Letter 386: Theodore Studite, Letter 386; Greek heading: Θαλελαίῳ τέκνῳ.

What you indicated through your letter I have understood, my child; and as for what I shall answer you, it is this. The holy Apostle commands that we keep away from every brother who walks disorderly [cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6]. How then does Gregory of the Adelphians [the monastery or community of the Adelphioi] say that you turn away from him without reason, when he himself was carried away with the iconoclasts [the image-fighters, the heretics who reject the holy icons]—not simply in a disorderly manner, but wholly—having subscribed to the heresy, eating and drinking and consorting with them? But if he should say that he has repented and is keeping his penances, let him prove this through a written confession, anathematizing the heretics together with the heresy and in no way associating with them. So long as he does not do this, let him be abhorrent to you who fear the Lord; for he is deceitful under the pretense of a conversion, drawing you away and secretly sowing pernicious words, ostensibly as if from the standpoint of the adversaries. Hence you, having been entangled—as one less mature—in his disputation, have fallen into perplexity over this point and that. But since you have asked for the resolution, receive it with understanding. That Chrysostom said "our Christ is not circumscribed by walls," when he was praising Saint Romanus, must not be taken simply, but one must know to whom he was speaking when he said it, since in disputations one must observe both the time, and the person, and the manner: the time, because the same things were not laid down as law for the ancients as for those under grace; the person, because addressing a heretic is one thing and addressing an orthodox person another; the manner, because to discourse dogmatically is not the same as to set forth the argument in a more simple fashion. To whom then had Chrysostom been speaking? Was it perhaps to an orthodox man setting up the icon of Christ? By no means; but to a certain pagan [Hellene], who characterizes the Cause that is set above all things even from the lowest things among existing beings, as the divine Dionysius says [Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite], and who says that it in no way surpasses the godless and multiform shapes fashioned by him. Well then, and very fittingly, did the father say, "our Christ is not circumscribed by walls"—one must understand in addition "as to the nature of his divinity," inasmuch as that man's gods are set up on walls and confined there and have nothing else conceived beyond what is seen by those who behold them. They have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear, hands and do not feel, feet and do not walk, nostrils and do not smell, as they are denounced by the prophet [cf. Psalm 113/115:5-7]. But our Christ is, not only in respect of what is visible, properly and truly a man, since he came to be in all respects like us, both embodied and breathing and grown to maturity, and possessing whatever else is characteristic of human nature except sin alone, but he is also God by nature and in truth, and the same one is both. By way of example of what I mean, as the same Chrysostom says somewhere: below he toils and above he holds together the elements; below he hungers and from above he supplies the rains; below he is afraid and above he thunders; below he stands before a tribunal and from above he beholds all things. In this respect, then, it was said by him to the pagan, "our Christ is not circumscribed by walls"; and he did not consider it necessary to be precise about the statement, on account of the heresy that is now raging. But it is clear that the one who toils and hungers, who is afraid and stands before a tribunal, the saint surely knows to be circumscribed by the imprint of a body, whether by colors on a wall or on a panel. And in matters that are self-evident there was no need for him to give explanation; for if he said that the bodiless angel is seen in an icon, does he not see the embodied Christ being depicted? It is foolish, then, to suppose any such thing about the saint. If, therefore, they hold him as a witness for their wicked doctrine, why do they reject the same man, not accepting that an angel may be depicted, nor again any of the God-bearing men, when Chrysostom again says somewhere this: "What indeed you did with names, this you also did with the icon of that man" (that is, of Saint Meletius); "for indeed both on the bezels of rings and on drinking cups and bowls and on the walls of bedchambers and everywhere many have engraved that holy image." Yet nevertheless they cannot bear even to hear him. Concerning the history of Saint Pancratius, that it does not make clear by whom it was composed—what of it? Nearly all the martyr-accounts are without inscription [of authorship]; yet nevertheless they are reliable, and from them the teachers take their occasion to compose the encomia of those who have borne martyrdom. Saint Pancratius is honored in Sicily with a very great temple, in which they say signs [miracles] have also taken place. The one, therefore, who does not accept the history has clearly cast away the martyr along with it. These things, then, as briefly stated. But you, my child, be well and be saved, and stand far away from Gregory, lest he destroy you through your inattention.

