My class on Christology is all but over for the semester, with only a quiz and a paper remaining. The class focused on the major Christological controversies of the 4th - 8th centuries, i.e. on the heresies of Arianism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Monoenergism, and Iconoclasm.
In regards to the latter, I found this anecdote edifying:
"One day, a monk from Nicomedia was summoned before the emperor, who said to him contemptuously: 'Stupid monk, do you not see that anyone can walk on the image of Jesus Christ without being disrespectful to his person?' Quick to retort, the monk threw a coin stamped with the emperor's portrait onto the palace floor and responded: 'In that case, I am permitted to walk on your face without dishonoring you!' The emperor's assistants stopped him in the act, and the monk was put to death for having insulted the emperor's image."
"One day, a monk from Nicomedia was summoned before the emperor, who said to him contemptuously: 'Stupid monk, do you not see that anyone can walk on the image of Jesus Christ without being disrespectful to his person?' Quick to retort, the monk threw a coin stamped with the emperor's portrait onto the palace floor and responded: 'In that case, I am permitted to walk on your face without dishonoring you!' The emperor's assistants stopped him in the act, and the monk was put to death for having insulted the emperor's image."
From The Icon: Window on the Kingdom by Michel Quenot, translated by a Carthusian Monk (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996), pp. 26-27.
1 comment:
I found this equally edifying:
http://the-american-catholic.com/2009/03/09/the-first/
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