Testament to the Citizens · §1 · Epiphanius of Salamis

Prohibition of images in churches, cemeteries, and homes

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Epiphanius is issuing a binding testament to the citizens, commanding them not to bring images into churches or the cemeteries of the saints.

They present a testament to the citizens, a binding testament, in which he urges them not to bring images into churches or into the cemeteries. "Watch yourselves and hold fast to the traditions you received. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. And in this matter, beloved children, keep this in memory: do not bring images into churches or into the cemeteries of the saints. Instead, always keep God in memory in your hearts. But not even in a common house is this permitted, for a Christian must not be distracted through the eyes and the wanderings of the mind. Let what pertains to God be written and impressed on all. If anyone deliberately endeavors to comprehend the divine character of God's Word according to the incarnation from material colors, let him be anathema."

Greek

∆ιαθήκη πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας. 31 προτείνουσι δ' οὖν ὅμως διαθήκην πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας διατεταγμένην, καθ' ἣν μὴ ἀναφέρειν εἰκόνας ἐπ' ἐκκλησίας ἢ ἐν κοιμητηρίοις παρεγγυᾷ. 32 προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς παρελάβετε· μὴ ἐκκλίνητε δεξιὰ μηδὲ ἀριστερά. 33 καὶ ἐν τούτῳ μνήμην ἔχετε, τέκνα ἀγαπητά, τοῦ μὴ ἀναφέρειν εἰκόνας ἐπ' ἐκκλησίας μήτε ἐν τοῖς κοιμητηρίοις τῶν ἁγίων· ἀλλ' ἀεὶ διὰ μνήμης ἔχετε τὸν θεὸν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν. ἀλλ' οὔτε κατ' οἶκον κοινόν· οὐκ ἔξεστι γὰρ Χριστιανῷ δι' ὀφθαλμῶν μετεωρίζεσθαι καὶ ῥεμβασμῶν τοῦ νοός, ἀλλ' ἐγγεγραμμένα καὶ ἐντετυπωμένα ἔστω πᾶσι τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 34 εἴ τις τὸν θεῖον τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου χαρακτῆρα κατὰ τὴν σάρκωσιν ἐξ ὑλικῶν χρωμάτων ἐπιτηδεύει κατανοῆσαι... ἔστω ἀνάθεμα.

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About this text

Epiphanius charges his people to hold fast to tradition and bring no images into churches, cemeteries, or homes, but keep God in their hearts.

Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 310/320–403) was bishop of Salamis, the chief city of Cyprus, from about 367 until his death. The work urges them to keep the traditions they had received and not to turn aside from them.

He extends the prohibition even to an ordinary house, because a Christian must not be distracted through the eyes and the wanderings of the mind.

A reader will meet only Epiphanius as the speaker and the citizens as the recipients. The argument is simple: keep God in memory in your hearts, not in pictures. Anyone who deliberately tries to comprehend the divine character of God's Word according to the incarnation from material colors is to be anathema. The work does not cite specific books of the Bible. A reader should know that testament here means a binding ordinance, images means religious pictures, and cemeteries means the burial places of the saints.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 41 – 43 (Greek)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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