John of damascus biography

Our venerable and God-bearing Father John of Damascus c. His feast day is December 4. Practically all the information concerning the life of John of Damascus available to us today has been through the records of John , Patriarch of Jerusalem. Though these notes have served as the single source of biographical information, dating back to the tenth century, these writings have been noted by scholars as having an exuberant lack of detail from a historical point of view and a bloated writing style.

Although he was brought up under the Muslim rule of Damascus, this was not to affect his or his family's Christian faith or cause any grievances with the Muslim countrymen who held him in high esteem.

John of damascus on heresies pdf

To the extent that his father held a high hereditary public office with duties of chief financial officer for the caliph, Abdul Malekunder, apparently as head of the tax department for Syria. When John reached the age of twenty-three, his father sought out to find a Christian tutor who could provide the best education for his children available at the time.

Records show that while spending some time in the market place John's father came across several captives, imprisoned as a result of a raid for prisoners of war that had taken place in the coasts of Italy. This man, a Sicilian monk by the name of Cosmas, turned out to be an erudite of great knowledge and wisdom. John's father arranged for the release of this man and appointed him tutor to his son.

John of damascus death date

Under the instruction of Cosmas, John made great advances in fields of study such as music, astronomy and theology. According to his biographer, he soon equaled Diophantus in algebra and Euclid in geometry. In spite of his Christian background, his family held a high hereditary public office with the Moslem rulers of Damascus, led by caliph Abd al-Malik.

He succeeded his father in his position upon his death; John de Damascene was made protosymbullus , or chief councilor of Damascus. It was around his term in office that burst of insurgence by the iconoclasts began to appear in the form of heresy , actions which disturbed the Church of the East. In , in disregard of the protests of Germanus , Patriarch of Constantinople, Emperor Leo the Isaurian issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their exhibition in public places.

A talented writer and in the secure surroundings of the caliph's court, John de Damascene initiated his literary defense against the monarch in three Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images.