Adramyttion, On images in the holy churches.

[…] Ἀλλὰ τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων φῆς· Προσκυνητὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἐῶμεν γραφάς, ἐπὶ ξύλου δὲ καὶ λίθου πολλάκις οἱ τὰ τῆς γλυφῆς ἀπαγορεύοντες οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀπλημμελὲς ἐῶμεν, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ θύραις.

Ἀλλ’ὦ θεία καὶ ἱερὰ κεφαλή, τῆν θείαν μὲν, ἥτις ποτέ ἐστιν, οὐσίαν οὐδενὶ τῶν ὄντων ὁμοίαν ἢ ταύτην ἢ ἴσην ὁμολογοῦμεν ἢ ἀναγράφομεν· τὴν ἄρρητον δὲ καὶ ἀπερίληπτον εἰς ἡμᾶς τοῦ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ τὰς ἱερὰς τῶν ἁγίων εἰκόνας ἐν γράμμασιν μὲν ἡμεῖς ἱεροῖς ἀνευφημεῖσθαι διατυποῦμεν, οὐδεμιᾷ πλάσει τὸ ἐφ’ἡμῖν ἢ γραφῇ καθάπαξ ἡδόμενοι. συγχωροῦμεν δὲ τοῖς ἀπλουστέροις ἀτελεστέροις αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν ὑπὲρ συμφυοῦς αὐτῶν ἀναγωγῆς καὶ ὄψει τῇ αὐτῆς συμμέτρῳ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν εἰσαγωγῆς τρόπῳ μανθάνειν, καὶ αὐτὰς πολλάκις καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς τὰς θείας παλαιάς τε καὶ νέας διατάξεις εὑρόντες τοῖς ἀσθενέσι τὰς ψυχὰς ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας αὐτῶν συγκατακλινομένας. […]

Hypatius cites various scriptural passages opposing the use of images, and encouraging the destruction of idols.

‘[…] Now, although these things are so, you say: We allow the veneration of drawings at the sanctuaries, and more often than not we, who are supposed to oppose the works of sculpture in wood or stone, do not fail to overlook even that, but let it be in open display.

Now, my dear and reverend friend, we neither define nor describe the divine essence, whatever it may be, as similar or identical or equal to any of the beings. As for the ineffable and incomprehensible charity of God towards us humans [= the life of Christ] and the hallowed figures of the saints, we ordain that they be celebrated by sacred engravings, even though, for our part, we take no pleasure whatsoever in sculpture or painting. We allow, however, the simpler people who are less accomplished in these matters to be educated in them in an introductory manner, according to their natural level of understanding, and by the sense of sight which is suited to that level. [We do so], especially as we find that several times and in several occasions divine commandments, both old and new, were compromised for the sake of the weaker in soul and for their salvation.’

He quotes scriptural examples where images are permitted as a concession for the simple. The decoration of churches serves the purpose of helping people grasp the glory of heaven, it is not because God needs gold or silver. True worship is spiritual, but the less educated need to be helped by the more advanced.

Text: Diekamp 1938. Translation: Efthymios Rizos.