Tag: Life of John Damascene

The scene is the slave-market in Damascus, after a raid into the west.  Some of the captives taken by the Saracens are being sold, the rest are to be killed as worthless.  Among them, the dignified figure of the captive Italian monk Cosmas has drawn the attention of the father of John Damascene, who is still a child at that time.

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9.  Cosmas explains his grief to John’s father. ^[1]

But John’s father, standing not far away and so seeing the man in tears, came up, to console him in his distress, and said, “Why, O man of God, do you weep over the loss of this world, having long ago renounced and become dead to it as I see from your manner of dress?”

Then the monk replied, “I do not lament the loss of this life; for I, as you have said, am dead to the world.  But what does trouble me is that I have sought after all human wisdom, and laid down a general education^[2] as a foundation. I have exercised my tongue in rhetoric; I have cultivated my reasoning through the methods and demonstrations of dialectic; I pursued [the study of] moral philosophy, as much of it as [Aristotle the] Stagirite, and as much as [Chrysippus] the disciple of Ariston, have handed down; I have examined carefully everything concerning natural philosophy, as far as humanly possible; I have learned the principles of arithmetic; I have mastered geometry to the highest degree; I have formally completed the disciplines of musical harmony and proportion^[3]; and I did not pass over anything concerning movement of the heavens and the turning of the stars, so  that, from the greatness and beauty of these created things, in accordance with my knowledge of them, I might possess a proportionate understanding of the Creator. For the one who has acquired a clearer knowledge of created things understands more clearly and regards with greater wonder the One who created them.  From there, I advanced into the mysteries of theology, which the sons of the Greeks have handed down, and which our own theologians have most accurately elucidated.

So I am filled with these sciences, but I have not yet been able to impart^[4] to anyone else the benefit from them, nor to produce a disciple through philosophy in the manner of a father producing a son.^[5]  For just as most people want natural children to continue their family line, similarly those who have studied philosophy want, through teaching and initiation, to produce disciples^[6] so that the golden line of philosophers may continue among the living for all time; and those who are the cause of this marvellous birth [of a disciple] inherit an immortal renown.  Moreover it is a characteristic of goodness to share with others the good things that one has in abundance.  Indeed anyone who is not like this, nor wishes to be, is not live in what is good, but in what is evil, as being full of pride and envy concerning those things which he does not want to share with others if he has received something good.  Therefore, even what he seems to have is taken away from him, just as with that servant who did not deposit the talent with the bankers.^[7]  But I have chosen the good portion,^[8] and I was very much inclined to become a sharer with others of the wisdom given to me.  But since I did not attain what I desired, that I might be counted among those faithful servants who doubled their talents through their dealings with others,^[9] and I did not produce a disciple through philosophy, I am, as some might say, childless and miserable, as you see: my face is downcast and I am deeply distressed.”

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Onward.

1. ^[1]Heading by me.↩
2. ^[2]ἐγκύκλιος, with παιδεία implicit: see LSJ: https://logeion.uchicago.edu/ἐγκύκλιος ↩
3. ^[3]I had difficulty here.  “ἁρμολογίας δὲ μουσικῆς καὶ ἀναλογίας εὐτάκτους σεμνοπρεπῶς κατώρθωκα.” “εὐτάκτους” is the accusative plural, so must be the object of the verb.  A verb εὐτάκτέω is in LSJ, “to be orderly, behave well; reduce to order;” εὐτάκτημα: “act of orderly behaviour”, “well-ordered”.    Lequien’s Latin, “Musices concentus proportionesque probe satis sum assequutus” paraphrases.↩
4. ^[4]Or “ready to impart.”↩
5. ^[5]Lit. “nor to beget, through philosophy, a disciple in the manner of a father.”  But we really can’t use “beget” these days.↩
6. ^[6]Lit. “father a child.”↩
7. ^[7]Matt. 25:27.↩
8. ^[8]Luke 10:42.↩
9. ^[9]Matt. 25:14-30.↩

Let’s have the next four chapters of the “Jerusalem Vita” of John Damascene.  John is still a child living in Damascus under Arab rule.

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5.  John’s ancestors were religious.

