Let us continue with the “Jerusalem Life” of John Damascene. I had not realised that I had completed – but not posted – three more chapters before my hand injury, so only chapter 17 is new. A quick recap: John is living in Damascus and working as chief financial officer for the muslim caliph. Now read on!
* * * *
14. The madness of Leo the Isaurian against images.
At that time Leo the Isaurian was ruling the Roman Empire. He, opposing the sacred icons and the orthodox mainstream of the church, [1] was like a lion, seizing and roaring, burning them[2] with a fire of bestial madness, and seizing and destroying their[3] worshippers, and cruelly tearing them apart with the teeth of tyrannical impiety. These things came to John’s ears, and he imitated the zeal of Elijah and the rebukes [of wrong-doing] of his namesake [John the Baptist] as if the spirit had anointed him invisibly, and before his consecration,[4] as an opponent of this impiety; and he wielded words as though they were the sword of the Spirit, a sharp weapon to destroy the doctrine of the beast-minded one, as if he were cutting off its head. So he sent out letters to defend the veneration of the sacred icons to those of the right faith[5] who knew him, powerfully demonstrating in a philosophical way that the veneration of the divine images was necessary. He also instructed them to say the same things to others, and to show his letters to everyone. The new athlete of the truth laboured in every way for his letters to pass from hand to hand among the faithful, as if in a circle,[6] to strengthen the true doctrine,[7] and following the example of Paul, he laboured to cover the whole world, although not on foot but through letters proclaiming the truth.
15. Leo’s strategem against John.
These things were reported to the emperor Leo, and, summoning some of his like-minded associates, since he could not bear the exposure of his impiety, which John’s letters proclaimed clearly, he commanded them to put on a mask of piety and make haste and fabricate a discourse, and to locate a letter written by John in his own hand. These accomplices of wickedness did not cease pulling on every rope, concealing their intentions and seeking out what they had been ordered to find, until they did find it, and delivered it to the emperor. He summoned some of his scribes and set before them examples of John’s letters, to imitate the style of the writing, both in thought and phrasing. Thus he found sufficient people to carry out this task, and he ordered them to write a letter as if from John to himself, the infamous emperor, with the following content.
“Greetings, O emperor! I also rejoice in your mightiness, because we share the same faith. I render both gratitude and the appropriate respect to your imperial majesty, for which reason I send these things for your information. This city of ours happens to have been completely neglected in terms of its defence, and the military force of the Hagarenes here is weak and few in number. Wherefore in the name of God take pity on this city, and, contrary to all expectation, send a powerful and numerous force which pretends to march elsewhere, and you will take the city without a fight; for I myself will assist you considerably in this purpose, because both the entire region and the city itself are under my authority.
16. Leo’s Letter to the Caliph.
After this letter had been written, the impious man wrote another letter in malice to the leader of the Saracens in Damascus, with this intent:
“As I know nothing more blessed than peace, nor more fortunate than friendship, – and keeping treaties of peace is praiseworthy and pleasing to God, – for these reasons I prefer above all else to preserve unbroken the peaceful friendships which I established with your eminence, although I have often been urged to secretly break these and treacherously violate the treaties, by one of the Christians serving under you through his many letters, who confidently assures me that he would contribute greatly to subdue the city under your control if I should send a large army against it.
For this very reason I have also sent back to you one of the letters which he sent to me, showing that the things which I have written are true, so that you may know what kind of person I am in regard to friendships – truthful, and not inclined to break treaties – and so that you may recognise the ill-will and deceitfulness of the one who dared to write these things to me.
17. John’s Right Hand is Amputated.
He was lion-named, and serpent-like in deceit, so he sent both these letters through one of his men to the barbarian [ruler]. Upon receiving them, the latter summoned John and showed him that deceitful letter. John, reading through it, admitted that the pattern[8] of the letters resembled his own, but he added that he did not know the things contained in them at all, nor had such thoughts ever even crossed his mind. But having read it, he did not fail to recognise the deception, and the plot of the Emperor [against him]. But that ruler, who hated Christ, was like a donkey listening to a lyre—so says the proverb[9]—in his response to what was said by John. He became deaf to good and truthful speech, and did not remain dumb, when it came to issuing an unjust decree. Instead he immediately ordered that John’s right hand should be cut off.
When he [John] requested a brief delay in order to defend himself, and to explain the rage of the impious one against him, the barbarian refused, and would not hear of it, being completely beside himself with anger. And so the right hand was cut off, which had performed great deeds for the Orthodox in God through what it had written; the right hand was cut off which had rebuked those who hated the Lord and, instead of being dipped in ink, as it had once been when writing in defence of the veneration of icons, it was now dipped in its own blood.
So, having cut off that right hand of the Lord, so to speak, they suspended it in the marketplace.
* * * *
Not one of John’s better days at work, I would guess.
- [1]“τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πληρώματος”: this appears to be a standard phrase, lit. “fullness of the church,” the faithful, the assembly.↩
- [2]The icons.↩
- [3]The icons.↩
- [4]“anointing.”↩
- [5]“orthodox.”↩
- [6]“ὡς διὰ κύκλου τινὸς.” Not translated by Lequien.↩
- [7]“the orthodox faith.”↩
- [8]τύπους↩
- [9]This is one of Aesop’s fables↩
Very minor: right before footnote 7, “the the true doctrine”
Thank you!