Publisher's Synopsis
This work deals with the theological debates of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787, which fixed the theology of icons for the Eastern Orthodox Church to the present day. The study is divided into seven chapters. The first discusses the origins of the controversy, sets the historical scene and descibes the day-to-day progress of the council. Subsequent chapters are centred on the dominant themes of the debate: icon and tradition; icon and truth; icon and reality; icon and christology; icon and worship and a final chapter deals with the theological significance of the council.;Like some other recent authors, Ambrosios sees the council of 787 as the last of the great christological councils but he also brings out the hitherto little-noticed preoccupation of the council fathers with the doctrine of deification and the nature of the uncreated energies of God. The author brings to these matters a particularly Eastern Christian insight.
