Theological Term of the Week: John of Damascus

John of Damascus
“[T]he most outstanding Christian figure who lived and worked under Islamic rule.”1 Sometimes called the last of the Greek church fathers, he lived from 675 to 749. 

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Volume 2 by N. H. Needham, page 31-33: 

John was a firm adherent of the Creed of Chalcedon., and opposed both Nestorianism and Monophysitism; he based his teaching largely on the Cappadocian fathers … . 

John also wrote a thoughtful and powerful defence of icons in the iconoclastic controversy, and a number of the most beautiful and popular of all Greek hymns.

The live and writings of John of Damascus, then, show us how a great Christian theologian could live and flourish under Islam.

• Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain, a hymn of John of Damascus: 

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain 
of triumphant gladness!
God hath brought forth Israel 
into joy from sadness,
loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
Jacob’s sons and daughters,
led them with unmoistened foot 
through the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls today:
Christ hath burst his prison,
and from three days’ sleep in death 
as a sun hath risen.
Now rejoice, Jerusalem,
and with true affection
welcome in unwearied strains 
Jesus’ resurrection.

Neither shall the gates of death, 
nor the tomb’s dark portal,
nor the watchers, nor the seal 
hold thee as a mortal.
But arisen ’midst thy friends 
thou didst stand, bestowing
thy true peace, which evermore 
passes human knowing.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was John of Damascus?
2. Theopedia: John of Damascus
3. Christian History: John of Damascus

Related terms:

• Cappadocian fathers
• Creed of Chalcedon
• Nestorianism
• monophysitism

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Volume 2 by N. R. Needham.

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Sunday's Hymn: Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from oh high, be near;
Daystar, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by thee;
Joyless is the day’s return
Till thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till thy inward light impart,
Glad my eyes and warm my heart.

Visit, then, this soul of mine;
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy Divine;
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

 —Charles Wesley

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds at The Happy Wonderer 

Sunday's Hymn: How Can I Keep from Singing?

My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation
I hear the sweet though far off hymn
That hails a new creation:
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?

What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round!
Songs in the night He giveth:
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of Heav’n and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift mine eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smoothes
Since first I learned to love it:
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing:
All things are mine since I am His—
How can I keep from singing?

—Robert Lowry

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• We Pray for Those Who Do Not Pray at The Happy Wonderer