Christ and His Representation, One or Two? The Image Theologies of Theodore of Stoudios, Leo of Chalcedon and Eustratius of Nicaea

What is it about?

Today the worship of images of Christ and the saints is an integral part of the orthodox faith. Yet this had not always been the case. From 730 to 787 and again from 815 to 843 the emperors lent their support to clergymen who considered the practice to be idolatrous. Even during those years, however, there was opposition to the offical line. One important player in the controversy was Theodore of Stoudios who in his letters and treatises presented arguments in favour of the cult of images. In the late eleventh century these arguments were reformulated by the metropolitan Leo of Chalcedon who accused the patriarch of the time of being an Iconoclast. Leo was in turn attacked by a cleric named Eustratius who also claimed to follow the footsteps of the Fathers. This article offers an analysis of the writings of the three men, with a focus on two notions: the relation between image and archetype and the identity of hypostasis. It is in part a retractatio of an earlier article on the same topic. There I had argued that Theodore held the same views as Leo. Yet the evidence does not bear out this interpretation. It is rather the case that Leo isolated one strand of Theodore’s reasoning and took it to its logical conclusion.

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