St. John of Damascus is one of the most outstanding and glorious fathers of the Church. The "source of knowledge" is valuable because it is a complete set of all Christian dogmas. Its author lived in the era after the first six Ecumenical Councils and, in fact, is the creator of the conciliar formula of the last, Seventh Ecumenical Council. All the Fathers who preceded John of Damascus lived at least before the emergence of the iconoclastic heresy, and therefore did not transmit to us the fullness of dogmatics. Thus, Sts. the Cappadocian Fathers lived in the IV, the "Areopagitics" belong to the VI century, St. Precisely because it was the first complete code of Christian dogmas, the Source of Knowledge had an enormous, incomparable influence on the development of later theology both in the East and in the West.

History of Christianity, Apocrypha, Apologetics ru Tatyana Trushova If you found an error - write to e-mail saphyana@inbox.ru ExportToFB21 29.04.2011 OOoFBTools-2011-4-29-13-50-38-699 1.0 Source of knowledge Science 2006 ISBN 5–02–026915–8, 978–5–02–026915–6

Compositions

Source of knowledge

Preface

To the Most Reverend and God-Reverend Father Cosmas, His Holiness Bishop of Mayuma, John the Monk

Conscious of the limitations of my mind and the lack of skill of my language, I, O blessed ones, did not dare to undertake anything beyond my strength, like some proud and brave man, and to venture the impossible, for I see the danger threatening those who dare to do anything of the kind. If this divine Moses, the lawgiver, who renounced all human spectacle, who abandoned the troubles of life, who freed himself from all material manifestations, who purified his spiritual sight and thereby became capable of contemplating God; if he who has been vouchsafed to see the humane descent of God the Word to us and His supernatural incarnation — in the bush and the immaterial fire, with which the thorns burned and burned, but in such a way that, perceiving the brilliance of the fire, he was not burned, destroyed by it, and was not deprived of his inherent nature; if he who was first consecrated in the name of the Existent — and truly being above all essence — who received from God the intercession of his fellow-countrymen, called himself a stiff and tongue-tied (Exodus 1:10), and therefore unable to serve the divine will, to declare it [publicly] and to become a mediator between God and man, then how can I, stained with every kind of sin, bearing within myself a rebellious storm of thoughts, without purifying my mind and reason to become a mirror of God and Divine manifestations, not possessing a word that could sufficiently express my thoughts, how can I speak of the Divine and ineffable, surpassing the comprehension of any rational creature? Reflecting on this, I did not dare to speak, and was afraid of the commissioner, lest, to tell the truth, I should be subjected to a double ridicule — for ignorance, and at the same time, what is most grievous, for madness, for the guilt of ignorance is still excusable, if it does not arise from negligence. But in ignorance to imagine that one has knowledge is a grievous guilt, which is reprehensible, unworthy of any leniency, and is a sign of much greater, not to say the most extreme ignorance. But since the fruit of disobedience is death, while the humble and obedient imitator of Christ ascends to the heights and receives from God the light-guiding grace, and when he opens his mouth, he is filled with the Spirit, purifies his heart, enlightens his mind, and receives the word in the opening of his mouth (Eph. 6:19), not caring what he says, being the organ of the Spirit speaking through him, then, in obedience to Christ, Who is the hierarch in your person, I obey the command and open my mouth, hoping that by the power of your prayers they will be filled with the Spirit, and that I will utter words that will not be the fruit of my understanding, but the fruit of the Spirit, which enlightens the blind, accepting what He gives, and setting forth just this.

And first of all, I will offer what is best among the Hellenic sages, knowing that if there is anything good in them, it is given to people from above by God. For every good gift and every perfect gift comes from the Father of lights (James 1:17). If anything is contrary to the truth, then it is a dark invention of satanic error and an invention of an unfortunate reason, as the great theological Gregory said. Therefore, imitating the image of the bee, I will use that which is close to the truth, and from the enemies themselves I will receive the fruit — salvation; on the contrary, I will reject everything that is worthless and contains falsely named knowledge. Then I will expound the absurd teachings of the God-hating heresies that adhere to this, so that, having known the lie, we may hold on to the truth more firmly. After this, with the help of God and His grace, I will reveal the truth, the destroyer of error and the banisher of falsehood, adorned and adorned, as if with some kind of gold trimming, by the words of the inspired prophets, the God-taught fishermen, and the God-bearing shepherds and teachers. The glory of this truth, shining from within, enlightens with its rays those who approach it with due purification, renouncing vain thoughts. As for my own, as I have said, I will say nothing, but, having gathered together as far as possible what has been obtained by the labors of the most reliable teachers, I will briefly state it, following your command in all things. But I beseech you, revered ones, to be lenient to me, who obey your precepts, and, accepting obedience from me, to repay me with the help of your prayers.

