What is iconoclasm?
[ī kän′ə klaz′əm]
The word Iconoclasm has its origin in
A dispute over the use of religious images (icons) in the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries.
The Iconoclasts (those who rejected images) objected to icon worship for several reasons, including the Old Testament prohibition against images in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:4) and the possibility of idolatry.
The defenders of icon worship insisted on the symbolic nature of images and on the dignity of created matter.
Violent disputes over icons (political and
religious) have resurfaced in recent years – most strikingly in the destruction
of ancient monuments in Aghanistan and Syria.
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