john of damascus three treatises on the divine images

Records show that while spending some time in the marketplace, John's father encountered several captives, imprisoned as a result of a raid for prisoners of war that had taken place in the coasts of Italy. When John reached the age of 23, his father sought out to find a Christian tutor who could provide the best education for his children. His father held a high hereditary public office with duties of chief financial officer for the caliph Abd al-Malik, apparently as head of the tax department for Syria. Dating back to the tenth century, his notes have served as the single source of biographical information and they have been lacking in many historical details as well as reflect a bloated writing style.Īs his name suggests, John was brought up in Damascus in an Arab Christian family living under Muslim rule.

Practically all the information concerning the life of John of Damascus available come to us through the records of John, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Just as the Doctors of the Church were honored retroactively, the orthodoxy of their positions was demonstrated with the passage of time. These figures were canonized saints whose contributions to the Christian faith were particularly formative to some way. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Rite Churches, the title “Doctor of the Church” is awarded to only a handful of individuals who have made a profoundly positive impact on the development of Christian theology and practice. Today, he is renowned as a Doctor of the Church, often known as the Doctor of the Assumption due to his writings on the Assumption of Mary. His activities spanned from theology to politics for he was also the Chief Administrator to the ruler of Damascus.

John of damascus three treatises on the divine images