Treatise against Those Who Make Images · §2 · Epiphanius of Salamis

The saints' future glory makes images of them dishonoring

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Epiphanius is arguing against making images of the saints, and here he cites John and Paul on the saints' future glory, then turns to the angels' refusal of worship.

John says, "We know that when he appears, we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2), and Paul proclaimed that the saints are "conformed to the Son of God" (Romans 8:29). So how can you wish to see the saints, who are destined to shine in glory, in inglorious, dead, and voiceless matter, when the Lord says of them, "They will be like the angels of God" (Matthew 22:30)? And how can you paint angels, who are spirits and always alive, painting them in dead things and worship them, when the prophet says, "He who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flaming fire" (Psalm 103:4 LXX, 104:4 Hebrew)? I say that they themselves do not wish to be worshipped. "See that you do not do it; I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God," he says (Revelation 19:10). But the apostles did not wish to be worshipped either.

Greek

6 «οιδαμεν γάρ», φησὶν ̓Ιωάννης, «οτι οταν φανερωθῇ, ομοιοι αὐτῷ

ἐσόμεθα», καὶ Παῦλος τοὺς ἁγίους «συμμόρφους τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ» ἐκήρυξεν· πῶς

ουν τοὺς ἐν δόξῃ μέλλοντας φαιδρύνεσθαι ἁγίους ἐν ἀδόξῳ καὶ νεκρῷ καὶ ἀλάλῳ

θέλεις ὁρᾶν, τοῦ κυρίου λέγοντος περὶ αὐτῶν· «εσονται γάρ, φησίν, ὡς αγγελοι

θεοῦ». 7 πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀγγέλους πνεύματα ὑπάρχοντας καὶ ἀεὶ ζῶντας ἐν νεκροῖς

γράφων προσκυνεῖς, τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος «ὁ ποιῶν τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ

πνεύματα καὶ τοῦς λειτουργοὺς αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον»; 8 λέγω δὲ ο τι οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ

θέλουσι προσκυνεῖσθαι.

9 «Ορα μή· σύνδουλος γάρ σου εἰμὶ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου τῶν ἐχόντων τὴν

μαρτυρίαν Ιησοῦ. τῷ θεῷ, φησίν, προσκύνησον». 10 ἀλλ' οὐδὲ οἱ ἀπόστολοι

ἠθέλησαν προσκυνεῖσθαι.

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About this text

Epiphanius argues against painting images of Christ, the Mother of God, the saints, and the angels, saying they dishonor those they mean to honor.

Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 310/320–403) was bishop of Salamis, the chief city of Cyprus, from 367 until his death. This treatise is attributed to him and belongs to a small group of writings against images that circulated under his name, though modern scholars debate whether all of them are genuine. It is addressed to Christians who make and honor painted images of Christ, the Mother of God, martyrs, angels, and prophets.

The work opposes the practice of making painted images for memorial and honor, which the author regards as a return to idolatry. He argues that making images of the saints dishonors rather than honors them, since Scripture promises they will be transformed into glory like Christ and the angels, not depicted in dead, voiceless matter.

The fathers at the Council of Laodicea are quoted pronouncing an anathema on those who abandon the church to invoke angels. The author calls Christ incomprehensible and uncircumscribable, meaning he cannot be grasped by the mind or contained in a visual form. The word images renders painted likenesses, worship renders the act of bowing before them, and idolatrous custom renders the practice the author opposes. Old Testament quotations follow the Greek Septuagint book names and Psalm numbering.

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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