ICONOCLASM

ICONOCLASM – (Gr. “the breaking of icons”).  The name of a heresy saying that icons should be removed from churches and destroyed. It refers to the conflict in the Byzantine Empire between 787 and 843 over the use of icons in the church. The Seventh Ecumenical Council (787 and 843) decreed the use of icons, following in the main the teaching of St. John of Damascus.