Testament for the worship of pagan gods or the worship of the God of Israel. In addition, this word in some cases was used for the worship of angels. As with the Greeks five centuries earlier, the practice was shocking but prevailed. With the conversion of Constantine to Christianity, it became part of an elaborate ritual, making the emperor "vice-regent of God on earth." The question of the admissibility of proskynesis in relation to icons (bowing and kissing to icons) was raised in the 8th century during the period of iconoclasm. Opponents of proskynesis in relation to the icons referred to the second commandment of the Law of Moses: "You shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down (προσκυνήσεις) to them nor serve (λατρεύσῃς) them. For I, the your God, am a jealous God." One defender of proskynesis in relation to icons was John of Damascus. He wrote Three Treatises on the Divine Images in defense of the icons, in which he described several kinds of proskynesis. The first kind is the proskynesis of latreia (λατρεία), which people give to God, who alone is adorable by nature. John believed that only the first kind of proskynesis associated with latreia was forbidden by God. Other kinds of proskynesis: proskynesis performed in relation to saints and images of them (icons) are permitted by God. In Christian theology, proskynesis denotes that simple veneration which is also permitted to saints, icons, etc., as opposed to Latreia (worship), which is due only to triune God. "Greetings and respected proskynesis" (; ) for icons was established by the Second Council of Nicaea (Seventh Ecumenical Council) in 787. Different authors translate the Greek word "προσκύνησις" from Christian texts into English differently: adoration, worship, veneration, bow, reverence. Latter-day Saints In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, proskynesis occurs in a number of the narratives in the Book of Mormon. See also Prostration Zemnoy poklon Kowtow Latria References and sources References Sources Josef Wiesehöfer: "Denn ihr huldigt nicht einem Menschen als eurem Herrscher, sondern nur den Göttern". Bemerkungen zur Proskynese in Iran", in: C.G. Cereti / M. Maggi / E. Provasi (eds.), Religious Themes and Texts of Pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia. Studies in Honour of Gh.