Ἃ μὲν οὖν ἐσήμανας διὰ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς, ἐπέγνων, τέκνον, ἃ δὲ ἐγὼ ἀποκρινοῦμαί σοι, ταῦτά ἐστιν· στέλλεσθαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀδελφοῦ ἀτάκτως περιπατοῦντος, διακελεύεται ὁ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολος. πῶς οὖν λέγει Γρηγόριος ὁ τῶν Ἀδελφίων ἀλόγως ὑμᾶς αὐτὸν ἀποστρέφεσθαι, ὁπότε αὐτὸς οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀτάκτως, ὁλοτρόπως δὲ συναπήχθη τοῖς εἰκονομάχοις, ὑπογράψας τῇ αἱρέσει, συνεσθίων τε καὶ συμπίνων καὶ συναναστρεφόμενος αὐτοῖς; εἰ δὲ λέγοι μετανενοηκέναι καὶ ἐπιτίμια κρατεῖν, δειξάτω τοῦτο διὰ ἐγγράφου ὁμολογίας, ἀναθεματίζων τε τοὺς αἱρετικοὺς σὺν τῇ αἱρέσει καὶ μηδαμῶς συναπτόμενος αὐτοῖς. ἕως δ' ἂν τοῦτο οὐ ποιῇ, ἀποτρόπαιος ὑμῖν ἔστω, τοῖς φοβουμένοις τὸν Κύριον· δόλιος γάρ ἐστιν ἐν προσποιήσει ἐπιστροφῆς, ὑφελκόμενος ὑμᾶς καὶ ὑποσπείρων λόγους λυμώδεις ὡς ἐκ προσώπου δῆθεν τῶν ἐναντίων. ὅθεν σύ, ὡς ἀτελέστερος ἐμπαρεὶς τῇ διαλέξει αὐτοῦ, ἠπόρηκας εἰς τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο. Ἀλλ', ἐπειδὴ ᾔτησας τὴν λύσιν, δέξαιο συνετῶς. τὸ εἰρηκέναι τὸν Χρυσόστομον ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς τοίχοις οὐ περιγράφεται, ἐγκωμιάζοντα τὸν Ἅγιον Ῥωμανόν, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐκλαμβάνειν δεῖ, ἀλλὰ γνῶναι τίνι διαλεγόμενος εἴρηκεν, ἐπειδὴ ἐν ταῖς διαλέξεσιν παρατηρητέον καὶ χρόνον καὶ πρόσωπον καὶ τρόπον· χρόνον, διὰ τὸ μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ νενομοθετῆσθαι τοῖς πάλαι πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ χάριτι· πρόσωπον, ὅτι ἄλλο αἱρετικὸν καὶ ἕτερον ὀρθοδόξου· τρόπον, ἐπειδὴ οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστι δογματικῶς διαλέγεσθαι καὶ ἁπλοϊκώτερον προτείνειν τὸν λόγον. τίνι οὖν διελέλεκτο ὁ Χρυσόστομος; ἆρά γε ὀρθοδόξῳ ἀναστηλοῦντι τὴν εἰκόνα Χριστοῦ; οὐδαμῶς· ἀλλά τινι Ἕλληνι, ὃς τὴν πάντων ὑπερκειμένην αἰτίαν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν ἐσχάτων χαρακτηρίζει, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεῖος Διονύσιος, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὴν ὑπερέχειν φῆ τῶν πλαττομένων αὐτῷ ἀθέων καὶ πολυειδῶν μορφωμάτων. καλῶς οὖν καὶ πάνυ εἰκότως ἔφη ὁ πατήρ, ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς τοίχοις οὐ περιγράφεται· προσυπακουστέον "4τῇ τῆς θεότητος φύσει"5, ὡς τῶν ἐκείνου θεῶν ἐν τοίχοις ἱδρυμένων κἀκεῖ περιωρισμένων καὶ οὐκ ἐχόντων τι ἄλλο νοούμενον παρ' ὃ βλέπονται τοῖς ὁρῶσιν. ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῖς καὶ οὐ βλέπουσιν, ὦτα καὶ οὐκ ἀκούουσιν, χεῖρες καὶ οὐ ψηλαφῶσιν, πόδες καὶ οὐ περιπατοῦσιν, ῥῖνες καὶ οὐκ ὀσφραίνονται, καθὰ προφητικῶς κατηγοροῦνται. Ὁ δὲ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς οὐ κατὰ τὸ ὁρώμενον μόνον ἄνθρωπος κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς, ἐπείπερ ὅμοιος ἡμῖν κατὰ πάντα χρηματίσας, καὶ ἐνσώματος καὶ ἔμπνους καὶ ἐνῆλιξ καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα γνώριμα τῇ ἀνθρωπείᾳ φύσει πλὴν μόνης ἁμαρτίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεὸς φύσει καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀμφότερα. οἷόν τι λέγω, ὥς φησί που ὁ αὐτὸς Χρυσόστομος, κάτω κοπιᾷ καὶ ἄνω συγκροτεῖ τὰ στοιχεῖα, κάτω πεινᾷ καὶ ἄνωθεν ὑετοὺς χορηγεῖ, κάτω δειλιᾷ καὶ ἄνω βροντᾷ, κάτω δικαστηρίῳ παρίσταται καὶ ἄνωθεν πάντα θεωρεῖ. κατὰ τοῦτο οὖν εἴρηται αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν Ἕλληνα, ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς τοίχοις οὐ περιγράφεται· καὶ οὐχ ἡγεῖτο χρῆναι ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι περὶ τὴν ἀπόφασιν εἵνεκα τῆς νυνὶ λυττώσης αἱρέσεως. δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τὸν κοπιῶντα καὶ πεινῶντα, δειλιῶντά τε καὶ παριστάμενον κριτηρίῳ οἶδεν ἀσφαλῶς ὁ ἅγιος σώματος χαρακτῆρι περιγράφεσθαι εἴτε ἐν τοίχῳ χρώμασιν εἴτε ἐν πίνακι. καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐναργέσιν οὐκ ἦν λόγος αὐτῷ διασαφήσεως· εἰ γὰρ τὸν ἀσώματον ἄγγελον ἰδεῖν ἔφη ἐν εἰκόνι, τὸν ἐνσώματον Χριστὸν οὐ βλέπει εἰκονιζόμενον; ἠλίθιον οὖν τοιοῦτόν τι περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου ὑπολαμβάνειν. εἰ οὖν εἰς μαρτυρίαν αὐτὸν ἔχουσι τοῦ πονηροῦ αὐτῶν δόγματος, τί τὸν αὐτὸν ἀποβάλλονται, μὴ δεχόμενοι ἄγγελον εἰκονίζεσθαι μηδ' αὖ τινα τῶν θεοφόρων, λέγοντος ὧδέ που πάλιν τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου· ὅπερ γοῦν ἐν ὀνόμασιν ἐποιήσατε, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος ἐπράξατε τῆς ἐκείνου (ἤγουν Μελετίου τοῦ ἁγίου)· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν δακτυλίων σφενδόναις καὶ ἐν ἐκπώμασι καὶ φιάλαις καὶ ἐν θαλάμων τοίχοις καὶ πανταχοῦ τὴν εἰκόνα τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην διεχάραξαν πολλοί. ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδὲ ἀκοῦσαι αὐτοῦ ἀνέχονται. Περὶ τῆς ἱστορίας τοῦ Ἁγίου Παγκρατίου, ὅτι οὐ δηλοῖ πρὸς τίνος συνεγράφη, τί τοῦτο; σχεδὸν πάντα τὰ μαρτυρογράφια ἀνεπίγραφά εἰσιν· ἀλλ' ὅμως βέβαιά εἰσιν, κἀκεῖθεν οἱ διδάσκαλοι ἀφορμίζονται ποιεῖν τὰ τῶν μαρτυρησάντων ἐγκώμια. ὁ Ἅγιος Παγκράτιος ἐν Σικελίᾳ τιμᾶται ναῷ μεγίστῳ, ἐν ᾧ φασι καὶ σημεῖα γεγενῆσθαι. ὁ οὖν μὴ δεχόμενος τὴν ἱστορίαν συναπεβάλετο τὸν μάρτυρα δῆλον ὅτι. Ταῦτα μὲν ὡς ἐν ὀλίγοις. σὺ δέ, τέκνον, ὑγίαινέ τε καὶ σῴζοιο καὶ τοῦ Γρηγορίου μακρὰν ἀπόστηθι, μή σε ὀλέσῃ ἐξ ἀπροσεξίας.