The Saint Euphrosynos Cafe

Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea

Church History
Book IX, Chapter IX: The Victory of the God-Beloved Emperors

1. These and the like praises Constantine, by his very deeds, sang to God, the universal Ruler, and Author of his victory, as he entered Rome in triumph. Immediately all the members of the senate and the other most celebrated men, with the whole Roman people, together with children and women, received him as their deliverer, their saviour, and their benefactor, with shining eyes and with their whole souls, with shouts of gladness and unbounded joy. 10. But he, as one possessed of inborn piety toward God, did not exult in the shouts, nor was he elated by the praises; but perceiving that his aid was from God, he immediately commanded that a trophy of the Saviour's passion be put in the hand of his own statue. And when he had placed it, with the saving sign of the cross in its right hand, in the most public place in Rome, he commanded that the following inscription should be engraved upon it in the Roman tongue: 11. "By this salutary sign, the true proof of bravery, I have saved and freed your city from the yoke of the tyrant and moreover, having set at liberty both the senate and the people of Rome, I have restored them to their ancient distinction and splendor."

Dogmatic Sarcophagus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogmatic_Sarcophagus

The Dogmatic Sarcophagus, also known as the "Trinity Sarcophagus" is an early Christian sarcophagus of about 320–350, now in the Vatican Museums (Vatican 104)

Good Shepherd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Shepherd

I realize that I did not express myself clearly. What I am saying is that there were no statues in the actual church building. I believe that the original question was about venerations of statues in the church as the RC do. Yes, there were statues created for expression of the faith, but there were never any statues in the Orthodox Church. It was always icons. So, when did statues start appearing in the church building where people would kneel before them to pray? The West started that. I hope that I have clarified the issue here.

Many years, Joasia!

You are correct, the title to the thread speaks of veneration of statues, not the mere existence of them.

I was not attempting to take sides in the debate, but rather simply providing some historical background to establish that statues and three dimensional forms, even if in a limited sense, have existed in the ecclesiastical domain since the earliest centuries of Christianity.

Now, as to the context in which they found acceptance and use, is a more complex question, which we may carry on exploring.

Hi,

From my observation and my reasoning this out, it is clearly illogical to reject statues and not icons. If one is to be rejected for any reason, especially idolatry, the other is as well. Clearly this is obvious. I live in India and they use 2D portraits for idolatry too. You see them everywhere, like in little shops, with garlands around them, and they put food offerings before them and idolatrous stuff like that. There is absolutely no reason why it makes any sense to reject one and not the other and accept one and not the other. Both must be accepted or both must be rejected for it to make any truly logical sense.

Just my two cents.

Was this God intervening? :