His ancestors were pious, and they alone preserved the flower of piety and the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in the middle of thorns. For they alone preserved the name of Christian, as a bright and inalienable inheritance that could not be taken away, not faltering in the orthodox faith after the descendants of Hagar took control of the city. As a result their principles made them notable among the impious, so much so that even their enemies respected this. Or rather, just as God glorified Daniel among the Assyrians, because of the piety that he showed, and Joseph in Egypt, appointing as stewards and rulers over foreign and hostile lands those who had been taken captive, so here too he appointed the ancestors of John as stewards over public affairs even among the Saracens.^[1] So here again the pious captives ruled over those impious ones who had taken them captive.

O, the great and wondrous works of God, and His marvellous and extraordinary deeds! Nothing is higher than virtue, nothing is more honourable or more sublime than piety. For like a banner raised on a hill, or rather like a lamp in the night, or a seed in Israel, or a spark in the ashes, so too the family of John was left in Damascus, to bring forth this bright torch, which would shine out to every corner [of the world]. Such were the ancestors of the man whom we are praising.

6.  His father was devoted to virtue.

His father, coming from such a good background, was eager to surpass his parents in piety and other virtues, and to demonstrate even greater love for God.  For it was necessary that such an illustrious man, destined to reach the highest point of virtue, should have a parent more distinguished than those before him, so that, as from a sequential progression, the rise to greatness would occur in an orderly fashion, as if the affairs concerning this great and illustrious one were arranged from above by divine providence, just as happened in the case of John the Baptist.^[2]  For since he [John the Baptist] was destined to shine forth as greater than the prophets before him and to perform a sacrament more exalted than any priestly office—the baptism of my Lord—divine providence ordained that he would not come from an ordinary lineage but from a priestly family, and that his father would be a prophet.  Thus, in this case, too, John’s father was appointed by providence to be especially pious and philanthropic.  For he was an administrator of public affairs throughout the entire country, having been appointed because of his outstanding virtue and his distinguished way of life, and in this he used to spend his wealth abundantly; not on revelry, drunkenness, or frittering it away, but rather he used all of whatever he had in gold and other movable wealth to ransom Christians who were being taken into captivity.  As for his immovable possessions—of which he had a great deal in Judea and Palestine—he gave them for the relief and livelihood of those Christians whom he had freed who chose to live on those lands.  The others he allowed to go as free men wherever they wished.  Such was the philanthropic virtue of the man.  For he lived with wealth as though he had nothing, and so he was making offerings to God both by night and by day.

7.  John is born and baptized.

Acting like this, he received a reward, not for hospitality like Abraham, but a wondrous offspring (ὁ τόκος also means a return on investment, interest) for his love of humanity; if not from a promise, certainly from divine foreknowledge and predestination.  For God foresaw what sort of man John would become, and predestined him to be born of this man as a reward to him for the love of humanity that he showed habitually towards those who had exchanged their freedom for dreadful captivity.  Thus this glorious child was born to him, and while his [the child’s] body was still delicate, his father made him into a son of light, by rebirth through the spiritual mother (i.e. baptism in the church), accomplishing a deed which was not easy at that time, and which most people would not easily dare to do in the midst of those pagans.  Then the father’s concern for the child was not for him to learn to ride, nor to wield a spear skillfully, nor to shoot an arrow from a bow with precision, or to fight with wild animals and change natural gentleness into savage cruelty, as often happens with many who are troubled in spirit, and rush about wildly and recklessly.  For this reason, John’s father did not seek out some mountain-dwelling Chiron^[3] to nourish his pupil on deer marrow, but rather a man trained in every field of learning was sought out, having knowledge of every kind of discourse, and pouring out good teaching from the soul’s heart, so that he might also raise his own son with such nourishing food and seasonings; and God fulfilled the man’s holy desire, and the one who was seeking found the one sought.  And the manner of the finding of the one who was sought is as follows.

