Letter 427: Theodore Studite, Letter 427; Greek heading: Θεοδώρῳ μονάζοντι.

I begged your reverence to leave off the praises directed at me, and rather to pray that I might not be wholly estranged from God; yet you yourself, carried away I know not whence, have been kindled to still greater words of commendation. Not so, father, by no means! Or do you not know that I, wretched man, am of all men the most sinful, even if, I know not how, I have by the mercy of God been counted worthy to continue in His keeping? For this reason I also fear that He, looking in upon the confessors' wedding [the marriage feast of Matthew 22] now being celebrated, may see me not clad in a wedding garment—that is, in purity—and may say to His ministering angels: "Bind him hand and foot, cast him out and throw him into the outer darkness," as one who has unworthily inserted himself among my confessors. So then, knowing this, weep for me the more, father, and pray that this may not befall me. And so much for these matters. But concerning the "through" [dia] and "up" [ana] spoken by Basil the Great [Saint Basil of Caesarea, d. 379]—clearly with the prepositions standing in the discussion of the image—it seems to me not to have been uttered by the saint in this way and in that way, but rather that the discrepancy comes from a copyist's transcription; in any case both bring the sense to the same point. For instance: the honor of the image ascends to the prototype. And this is true both of a natural image and of an artificial one, the "ascent" indicating nothing other than that the honor is one and the same—apart from the difference of substance in the case of artificial images, while in the case of natural images it is one even according to the sameness of substance in both. And indeed the Truth itself has said: "He who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." The natural image, then, of God and the Father is the Son; the artificial image of the Son—and likewise of the Father—is we ourselves, that is, the made image; for God may be called both the Maker and the Craftsman of all things. And by Saint Basil the term "artificial" was taken of the images on panels, and we may take the same—namely, that we who have come to be after the image of God, and the image fashioned by us upon a panel, both fall under the "artificial." And the identification is closer in the case of likeness: our own character [charakter, the imprinted likeness] to ourselves, just as also that of Christ to Him, than is our own to God, since the gulf between God and men is infinite—because He is uncreated, uncircumscribed, uncircumscribable, and whatever belongs to the same category, whereas men are creature, body, circumscribed, and whatever is of the same order as these; but man and the image of man are each a creature, even if there is a difference of creation in respect of substance in the one case. And well put is your problem, that he has shown us, from the very God-spoken utterance, that in the rejection of the image He Himself is rejected, and in the rejection of Christ Himself the Father who sent Him is rejected; and the iconoclasts [eikonomachoi, "image-fighters"] are found to be not only deniers of Christ, but indeed thrice-deniers. As for "it passes over" [diabainei], the crossing-over brings to the same point as the ascent. The Lord said: "I ascend to my Father"; and Moses: "I will cross over and see." In both the motion is of like appearance, and the one is neither circular with respect to the other nor spiral, but, even if it differs, it does so according to position, not according to relation. For he says there are seven motions; the ascent, then—so that I may also draw it as a figure—is this .|. , and the crossing-over is this .–.. ; both, then, as has been said, are of equal appearance, for the line is, philosophically speaking, the illustration. The relation, therefore, which the above has to the below, the same the right also has to the left. So that to ascend and to cross over come to the same point. And if the argument is well directed, thanks be to God and to the Word; but if not, then teach me, my excellent friend, ignorant as I am.

