| Council of Hieria | |
|---|---|
| Date | 754 |
| Accepted by |
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Previous council |
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| Convoked by | Constantine V |
| President | Archbishop Theodosius of Ephesus |
| Attendance | 338 bishops |
| Topics | Iconoclasm |
Documents and statements | veneration of icons condemned |
| Chronological list of ecumenical councils | |
TheCouncil of Hieria was aChristian council of 754 which viewed itself asecumenical, but was later rejected by theSecond Council of Nicaea (787) and byRoman Catholic andEastern Orthodox churches, since none of the five major patriarchs participated. However, it is preferred over Second Nicaea by someProtestants.[1] The council was significant in the controversy ofByzantine iconoclasm, condemning the veneration and production of religiousicons as idolatrous and pagan, reflectingByzantine EmperorConstantine V'siconoclasm.[2] This council declared itself the 'Seventh Ecumenical Council', as did the Second Council of Nicaea.[3]
Quotations in the writings of PatriarchNikephoros I of Constantinople (c. 758–828) show that Constantine was a competent theologian. He waited until theepiscopal see ofConstantinople to become vacant, which occurred in January 754 with the death of PatriarchAnastasius of Constantinople, before convoking the council.[4]
The council was convoked by Constantine in the palace ofHieria at Chalcedon,[5][6] and was in session from February to March 754.[7]
Three hundred and thirty-eight bishops attended the council, endorsing Constantine V'siconoclast position. The bishops maintained that the worship of images became widespread after theThird Council of Constantinople of 680–681.[8] They argued that pictorial representation of God is impossible, because an icon of Christ either depicts his humanity alone or confuses his humanity and divinity; which they rule to beNestorianism andmonophysitism respectively. They also considered the only true image of Christ to be theEucharist.[9] Thebishops declared that "the unlawful art of painting living creatures blasphemed the fundamental doctrine of our salvation—namely, theIncarnation of Christ, and contradicted the six holy synods. [...] If anyone shall endeavour to represent the forms of theSaints in lifeless pictures with material colours which are of no value (for this notion is vain and introduced by thedevil), and does not rather represent their virtues as living images in himself, etc. [...] let him beanathema". TheseChristological arguments represent a development from the arguments of earlier iconoclasts, who appealed to thebiblical condemnation of the production of images in theSecond Commandment.[10]
Similar pronouncements on the issue of religious images had been made in theSynod of Elvira (c. 305) whoseCanon 36 states: "Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration".[11] If understood this way, it is the earliest such prohibition known.[12]
The council represents a moderate party of iconoclasts which affirmed theintercession of saints andMary, mother of Jesus, as evidenced by one of itsanathemas against the one who "does not ask for [the prayers of Mary and the saints] as having the freedom to intercede on behalf of the world according to the tradition of the church".[13] It is debated among scholars whether Constantine remained faithful to the moderate position or later shifted to the radical view in which the intercession of Mary and saints was denied on the grounds of 'soul-sleep'. This view is reported by later iconodule sources who may have exaggerated for polemical purposes, thus their reliability is questioned in modern scholarship.[14]
Opponents of the council described it as theMock Synod of Constantinople or theHeadless Council because no patriarchs or representatives of thefive great patriarchates were present: thesee of Constantinople was vacant;Antioch,Jerusalem andAlexandria were underIslamic dominion; while Rome was not asked to participate. Its rulings wereanathematized at theLateran Council of 769,[15] before being overturned almost entirely by theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787, which endorsed and upheld the orthodoxy of theveneration of holy images. After the later triumph of theiconodules, this council became known as arobber council, i.e. asuncanonical, because there were neither the patriarchs nor representatives of patriarchs present. Edward J. Martin describes the later judgment of the council.[16]
On the ecumenical character of the Council there are graver doubts. Its president was Theodosius, archbishop of Ephesus, son of the Emperor Apsimar. He was supported by Sisinnius, bishop of Perga, also known as Pastillas, and by Basil of Antioch in Pisidia, styled Tricaccabus. Not a single Patriarch was present. The see of Constantinople was vacant. Whether the Pope and the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were invited or not is unknown. They were not present either in person or by deputy. The Council of Nicaea [II] considered this was a serious flaw in the legitimacy of the Council. 'It had not the co-operation of the Roman Pope of the period nor of his clergy, either by representative or by encyclical letter, as the law of Councils requires.'[17] TheLife of Stephen borrows this objection from the Acts and embroiders it to suit the spirit of the age of Theodore. It had not the approval of the Pope of Rome, although the modern day Catholic theologians assert that there is a canon that no ecclesiastical measures may be passed without the Pope.'[18] The absence of the other Patriarchs is then noticed.[17]
The council and its Christological arguments were later refuted as heretical by Nicaea II,[19] and also by theCouncil of Constantinople (843) which reasserted the significance of icons in the Church. During the second period of Byzantine iconoclasm, EmperorLeo V the Armenian overtured Nicaea II and reinstated Hieria. However, rather than regarding icons as idolatrous, they were merely considered superfluous, and images that were suspended high up (which could not therefore be actively venerated) were not removed. However the definitive re-establishment of iconodulia was effected under PatriarchMethodios I of Constantinople, and by the 850s iconoclasm was defeated.[20]
Some Protestants accept the council as legitimate.[21]
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