This article is the fifth (and last) in a series in which I evaluate the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practice of iconodulia—veneration of images. In previous articles, I looked at the evidence predating 313, when Constantine began to favor Christianity. This article will discuss the evidence that comes after. Here are the posts in …
Did Saints Like John Chrysostom Venerate Icons? How Did It Arise? Read More »
This is part of a series in which I respond to the claim that the veneration of icons is a Christian practice. This article contains responses to what I consider the less consequential arguments for the veneration of icons. Since I intend this article series to be comprehensive, I want to respond to all the …
This post addresses the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic practice of venerating icons. It examines the textual evidence from the first centuries of Christianity to see whether or not the veneration of images was considered a legitimate practice. The purpose of this post is not polemics but to do apologetics and honest historical inquiry. So …
This article is the third in a series where I show that before 313, and probably for some time after, the veneration of images was not a legitimate Christian practice. In this post, I will examine the Scriptures to see what light they can show on the subject. Here is an overview of all the …
This post is the second post in a series on whether the early Christians venerated images. In the other posts, I argue that before 313, the veneration of images was not a legitimate Christian practice. In this post, I will examine pre-Constantinian images found in archaeology and whether they provide evidence for or against the …
Archaeology & Icon Veneration | From Before Constantine? Read More »
The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church each claims to be the apostolic church. In this series of articles, I’ll show that their claims can’t be true. While in other articles I’ve shown that their claims to authority aren’t true, this series will evaluate one of the doctrines that they hold to see …
Icons | The Orthodox Church Has Changed the Apostolic Faith Read More »
In a previous article, I showed that Scripture and the early church both agreed that all doctrine had been revealed to the apostles. Only Jesus and the apostles are “upstream” from doctrine; in other words, only statements by them can be taken as definitive of Christian doctrine. Everyone else is “downstream” from doctrine; our statements …
Development of Doctrine | Why Catholic & Orthodox Changes Fail Read More »
As Christians, we believe some teachings to be true and others to be false. But how can we tell which is which? Where does true Christian doctrine come from, and can those doctrines change or develop? This article will answer those questions and offer a from-the-ground-up defense for the view that Christian doctrine comes from …
The Eastern Orthodox Church bases much of their theology on the “Fathers.” Typically, this means Christian writers who lived before approximately the 800s. The most influential church fathers for them tend to be those who lived and wrote between 325 and 787, when the first and last of the seven ecumenical councils took place. Some …
Do Post-Nicene Fathers Exemplify Apostolic Christianity? Read More »
In my post on icons, I cited Origen as evidence against the early Christian use of icons. The quote below shows that Origen didn’t believe veneration of images to be a Christian practice: [Christians] abhor altars and images on the ground that they are afraid of degrading the worship of God, and reducing it to …
