Description:
Dr. Keefe's English translation of Text 7 from the Latin which appears in her Explanationes Symboli Aevi Carolini (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012), 30–42. The translation includes notes and brief commentary. Dr. Keefe left both in draft form and may have intended to update or add certain portions prior to publication. The text has been checked and edited by Katie Benjamin, Divinity Archive Fellow. Text 7 makes extensive use of Augustine's Commentary on John, though it rearranges the material some. One of Augustine's major points, that when one thinks of God in God's divinity, one ought not to think of a human form, magnifies the controversy of the eighth century, where the Carolingian empire misunderstood the decision of the Second Council of Nicaea (787) and thought it had ruled in favor of iconoclasm. Dr. Keefe writes, "One of the points made by the iconoclasts was that, since Christ’s humanity and divinity were inseparable in his one person, a painting of Christ, which can only depict his humanity, separates him (Nestorianism) or turns his divinity into an idol (a material divinity). The Carolingian court misunderstood the second council of Nicea’s distinction between venerating and worshiping images, and Theodulf wrote the Libri Carolini against that Council’s decision to restore the veneration of images."
