John of Damascus c. 675 – 749
John of Damascus was an Arab Christian monk, theologian, and hymnographer, often counted as the last of the Greek Fathers. After serving for a time as a high official at the early Umayyad court at Damascus, he withdrew to the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem, where he composed the bulk of his work. The Fount of Knowledge, in three parts, is the first systematic Christian theological summa, and his Three Treatises Against the Iconoclasts shaped the eventual restoration of icons in Eastern Christianity. His writings exercised a strong influence on Aquinas and the Latin scholastic tradition.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Syrian-Greek
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Christian
Selected quotes
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Attributed to John of Damascus:
“I shall not paint God in his own nature; I shall paint the visible flesh of God.”
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Attributed to John of Damascus:
“The image is a likeness which carries within itself the prototype.”
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Attributed to John of Damascus:
“Knowledge of God is given to us by revelation, not invented by reason.”
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Attributed to John of Damascus:
“Faith is the unhesitating confession of what is to be hoped for.”
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Attributed to John of Damascus:
“All bodies are circumscribed; God alone is uncircumscribable.”