Ἐγώ σου τὴν θεοσέβειαν παρεκάλεσα, τῶν κατ' ἐμοῦ ἐγκωμίων ἀφέμενον, μᾶλλον προσεύχεσθαι μὴ πάντῃ με θεοῦ ἀπομακρύνεσθαι καὐτός, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅθεν φερόμενος, εἰς μείζους ἐξήφθης λόγους αἰνέσεως. μὴ οὕτω, πάτερ, μηδαμῶς· ἢ οὐκ οἶσθα ὅτι ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων ἐγὼ ὁ τάλας ἁμαρτωλότερος, κἂν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἐλέει θεοῦ εἰς φυλακὴν αὐτοῦ ἠξίωμαι διατελεῖν; διὸ καὶ δεδιῶ μήπως ἐπισκεψάμενος ἐν τῷ τελουμένῳ ὁμολογητικῷ γάμῳ ἴδοι με οὐκ ἐνδεδυμένον ἔνδυμα γάμου, εἴτουν καθαρότητος, καὶ εἴποι τοῖς ὑπηρέταις ἀγγέλοις· δήσαντες αὐτοῦ χεῖρας καὶ πόδας ἐκβάλετε αὐτὸν καὶ ἐμβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον, ὡς παρενείραντα ἑαυτὸν ἀναξίως τοῖς ὁμολογηταῖς μου. ὥστε τοῦτο εἰδὼς κλαῖέ με μᾶλλον, πάτερ, καὶ προσεύχου μὴ τοῦτό μοι συμβῆναι. Καὶ ὧδε μὲν ταῦτα. περὶ δὲ τοῦ "4διὰ"5 καὶ "4ἀνὰ"5 ὑπὸ τοῦ Μεγάλου Βασιλείου εἰρημένων, δῆλον ὅτι ἐν τῇ χρήσει κειμένων τῶν προθέσεων τῆς εἰκόνος, οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου δοκεῖ μοι ἐκφωνηθῆναι καὶ οὕτως καὶ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἐκ μεταγραφῆς τὸ σφάλμα· πλὴν εἰς ταὐτὸν φέρει τὸν νοῦν ἀμφότερα. οἷον· ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος τιμὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον ἀναβαίνει. καὶ ἀληθὲς τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ φυσικῆς εἰκόνος, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τεχνητῆς, τῆς ἀναβάσεως οὐδὲν ἄλλο δηλούσης ἢ ὅτι ἡ αὐτή ἐστι τιμὴ παρὰ τὸ τῆς οὐσίας διάφορον ἐπὶ τῶν τεχνητῶν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν φυσικῶν καὶ κατὰ τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ταὐτὸν ἀμφοῖν. καὶ γοῦν αὐτὴ ἡ ἀλήθεια εἴρηκεν· ὁ ἀθετῶν ὑμᾶς ἐμὲ ἀθετεῖ, καὶ ὁ ἐμὲ ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ τὸν πέμψαντά με. φυσικὴ οὖν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς εἰκὼν ὁ υἱός, τεχνητὴ δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ ὥσπερ καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμεῖς, ἤγουν ποιητική· καὶ ποιητὴς γὰρ καὶ τεχνίτης τῶν ἁπάντων λέγοιτο θεός. εἴληπται δὲ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Βασιλείῳ τὸ τεχνητὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐν πίναξιν εἰκόνων, καὶ ταὐτὸν ἡμᾶς λαβεῖν τοὺς κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γεγονότας καὶ τὴν ἐν πίνακι ὑφ' ἡμῶν τεχνουργουμένην εἰκόνα ἐπὶ τοῦ τεχνητοῦ. καὶ μᾶλλον ἔγγυος ταυτισμὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ὁ ἡμέτερος χαρακτὴρ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ Χριστοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν, ἢ ὁ ἡμέτερος πρὸς θεόν, ἐπειδὴ θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων τὸ μέσον ἄπειρον· ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἄκτιστος, ἀπερίληπτος, ἀπερίγραπτος καὶ ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς συστοιχίας ἄνθρωποι δὲ κτίσμα, σῶμα, περιγραμμὸς καὶ ὅσα ὁμόστοιχα τούτων ἄνθρωπος δὲ καὶ εἰκὼν ἀνθρώπου ἑκάτερα κτίσμα, κἂν διαφορότης κτίσεως κατὰ θάτερον ἐπ' οὐσίᾳ. Καὶ εὖγε τὸ πρόβλημά σου, ὅτι ὑπέδειξεν ἡμῖν ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς θεολέκτου φωνῆς ἐν τῇ ἀθετήσει τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτὸν ἀθετεῖσθαι καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀθετήσει ἀθετεῖσθαι τὸν πατέρα τὸν πέμψαντα αὐτόν· καὶ εὑρίσκονται οἱ εἰκονομάχοι οὐκ ἀρνησίχριστοι μόνον, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τρισάρνητοι. τὸ δὲ "4διαβαίνει"5, ὅτι εἰς ταὐτὸν φέρει ἡ διάβασις τῇ ἀναβάσει. εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· ἀναβαίνω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου· καὶ ὁ Μωυσῆς· διαβὰς ὄψομαι. ἀμφοῖν ὁμοιοφανὴς ἡ κίνησις καὶ οὔτε κυκλοφορικὴ θατέρα θατέρας οὔτε ἑλικοειδής, ἀλλ', εἰ καὶ διάφορος, κατὰ θέσιν, οὐ κατὰ σχέσιν. ἑπτὰ γάρ φησιν εἶναι τὰς κινήσεις· ἡ οὖν ἀνάβασις, ἵνα καὶ σχηματίσω, τοῦτο .|.· καὶ ἡ διάβασις τοῦτο .–.. ἀμφοῖν οὖν, ὡς εἴρηται, ἰσοφανῆ· γραμμὴ γὰρ φιλοσοφικῶς τὸ δεῖγμα. ἣν οὖν ἔχει σχέσιν τὸ ἄνω πρὸς τὸ κάτω, τὴν αὐτὴν καὶ τὸ δεξιὸν πρὸς τὸ ἀριστερόν. ὥστε τὸ ἀναβαίνειν καὶ τὸ διαβαίνειν εἰς ταὐτὸν φέρει. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐπιτετεγμένος ὁ λόγος, τῷ θεῷ καὶ λόγῳ χάρις· εἰ δ' οὖν, δίδαξον, λῷστε, τὸν ἀμαθῆ ἐμέ.