I. Philosophical Chapters

Chapter I. On Cognition. There is nothing more valuable than knowledge, for knowledge is the light of the rational soul. On the contrary, ignorance is darkness. Just as the deprivation of light is darkness, so the absence of knowledge is the darkening of the mind. Ignorance is characteristic of irrational beings, and knowledge is characteristic of rational beings. Therefore, whoever is naturally capable of knowledge and knowledge (episthmonikw) does not have it, although he is naturally intelligent, nevertheless in negligence and weakness of soul is worse than the foolish. As for knowledge, I mean true knowledge of things, because knowledge concerns things. False knowledge, which is, as it were, knowledge of things that do not exist, is more ignorance than knowledge, for falsehood is nothing but non-existent. Since we do not live with one soul, but our soul, as if hidden by a veil of flesh, has a likeness of an eye, a seeing and knowing mind, which perceives the knowledge and knowledge of things, and this knowledge and knowledge it does not have from the very beginning, but needs a teacher, let us come to the true teacher, the truth. But Christ is hypostatic wisdom and truth, in Whom all the treasures of reason are created, Who is the wisdom and power of God and the Father. Therefore, let us listen to His voice speaking to us through the Holy Scriptures, and learn the true knowledge of all things. As we approach, let us approach diligently and with a pure heart, not allowing the passions to dull the mental eye of our soul. For hardly anyone will be able to clearly contemplate the truth even with the purest and clearest eye. If the light that is in us, that is, our mind, is darkness, then how much darkness? Let us approach with all our soul and with all our thoughts. For just as it is impossible for the eye, which is often shifted from one object to another, and turning here and there, to contemplate clearly what is seen, but it is necessary that the eye should keep a close eye on the object to be examined, so we, having renounced all agitation of the mind, shall approach the truth immaculately. And when we approach and reach the gates, let us not confine ourselves to this, but knock loudly, so that when the doors of rest are opened to us, we may see its inner beauty. Scripture, then, is the gate; and the rest behind the gates signifies the beauty of thoughts hidden in the Scriptures, i.e., the Spirit of truth. Let us knock loudly, that is, let us read once or twice, let us read often, and thus going deeper, we will find the treasure of knowledge and abound in riches. We will search, investigate, look out, ask. For everyone who asks receives, and seeks, finds, and to him who interprets it will be opened. And also, Inquire of thy father, and he shall tell thee, and thy elders are in knowledge, and shall speak unto thee. Therefore, if we are inquisitive, we will also know many things; for all things are attained by diligence and labor, and also, and this first and after all, by the grace of the Giver of God.

On the other hand, since the Apostle says: "Hold fast to all that is good that is tried," let us also examine the teachings of the pagan sages. Perhaps among them we will find something useful and acquire something useful for the soul, for every artist needs some tools for the accomplishment of what is being arranged. And it is common for the queen to use the services of maids. Therefore we will borrow such doctrines as are ministers of the truth, but we will reject the wickedness that cruelly possessed them, and we will not take advantage of what is badly good, and we will not use the art of proofs to deceive the simple. Although the truth does not need a variety of proofs, nevertheless we will use them to refute dishonest opponents and falsely named knowledge.

With this we shall begin, as with the letters, precisely with that which befits those who are still in need of milk, calling upon Christ as our guide, the hypostatic Word of God, by Whom every good gift is given and every gift is perfected.

Those who will read this book should direct their minds to the blissful goal of ascending through the senses to Him (pros ton) Who is above sense and perception. Who is the Author of everything, the Creator and Organizer. For from the beauty of His creatures the creator of them is comparatively known, and His invisible essence from the creation of the world is seen by the creatures. Therefore, we achieve what we want by striving for knowledge with an indifferent and humble mind. For ye cannot believe in me, said Christ, the truth, receive glory from men. And also: everyone who is exalted will humble himself, and he who humbles himself will be lifted up.