To many modern Christians the question of icon admiration may seem like an unimportant matter. St. Theodore the Studite was instrumental in the defense of icons writing in the midst of the iconoclastic debate of the eighth and ninth centuries, it was clear that iconoclasm was a serious error, which alienates its followers from God. Rejection of Christian respect of images effectively denies God's spirit, which alone makes human salvation possible. If Christ could not be portrayed, then He was not truly a man, and humanity was not truly united with God in Him. In our own day, when the material world so often is regarded as a simple matter, incapable of being transformed in Christ, St Theodore's message remains remarkably pertinent. His work
