Monthly Archives: December 2019
John of Damascus part 17
The old pagan sarcophagi had been carved with figures of gods, garlands of flowers, and symbolic ornament; pagan cemeteries, rooms, and temples had been painted with scenes from mythology. The Christian sarcophagi were ornamented...
John of Damascus part 16
At Palmyra is a Jewish funeral chamber painted throughout with winged female figures holding up round portraits, above is a picture, quite in the late Roman style, of Achilles and the daughters of Lycomedes...
John of Damascus part 15
So also in “De bello Jud.”, 1. l, c. xxxiii (xxi), 2, he says: “It is unlawful to have in thetemple images or pictures or any representation of a living thing”, and in his...
John of Damascus part 14
The many cases of idolatry and various deflections from the Law which the prophets denounce are not, of course, cases in point. It is the statues made and used with the full approval of...
John of Damascus part 13
Among the several works that are dubiously attributed to John Damascene the most important is the romance entitled “Barlaam and Josaphat”. Throughout the Middle Ages it enjoyed the widest popularity in all languages. It...
John of Damascus part 12
Though John of Damascus wrote voluminously on the Scriptures, as in the case of so much of his writing, his work bears little of the stamp of originality. His “Select Passages” (Loci Selecti), as...
John of Damascus part 11
The first book of “The Orthodox Faith” treats of the essence and existence of God, the Divine nature, and the Trinity. As evidence of the existence of God he cites the concurrence of opinion...
John of Damascus part 10
Like Epiphanius, he brings the work to a close with a fervent profession of Faith. John’s authorship of this book has been challenged, for the reason that the writer, in treating of Arianism, speaks...
John of Damascus part 9
The most important and best known of all his works is that to which the author himself gave the name of “Fountain of Wisdom” (pege gnoseos). This work has always been held in the...
John of Damascus part 8
Having secured an autograph letter written byJohn Damascene, he forged a letter, exactly similar in chirography, purporting to have been written by John to the Isaurian, and offering to betray into his hands the...
