Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/553

* ILUS. 479 IMAGE-WOKSHIP. bom in Dardania, on Mount Ida, and was the son of Xros, greatgiandson of Daidanus, and father of Laomedon. In an athletic contest in I'hrj'gia he received, as the prize of victory, fifty youths and fifty maidens. In addition, at the command of tlie oracle, a spotted cow was given to him, and he was directed to follow her until slie should lie down, and on that spot to estab- lish a city. This spot was the hill of the Phry- gian Ate, where he founded the town which from his name was called Ilios, and from the name of his father Troy. The Palladium came to him there as a sign from Zeus. ILYA MUROMETS, e-lyii' moo'r6mets ( Russ., Elijah of ilurom). The favorite hero of the Russian bylina (q.v.), a representative of the peasant class. The strongest of the 'younger jialadins,' he spent his life in guarding his coun- try against her enemies and in protecting widows and orphans. In extreme cases only did he shed blood. Usually the foe was frightened away by the exhibition of Ilya's strength in turning some mighty oak into splinters or some similar display of jirowess. IMAGE-WORSHIP. The use, in public or private religious services, of graven or painted representations of sacred persons or things, and csjx'cially the exhibition of honor, reverence, or worship to such representations. Under the old law. because the Jews were constantly tempted by the example of the surrounding idolatrous na- tions, the strictures with regard to the worship of images were very severe. There were image.s of the cherubim placed in the Holy of Holies, however, .so that such representations were not entirely forbidden. There is no mention of the use of images in public or private worship in the New Testament, nor in the chronicles of the first cen- tury of Christianity. They seem to have been introduced very early, however, for TertuUian at the beginning of the third century mentions the image of the Good Shepherd as engraved upon chalices quite as if this were and had been for a long time a common practice. Crucifixes seem to have been introduced very early; this is proved by a graflito. often supposed to be a pagan carica- ture of Christianity, probably of the end of the second century, scratched upon the wall of a room in the palace of the Ca?sars. (See Graffiti.) It is a rude representation of a man standing in the attitude of prayer, with outstretched hands, before a grotesque caricature of the crucifixion, bearing the legend 'Alexamenus worships God.' The tombs of the Christians in the Roman cata- combs, many of which are of a date anterior to Constantine, frequently have graven representa- tions of the dove, of the cross, of the symbolical fish, of the ship, of Adam and Eve, of Moses striking (he rock, of Jonah, of Daniel in the linns" den, of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and above all of the Good Shepherd. The chapels of the catacombs are profusely decorated with sacred representations, the age of which it is not easy to determine with accuracy, though some of them seem to come at least from the second centurj'. After the condemnation of the Nes- torian heresy in 430. statues and pictures of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, and the saint.s were ver' commonly used in public and private reli- gin>is services .nnd in churches and religious edifices. As the mass of the people became more ignorant in the sixth and seventh cen- turies, certain abuses with regard to the venera- tion of images in religious worship crept in. These led to a reaction against image-worship in the East, which culminated in the movement known as iconoclasm, because it commanded the breaking of images. The formal beginning of iconoclasm was an edict by the Emperor Leo III. (717-741), known in history as the Isaurian. The exact terms, as well as the exact date, of the edict are unknown, though Hefele places it in 72G. It commanded the destruction of all pious images in public places. The removal of a famous image of Christ over the palace door caused a popular uprising in Constantinople. In Greece and Lower Italy the opposition to the edict was pronounced. Tile Patriarch of Constantinople refused to allow it to be put into force, and Pope Gregory II. (715-731) condemned it. Leo persisted, however, apparently influenced by the Caliph Yezid II., who set the example of destroying images in ac- cordance with the Mohammedan religion. Saint John of Damascus (died about 700). who lived under the Caliph, wrote three discourses in de- fense of the use of images for religious purposes. Under Leo's successor, Constantine Copronymus, a council confirmed the Imperial edict. Leo IV. also upheld iconoclasm. Under his widow. Irene, however, the second Council of Nica>a (787) re- affirmed the orthodox views as to image-worship; but succeeding emperors, except Slichael the Stammerer (820-829), who tried to effect a com- promise, were iconoclasts. On February 19, 842, Tlieodora, widow of Theophilus (829-842), brought back the images in triumph to the Cathedral of Constantinople. This date is kept as the feast of orthodoxy. By an error the acts of the Nieene Council were sent in a gar- bled translation to Charlemagne. He objected to their publication in his realm in the Libri Carolini, now generallv considered authentic, sent to Pope Hadrian L (7'72-795) about 793. The Xi- ccne Council solemnly declared that the worship to be paid to images is not true adoration, laireia, which is to be given to God alone, but douleia, or veneration. While the Greek verb -pncKvviiv, 'to worship,' is used, it is explained that it is only in the sense of honoring because they repre- sent God or His saints, and because the honor which is given to images is referred to their prototypes. ATien the error of translation was explained, the misunderstanding ceased to exist. The Council of Trent reaffirmed the declarations and distinctions of the second Nieene Council as to image-worship, adding that there is "no virtue in images themselves on account of which theyare to be worshiped; that no petition can be ad- dressed to them; and that no trust is to be placed in them." The council advocates thS true use of images, however, contending that they are of great advantage especially for the rude and unlearned, for whom they sere as memorials of the sufferings and of the mercy of Christ, as in- structive records of the virtues of the saints, and exhortations to the imitation of their example and as incentives to the love of God and to the practice of piety. In certain parts of the world there are in Roman Catholic churches images for which there is a special veneration. It is well understood that it is not because any virtue re- sides in the image itself that it is believed that prayers are more frequently heard when said be- itore it, but because of the special faith and fervor awakened by the traditions attached to it, and