8.  Cosmas the Elder was taken captive and brought to Damascus.  He was a priest and a monk.

The barbarians from Damascus made a raid by sea, as they often did, and they plundered many Christians, and going down to the sea in their ships, they took a large number of captives, and brought them into the city.  They offered some to those buying, and drew their swords to kill the others.^[4]  Also captured with them was a man dressed as a monk, originating from Italy, dignified in appearance, more dignified in soul, and named Cosmas.   A certain solemnity on his face shone forth, revealing his settled disposition.  Those being led to slaughter were falling at his feet: they entreated him to make God merciful to them, and to pray that they might find forgiveness for their sins from the merciful One.  Therefore the barbarians, seeing the supplication of those about to die, which they addressed to that dignified one, approached, and inquired of the man what his standing in the world might be, and what sort of prominence he held among the Christians.  But he answered, saying, “I possess no other rank in the world but that of priestly ordination.”  Indeed I am an unworthy, solitary nobody, and practising philosophy; not only the God-loving philosophy we practice, but also that [philosophy] which the sages outside [the faith] established.  But after he said these things, his eyes were filled with tears.

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That’s it for now.  On with the next four!  There are 40 chapters in all, so this may take a while!

Update: 17 March 2025, chapter 5 revised again against the Greek.

1. ^[1]There is a significant textual variant at this point in the Volk edition, which is incorporated into the text. In translation it reads: “…so, in this way also, the Lord, who is glorified, in turn glorified the pious grandparents of John, who had remained faithful to God and had not been corrupted along with the others into a crooked bow, and He appointed them as stewards of public affairs among the Saracens.”↩
2. ^[2]A deeply nasty sentence.↩
3. ^[3]The mythical teacher of Achilles.↩
4. ^[4]Lampe gives this meaning from this passage for οὓς δὲ μαχαίρας εἷλκον ποιήσασθαι ἀνάλωμα.↩

A couple of weeks ago, I made a translation of the first four chapters of BHG 884, the Life of John Damascene.  This text is attributed in the manuscripts, and also in the text printed in the Patrologia Graeca 94, cols. 429-490, to a certain “John, Patriarch of Jerusalem.”  Apparently this is John VII (964-966); but a case has been made that it should instead be attributed to the patriarch John III of Antioch (996-1021), also referenced in some manuscripts.^[1] The text is apparently known as the “Jerusalem Vita” because other hagiographical Lives exist.

The text was first printed by Michel Lequien in 1712, with a parallel modern Latin translation.  This is the text reprinted in the PG, and the PG text  is that included in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG 5273.1).

Initially I began by translating the early modern Latin translation, but then I gained access to the Greek, and reworked it somewhat.  Curiously I found that the Latin is sometimes less easy to follow than the Greek.

The chapter division is that of Lequien, found in the Greek and his Latin translation.  The chapter numbering in Lequien is confused, and also in the PG (but not in the same way!)  I will deal with this when I come to it.  But the truth is that there are 40 chapters.  The chapter headings below are not in the Greek, and appear to have been created by Lequien.  They’re useful, so I have included them.

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1. The deeds of the saints should be passed down to future generations, especially those of the doctors of the church.

It has become customary among men, as a mark of honour, to make godly likenesses of those who have kept the image of God [in their souls] pure and uncorrupted, whole and in its original integrity, or even of those who restored it, after it had been often tarnished and defiled.  Indeed, those who are eager to show their reverence more ambitiously, and whose generosity, along with their wealth, is magnificent, employ superior and splendid materials, and engrave upon them their likenesses, thinking that thereby they show greater honour to the saints.

If then, they hasten to make glorious the outward likeness of the saints, then isn’t it wrong to leave the story of their deeds in a neglected and unfitting state?  Certainly it is.  We must excuse those who are unlearned, being what they are, for improvising the story recounting the deeds of those who were pleasing to Christ; but it is inexcusable for those who have dedicated themselves to the study of eloquence if they neglect the lives of the saints, [and leave them] written in a haphazard way; especially for the kind of men [the saints] for whom vigilance in words was breath and life itself, and who, through discourse, purified both their minds from ignorance and forgetfulness, and their souls from passionate impulses.  Through such men the world around us has been adorned, and every mind has been illuminated; and not only do [their works] possess the elegance of external wisdom, but also they send forth the abundant light of the Holy Spirit.

