Do Orthodox Christians Worship Icons? The Distinction the Seventh Ecumenical Council Made

The post answers the accusation that Orthodox Christians worship icons and sets out the case for icon veneration from Scripture, theology, and church history. It explains that worship (latreia), meaning adoration and the offering of one's whole life, belongs to God alone, while veneration (proskynesis) is the honor shown to an icon, which passes to the person depicted: Christ, the Theotokos, or a saint.

Orthodox Christians do not believe wood and paint are gods. On the biblical side, the post notes that Exodus 20:4-5 forbids idols made to be worshiped as gods, while Exodus 25:18-20 commands cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, so Scripture condemns idolatry rather than holy images. Icons are grounded in the Incarnation: because the Word became flesh, as John 1:14 says, Christ can be depicted, while the invisible Father is not portrayed in human form.

Kissing icons is described as a gesture of love and reverence, and icons are called windows into the Gospel that call us to prayer, repentance, and holiness. The historical argument runs through Nicaea II in 787, where the Seventh Ecumenical Council affirmed the veneration of icons, to their restoration in 843, still celebrated on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

The post adds that the united Church of East and West venerated images for over a thousand years, and that only after the Protestant Reformation of 1517 did some reformers reject the practice, which the Orthodox view as a later innovation. The post closes that icons proclaim the Incarnation, teach the faith, and direct honor to Christ and the saints.