Iconoclastic Immunity: Reformed/Orthodox Convergence in Theological Aesthetics in Theodore of Studios

Abstract

There were two major waves of Byzantine iconoclasm–an outbreak that led to Empress Irene's Nicea II in 787 and one that led to Empress Theodora's triumph of Orthodoxy in 854. This essay shows that, whereas the initial theological defense of icons formulated by John of Damascus in response to the first wave of iconoclasm clearly falls within the scope of John Calvin's censure of images, the more sophisticated theological defense of icons formulated by Theodore of Studios against the second wave clearly does not, thus opening the possibility of a Reformed appropriation of images, properly understood, for worship or personal devotion.