Is all Christian art fundamentally blasphemous? That was the question posed aggressively by the Christian iconoclasts of the eighth century in a bitter controversy. The resounding answer 'No' from John of Damascus helped to secure the future of art in the service of Christ. Without his brilliant defense, both profound and at times earthy, we might well have had no icons, murals, and mosaics in churches to elevate and enrich our spirits. This fresh and complete translation, by a distinguished patristic scholar, of John's three treatises on the divine images shows us the issue at stake both then and now. Professor Louth places all of us who care about them in his debt.

Three Treatises on the Divine Images (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press Popular Patristics Series)

John, of Reading

John, of Damascus, Saint

Religion & Spirituality

St Vladimirs Seminary Pr

St John of Damascus wrote these three treaties Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images in response to the iconoclastic heresy of the eighth century, which violently rejected the veneration of images. He accomplishes the important task of reminding the Church that the use of images is a necessary safeguard of the central doctrine of the Christian faith: the Incarnation. In Jesus Christ, God became Man. He Who is immaterial became material and can therefore be depicted. 
St John's message remains pertinent today, for there are still those who regard images with suspicion or else take refuge in various pseudo-spiritualities that deny any value or significance to the material. This new translation into modern English makes these important treatises available for the first time to scholar and layman alike. On the Divine Images is part of the POPULAR PATRISTIC SERIES.

On the Divine Images: 3 Apologies Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images (English and Ancient Greek Edition)

Barlaam and Ioasaph: Easyread Edition

Literature & Fiction

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