JOHN OF DAMASCUS (JOHANNES DAMASCENUS) (d. before 754), an eminent theologian of the Eastern Church, de rives his surname from Damascus, where he was born about the close of the 7th century. His Arabic name was Mansur (the vic tor), and he received the epithet Chrysorrhoas (gold-pouring) on account of his eloquence. His father Sergius, a Christian, held high office under the Saracen caliph, in which he was succeeded by his son. John wrote (c. 73o) several treatises in defence of image-worship, which the emperor, Leo the Isaurian, was making strenuous efforts to suppress. He then surrendered his worldly goods, and betook himself to the monastery of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, where he spent the rest of his life. He was ordained priest by the patriarch of Jerusalem. In his last years he travelled through Syria contending against the iconoclasts, and visited Constantinople at the imminent risk of his life during the reign of Constantine Copronymus. With him the "mysteries," the en tire ritual, are an integral part of the Orthodox system, and all dogma culminates in image-worship. He died probably about 752. John Damascenus is a saint both in the Greek and in the Latin Churches, his festival being on Dec. 4, and May 6, respec tively.
The most important of the treatises of Damascenus contains three parts under the general title lIrm) 714.1)oEc.os ("The Fountain of Knowledge"). The first part, entitled KalmiXaLa OtXocrockat, is an exposition and application of theology of Aristotle's Dialectic. The second, entitled IIEpl atOaEow ("Of Heresies"), is a reproduction of the earlier work of Epiphanius, with a con tinuation giving an account of the heresies that arose after the time of that writer. The third part, entitled "Eicoocrts aKptais Tris
opeo(560v riarEcos ("An Accurate Exposition of the Orthodox Faith"), is much the most important, containing as it does a complete system of theology founded on the teaching of the fathers and church councils, from the 4th to the 7th century. It thus embodies the finished result of the theological thought of the early Greek Church. Through a Latin translation made by Bur gundio of Pisa in the 12th century, it was well known to Peter Lombard and Aquinas, and in this way it influenced the scholastic theology of the West. Another well-known work is the Sacra parallels, a collection of biblical passages followed by illustrations drawn from other scriptural sources and from the fathers.
Life of John of Damascus was written by John, patriarch of Jerusalem in the loth century (Migne, Patrol. Graec., xciv. 429-489) . The works were edited by Le Quien (2 vols., fol., Paris, 1712) and form vols. 94 to 96 in Migne's Greek series. A monograph by J. Langen was publishes' in 1879. A. Harnack's History of Dogma is very full (see especially vols. iii. and iv.; on the image-worship con troversy, iv. 322 seq.), and so are the similar works of F. Loofs-Seeberg and A. Dorner. See also 0. Bardenhewer's Patrologie, and other litera ture cited in F. Kattenbusch's excellent article in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie, vol. ix.