JOHN
460
JOHN
(Mdi'fT/pot, Heb. nlDD, a bastard). But the Seventh
General Council of Nice (7S7) made ample amends for
the insults of his enemies, and Theophanes, writing in
813, tells us that he was surnamcd Chrysorrhoas
(golden stream) by his friends on accoimt of his ora-
torical gifts. In the pontificate of Leo XIII he was
enrolled among the doctors of the Church. His feast
is celebrated on 27 March.
John of Damascus was the last of the Greek Fathers. His genius was not for ori.ginal theological develop- ment, but for compilation of an encyclopedic charac- ter. In fact, the state of full development to which theological thought had been brought by the great Greek writers and the councils left him little else than the work of an encycloptedist; and this work he per- formed in such manner as to merit the gratitude of all succeeding ages. Some consider him the precursor of the Scholastics, whilst others regard him as the first Scholastic, and his "De fide orthodoxa as the first work of Scholasticism. The Arabians, too, owe not a little of the fame of their philosophy to his inspiration. The most important and best known of all his works is that to which the author himself gave the name of "Fountain of Wisdom" (irrjyriyi'iiffeias). Thisworkhas always been held in the highest esteem in both the Catholic and Greek Churches. Its merit is not that of originality, for the author asserts, at the end of the second chapter of the "Dialectic", that it is not his purpose to set forth his own views, but rather to col- late and epitomize in a single work the opinions of the great ecclesiastical writers who have gone before him. A special interest attaches to it for the reason that it is the first attempt at a summa Iheologica that has come down to us.
The "Fountain of Wisdom" is divided into three parts, namely, "Philosophical Chapters" (Ke^dXaio (/nNoo-o0iKd), "Concerning Heresy" (Trepl alpiaeuv)^ and " An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith " ('Ek5o- ffis aKpijiri^ TTJi 6p6o56^ov viaTews). The title of the first book is somewhat too comprehensive for its contents and consequently is more commonly called "Dia- lectic". With the exception of the fifteen chapters that deal exclusively with logic, it has mostly to do with the ontology of Aristotle. It is largely a sum- mary of the Categories of Aristotle with Porphyry's "Isagoge" (El(raywyii els ras KaTTjyopla^). It seems to have been John Damascene's purpose to give his readers only such philosophical knowledge as was necessary for understanding the subsequent parts of the "Fountain of Wisdom". For more than one reason the "Dialectic" is a work of unusual interest. In the first place, it is a record of the technical termi- nology used by the Greek Fathers, not only against the heretics, but also in the exposition of the Faith for the benefit of the Christians. It is interesting, too, for the reason that it is a partial exposition of the " Orgauon", and the application of its methods to Catholic theology a century before the first Arabic translation of Aris- totle made its appearance. The second part, "Con- cerning Heresy ", is little more than a copy of a similar work Ijy Epi'phanius, brought up to date by John Damascene. The author indeed expressly disclaims originality except in the chapters devoted to Islam- ism, Iconoclasm, and Aposchitce. To the list of eighty heresies that constitute the "Panarion" (irafipcov) of Epiphanius, he added twenty heresies that had sprung up since his time. In treating of Islamism he vig- orously assails the immoral practices of Mohammed and the corrupt teachings inserted in the Koran to legalize the delinquencies of the prophet. Like Epi- phanius, he brings the work to a close with a fervent Erofession of Faith. Jolm's authorship of this book as been challenged, for the reason that the writer, in treating of Arianism, speaks of Arius, who died four centuries before the time of the Damascene, as still living and working spiritual ruin among the people. The solution of the diliiculty is to be found in the fact
that John of Damascus did not epitomize the contents
of the "Panarion", but copied it verbatim. Hence
the passage referred to is in the exact words of Epi-
phanius himself, who was a contemjiorary of Arius.
"Concerning the Orthodox Faith", the third book of the "Fountain of Wisdom", is the most important of John Damascene's writings and one of the most not- able works of Christian antiquity. Its authority has always been great among the theologians of the East and West. Here, again, the author modestly dis- avows any claim to originality — any purpose to essay a new exposition of doctrinal truth. He assigns him- self the less pretentious task of collecting in a single work the opinions of the ancient writers scat- tered through many volumes, and of systematizing and connecting them in a logical whole. It is no small credit to John of Damascus that he was able to give to the Church in the eighth century its first sum- mary of connected theological opinions. At the com- mand of Eugenius III it was rendered into Latin by Burgundio of Pisa, in 1150, shortly before Peter Lom- bard's "Book of Sentences" appeared. This trans- lation was used by Peter Lombard and St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as by other theologians, till the Hu- manists rejected it for a more elegant one. The author follows the same order as does Theodoret of Cyrus in his "Epitome of Christian Doctrine ". But, while he imitates the general plan of Theodoret, he tioes not make use of his method. He quotes, not only from the pages of Holy Writ, but also from the writings of the Fathers. As a result, his work is an inexhaustible thesaurus of tradition which became the standard for the great Scholastics who followeil. In particular, he draws generously from Gregory of Nazianzus, whose works he seems to have absorbed, from Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Alexandria, Leo the Great, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Epiphanius. The work is divided into four books. This division, how- ever, is an arl)itrary one neither contemplated by the author nor justified by the Greek MS. It is probably the work of a Latin translator seeking to accommodate it to the style of the four books of Lombard's "Sen-
The first book of "The Orthodox Faith" treats of the essence and existence of God, the Divine nature, and the Trinity. As evidence of the existence of God he cites the concurrence of opinion among those en- lightened by Revelation and those who have only .the light of reason to guide them. To the same end he employs the argument drawn from the mutaljility of created things and that from design. Treating, in the second book, of the physical world, he summarizes all the views of his times, without, however, committing himself to any of them. In the same treatise he discloses a comprehensive knowledge of the astronomy of his day. Here, also, place is given to the consideration of the nature of angels and demons, the terrestrial para- dise, the properties of human nature, the foreknowledge of God, and predestination. Treating of man (c. xxvi), he gives what has been aptly called a "psychology in nuce". Contrary to the teachings of Plotinus, the mas- ter of Porphyry, he identifies mind and soul. In the third book the personality :nul two-fold nature of Christ are discussed with great aliility. This leads up to the consideration of the iMonojihj-site heresy. In this connexion he deals with Peter the Fuller's addi- tion to the "Trisagion"j and cimibats Anastasius's interpretation of this ancient hymn. The latter, who was Abbot of the monastery of St. Euthymius in Pal- estine, referred the "TrLsagion" only to the Second Person of the Trinity. In his letter "Concerning the Trisagion " John Damascene contends that the hymn applies not to the Son alone, but to each Person of the Bles.sed Trinity. This book also contains a spirited defence of the Blesseil N'irgin's claim to the title of "Thcotokos" (ffeordKos). Nestorius is \igorously dealt with for trying to substitute the title of "Mother
