John of Damascus

John of Damascus was an eighth-century Christian monk, theologian, and hymnographer. He defended the veneration of icons and organized Christian doctrine in a systematic theological work.

On the Divine Images: John of Damascus’s three treatises defending the use and veneration of religious images. These treatises give his direct response to the Byzantine campaign against icons.
Byzantine Iconoclasm: The controversy over religious images in the Byzantine Empire, including periods of official opposition to their use. The controversy prompted John’s best-known defense of icons.
Sophronius of Jerusalem: A seventh-century patriarch of Jerusalem and theologian who defended orthodox Christology. John’s theological inheritance belongs to the tradition represented by earlier Jerusalem church leaders.
Eastern Orthodox Church: A communion of Christian churches sharing Byzantine liturgical and theological traditions. John’s theology became a major source for Eastern Orthodox teaching.
Iconoclasm: The rejection or destruction of religious images, especially in Christian disputes over their use. John argues against the rejection of images as incompatible with Christian belief in the incarnation.
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith: A systematic presentation of Christian doctrine by John of Damascus, forming part of his larger work, The Fountain of Knowledge. This section most clearly shows how he organized inherited theological teaching.
Leo III the Isaurian: Byzantine emperor from 717 to 741, traditionally associated with initiating imperial opposition to icons. His reign marks the start of the imperial iconoclast policy John opposed.
Theodore the Studite: A Byzantine monk and theologian who became a leading defender of icons in the ninth century. Theodore carried iconophile arguments into the later phase of the controversy.
Eastern Orthodox iconography: The religious-image tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy, shaped by theological and liturgical conventions. His defense of icons supplies a theological rationale for their use.
Icon veneration: The devotional honor shown to Christian images, understood as directed through the image to its represented person. This is the practice John defends while distinguishing it from worship.

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