Testament to the Citizens · §3 · Epiphanius of Salamis

Hold the traditions; keep God in memory, not images

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Epiphanius is issuing his testament to the citizens, commanding them to hold fast to the traditions they received and not to bring images into churches or the cemeteries of the saints.

Pay attention to yourselves, and hold fast the traditions you received. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. And in this, beloved children, keep the memory of not bringing images into churches or into the cemeteries of the saints, but always keep God in your hearts through memory.

Greek

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.

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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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