2.  John Damascene must be considered among the foremost doctors of the church.  He flourished when the heresy of the iconoclasts emerged.  Leo the Isaurian was the author of the heresy.

One of these men, and among the most important, is the celebrated John, whose surname is clearly derived from his homeland, the city of Damascus.  For he was not a minor star in the firmament of the church, but rather a very great and most brilliant one; not only shining in [one] night when heresy was spread everywhere, but also dispelling false doctrine every night through the illumination of his writings. For darkness was indeed spread everywhere over the whole world, obscuring the bright images of the venerable icons, and it was a profound gloom; but the one who was spreading it and making it happen was not just some common man, able to spread evil over only a part of the world, but rather that man holding in his hand, so to speak, the ends of the earth, he who wielded authority over the Roman empire.  From then on he acted aggressively, raging in every direction, and destroying the venerable images with great violence, and those who venerated them.  This man, a lion [Leo] by name, and by nature, devoured some of them, while others of the orthodox he scattered with his roaring into various places, and drove them to hide in underground refuges.  Indeed many chose to dwell among lions and dragons rather than associate with him and his servants: but others, out of fear, fled to the farthest ends of the earth, for when “the lion roars, who will not be afraid?”; and they fled from him as from the presence of a snake.

3.  The name “John” in Hebrew signifies the grace of God.  The Life of St. John of Damascus originally written in Arabic.

This man, named after grace, and filled with spiritual grace, was boiling with anger, but only against the snake, so that his [feelings of] anger turned into the pursuit of goodness and courage. He did not flee from Thrace, where he then resided, to the Sarmatians. He did not hurry away from Byzantium to the Pillars of Hercules. He did not withdraw from the palaces into the wilderness because of the roaring of the lion. Rather, when he was living first in Damascus, then later in Palestine, and leading the ascetic life in a deserted place, he fought against Leo most courageously. And from such a great distance this three-time champion of mine pierced his heart, as if with a three-pronged spear, with words forged in the fire of the Holy Spirit, and tempered in the living water. However our discourse will expand on these matters in their proper place with more elegance.

So then, should we neglect the life of this man, just because it is hastily written in an unpolished manner, or worse, in Arabic language and script?  Certainly not. Therefore we must now explain from what kind of noble root this most flourishing shoot has grown, and what kind of country is proud to have produced him.

4.  Damascus.

This city is none other than Damascus. For just as, in regard to Paul, it takes great pride in the heaven-traversing^[2] one, whom it was the first to see after he renounced impiety, and saw him transformed from a Christ-hater to a Christ-lover, in the same way, in regard to this man [John] also, it is rightly and deservedly proud. For he did not come from somewhere else, nor was he converted from another religion to the true faith, but because it [Damascus] brought him forth from its own roots and gave birth to him, more in regard to piety than bodily existence, and nurtured him with words[teaching], it boasts greatly in its own offspring. For this reason it takes pride in him, and rejoices in him, more than over the other splendid things which distinguish it, even if you mention the mildness of the climate, and the many streams of fresh, clear water by which it is irrigated. It is not the abundance of noble fruits that gives so much glory and renown to this city, but rather that this beautiful and noble tree grew up here, reared beside the channels of the water, and giving back the fruits of the Spirit in due time, the fruits of which are always fresh among us, lovely to look at, sweet to taste, and those who touch and taste them are delighted, and indeed are also nourished and strengthened, and brought to a higher level, leading them to perfection in the Spirit. In this way has the city of Damascus been made more glorious by this, its offspring, than by all the other good and delightful things with which it has been enriched. It was this [city] indeed that produced this man.

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I hope to do some more in due course.

Update 11, 12, 13, 15 March 2025: Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 revised to be closer to the Greek.

1. ^[1]Vassa Kontouma, “John III of Antioch (996–1021) and the Life of John of Damascus (BHG 884)” in: V. Kontouma, John of Damascus: New Studies on his Life and Works. Ashgate (2015). ISBN 9781409446378.↩
2. ^[2]The Greek word here is οὐρανοδρόμος; which is quoted in Lampe p.978 from this passage.↩