<P> St. John of Damascus, in his "On the Divine Image", defended the use of icons and images, in direct response to the Byzantine iconoclasm that began widespread destruction of religious images in the 8th century, with support from emperor Leo III and continued by his successor Constantine V during a period of religious war with the invading Umayyads . John of Damascus wrote, "I venture to draw an image of the invisible God, not as invisible, but as having become visible for our sakes through flesh and blood", adding that images are expressions "for remembrance either of wonder, or an honor, or dishonor, or good, or evil" and that a book is also a written image in another form . He defended the religious use of images based on the Christian doctrine of Jesus as an incarnation . </P> <P> St. John the Evangelist cited John 1: 14, stating that "the Word became flesh" indicates that the invisible God became visible, that God's glory manifested in God's one and only Son as Jesus Christ, and therefore God chose to make the invisible into a visible form, the spiritual incarnated into the material form . </P> <P> The early defense of images included exegesis of Old and New Testament . Evidence for the use of religious images is found in Early Christian art and documentary records . For example, the veneration of the tombs and statues of martyrs was common among early Christian communities . In 397 St. Augustine of Hippo, in his Confessions 6.2. 2, tells the story of his mother making offerings for the statues and tombs of martyrs . </P> <P> Images function as the Bible for the illiterate, and incite people to piety and virtue . </P>

What was the origin of the puritan form of worship/religion