“for the record, we should acknowledge that this article is a presentation of the faith of the Eastern Orthodox Church.”
Yes, I am aware of that. My assertion is that both groups are continuing to do what God forbids.
It never ceases to amaze me how in sync some versions of protestantism are with Mohammedanism. We last dealt with the Mohammedan inspired heresy of iconoclasm in 787 at the 7th Ecumenical Council. Most of the elites of the Empire had fallen into the heresy and the Patriarchs had either followed them or kept quiet for fear of reprisals. The Patriarchate of the West, Rome, held firm for Orthodoxy and supported the veneration of icons.
The council was held at Nicea. 367 bishops were present. Rome triumphed over the running dogs for the Mohammedans. Here is the declaration of the Fathers of the Council:
“We define that the holy icons, whether in color, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Whenever these representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and honor (timitiki proskynisis), but not of real worship (latreia), which is reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the divine nature, ... which is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands.”
This controversy was over hundreds of years before anyone had ever heard of the protestant heresy of iconoclasm!