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«Обвинители христиан»: История одного ересиологического термина
This article examines the historical semantics of the post-classical Greek word χριστιανοκατήγορος (literally, “an accuser of Christians”). While its existence in the early Byzantine period is doubtful — there is only one isolated occurrence, which had no impact on later tradition and may even be a 10th-century correction — after the Second Council of Nicaea (787), the term gained traction as a terminus technicus for the Iconoclasts. The rationale behind this designation was that the Iconoclasts accused the supporters of icon veneration of distorting true Christianity and lapsing into idolatry. The Acts of the Council were so influential that much of the theological and hagiographical literature inherited this usage. This remained true during the Iconophile interim (787–815), the second
Iconoclasm (815–843), and the period of codification of cultural memory about Iconoclasm (mid-9th century). By contrast, by the mid-10th century, the term had become obsolete and was purged from historical and
hagiographical texts — including the revisions of earlier texts that had originally employed it. Knowledge of its terminological usage was thereafter confined to small circles of theologians and experts in canon law
who studied the Acts of 787. Nevertheless, due to its polemical force and intuitively discernible inner structure, the word remained in use as a vague designation for opponents in various intra-Christian controversies (e.g., the
Union of the Churches, the doctrine of Divine energies advanced by Gregory Palamas). Some of the most astute authors engaged in sophisticated wordplay, allowing the word to be interpreted both as a
reference to the Iconoclasts and as a general label for those who accuse their fellow Christians. In the case of Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118), this strategy served to intimidate political opposition by implying that its members could be accused of Iconoclasm. For Theoktistos Studites (mid-14th century), such wordplay was a subtle nod to an attentive and erudite readership that might appreciate the double entendre. The final reinterpretation of the term came from Gennadios II Scholarios (15th century), who, in contrast to the entire Byzantine tradition, repurposed the word as a label for non-Christians — those who accused not Christians of practicing a distorted form of Christianity, but Christianity itself.