JOHN OF DAMASCUS

St. John was one of the greatest Christian theologians of the period of the early Arab conquests, a priest and monk, and a defender of icon veneration. The general distribution of his works in ancient times contrasts sharply with the almost complete absence of detailed historical information about his biography. Already in this sense, Saint John can be called a saint of great exceptions. It is generally accepted that it is with his works that the patristic era Eastern Orthodoxy ends.

John was born in the second half of the 7th century in Damascus. From his father he inherited the position of tax collector at the court of the caliph. This, as well as the works of the saint himself, testifies to the deep philosophical education he received. After the ascension to the throne of Caliph Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz (717–720), whose policy was distinguished by severity towards Christians, John retired to the Palestinian Lavra of Sabbas the Sanctified, where he was soon ordained as a priest. Around this time, the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (717–741) began a policy of iconoclasm.

By that time, Egypt, Syria, and Palestine had been torn away from Byzantium and were under the rule of the Arab Caliphate. The previously all-powerful Emperor of Constantinople could no longer influence church affairs in these countries. Taking advantage of this paradoxical freedom of theological expression, and more than others understanding the dangers of refusing sacred images, John wrote his famous three “Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images”.

In contrast to the previous tradition, which saw icons as a “Bible for the illiterate,” as Christians in the West in particular thought, John argued that the ability to depict Jesus in an icon was proof that God in Christ truly took on human flesh. An icon is a part of a confession of faith, and not just an image or an object of art. Perhaps this thought of John’s is his main theological achievement and genuine dogmatic novelty, the philosophical consequences of which have not been appreciated to this day.

Another great trilogy of John, “The Fount of Knowledge,” the most famous part of which is “An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith,” is dedicated to the saint’s friend and interlocutor, Cosmas of Maiuma (+760), who went down in history as the author of liturgical texts and a bishop in one of the ancient settlements of Gaza.

In 754, the iconoclasts, led by Emperor Constantine V (741–775), gathered for what they called an “ecumenical” council in the Hieria suburb of Constantinople. Most likely, John did not live to see this date. However, his works contributed unspeakably to the final triumph of Orthodoxy, and the Ecumenical Council of Iconoclasts went down in history under the name of just a “latrocinium” (“robbery”). His “birthday”, as ancient Christians called the days of death of the righteous, is unknown to us. Most likely, this is why his memory was laid on the eve of the celebration in honor of Saint Sava the Sanctified, whose monastery sheltered the wanderer - the great theologian John.