Lenka S. reviewed Three Treatises on the Divine Images (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press Popular Patristics Series) on + 819 more book reviews
It is very informative. Includes history lessons and is very factual. It includes references and explanations easy to understand the text even for even an amateur.
It is the exact words of John of Damascus translated into English. The 3 treaties tend to repeat each other because they were all written at different times. It defends the use of icons very well. The writing is beautiful and enjoyable. However it can get a bit tedious for a person who doesn't fully appreciate lengthy scripture reading.
Here is detailed summary copied from Amazon (The summary is not mine):
St. John of Damascus (676 â 4 December 749 AD) was an Arab Christian monk and priest. He served as a Chief Administrator to the Muslim caliph of Damascus. He wrote hymns still in use today. In 726 AD, Emperor Leo III issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their public exhibitions. John initiated a defense of holy images. After his death, his writings played an important role at the Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD) which met to settle the icon dispute.
I gave this book four stars for some confusing language that John used to defend some images for devotional purposes.
WHAT JOHN BELIEVES
I believe in one God, the source of all things, without beginning, uncreated, immortal, everlasting, incomprehensible, bodiless, invisible, uncircumscribed, without form.
I believe in one supersubstantial being, one divine Godhead in three entities, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and I adore Him alone with the worship of latreia (worship).
I adore one God, one Godhead but three Persons, God the Father, God the Son made flesh, and God the Holy Ghost, one God.
GOD CONDEMNS IDOLATRY
You see that God condemns the adoration of any created thing more than the Creator, not to give the worship of latreia except to Him alone.
âI am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image (idol), or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God (Deut 5:6-9).
You see that God forbids image-making on account of idolatry, and that it is impossible to make an image of the immeasurable, uncircumscribed, invisible God.
When âthe Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire, you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form, only a voiceâ (Deut 4:12).
God said to Moses, âYou cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!â (Ex 33:20).
JOHN WORSHIPS THE PHYSICAL CHRIST
I do not adore creation more than the Creator, but I adore the Creature (Jesus) created as I am, that He might elevate our nature and make us partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Together with my Lord and King I worship Him clothed in flesh. His flesh endures after its assumption. The Word was made flesh through union (καθ ÏÏοÏÏαÏιν). Therefore I venture to draw an image having become visible for our sake through flesh and blood. I do not draw an image of the immortal Godhead. For it is impossible to represent a spirit. How can you depict the invisible? How can you picture the inconceivable? How can you give expression to the limitless, the immeasurable, the invisible? How can you give form to immensity? How can you paint immortality? How can you localize mystery? But when the invisible God takes upon Himself the body of flesh, then you may draw His likeness, and show it to anyone willing to contemplate Him.
IMAGES IN CREATION
âFor since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been madeâ (Romans 1:20).
We see images in creation which remind us faintly of God when, for instance, we speak of the holy and adorable Trinity, images by the sun, or light, or burning rays, or by a running fountain, or a full river.
I do not worship matter. I worship the God who became matter for my sake, and worked out my salvation through matter.
The ARK of the COVENANT
God ordered the ark to be made of imperishable wood, and to be gilded inside and outside, and the ten commandments to be put in it, and the staff and the golden urn containing the manna, for a remembrance of the past. Who can say these were not images? They were in sight of all the people. They were not worshiped for themselves. The people were led through them to remember past signs and to worship the God of wonders. They were images to serve as recollections.
âTHE IMAGE LEADS TO THE PROTOTYPEâ
St Basil said, âHonoring the image leads to the prototype.â
From the time that the Word became flesh He is as we are in everything except sin, and of our nature, without confusion. He has deified our flesh for ever, and we are in very deed sanctified through His Godhead and the union of His flesh with it. And from the time that God, the Son of God, impassible by reason of His Godhead, chose to suffer voluntarily He wiped out our debt, also paying for us a most full and noble ransom. We are truly free through the sacred blood of the Son pleading for us with the Father. And we are indeed delivered from corruption since He descended into hell to the souls detained there though centuries (1 Pet 3:19) and gave the captives their freedom, sight to the blind (Mt 12:29), and chaining the strong one. He rose in the plenitude of His power, keeping the flesh of immortality which He had taken for us. And since we have been born again of water and the Spirit, we are truly sons and heirs of God.
MYSTERY FROM THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
John of Damascus believes that the Church was set in order by patristic traditions, both written and unwritten. As the written Gospel has been preached in the whole world, so has it been an unwritten tradition in the whole world to represent in images Christ, the incarnate God, and His mother Mary, and the saints, to adore the Cross, and to pray towards the east.
He believes that the written Scriptures and certain non-written apostolic traditions were equally nourishing for spiritual growth. He quotes St Basil, âIn the cherished teaching and dogmas of the Church we hold some things by written documents; others we received in mystery from the apostolic tradition.â Both are of equal value for the soul's growth. For if we neglect unwritten customs, as not having much weight we bury in oblivion the most pertinent facts connected with the Gospel. How do we know the Holy place of Calvary, or the Holy Sepulcher? Does it not rest on a tradition handed down from father to son? It is written that our Lord was crucified on Calvary, and buried in a tomb, which Joseph hewed out of the rock (Mt 27:60), but it is unwritten tradition which identifies these spots. The apostle Paul said, âTherefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned either by word, or by our epistleâ (2 Thess 2:15).
However, this reviewer understands the âtraditionsâ that are mentioned refer to the apostles' teachings, specifically here in this context the teachings about the return of Jesus Christ. Paul beseeches them, âwith regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him (v.1), that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come (v.2). Let no one deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy come first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destructionâ (v.3). The Thessalonians were worried that Jesus had already come back, but Paul taught that certain events had to take place before He returned. He tells them to stand fast in what they have been taught by the apostles, either orally in person, or in their writings.
MOSES PREFIGURED CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION WITH AN IMAGE
In Numbers 21:8, God told Moses to âMake a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard, and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, will liveâ (Num 21:8). Jesus referred to this when He told Nicodemus, âAs Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted upâ (John 3:14).
So if a man makes an image of Christ crucified, and he is asked who He is, he replies, âIt is Christ our Lord, who became incarnate for us.â So we worship His flesh, not for the nature of flesh, but for the Godhead united to that flesh.
If we make an image of the invisible God, we would do wrong. For it is impossible to make a statue of One who is without body, invisible, boundless and formless. Again, if we make statues of men and hold them to be gods, we would be impious. But we make the image of Christ, who became incarnate and visible on earth, a man among men through His unspeakable goodness.
All worship is for God. Honor shown to the image is given to the original that it represents.
SIX TYPES OF IMAGES
1. Christ is âthe image of the invisible Godâ (Col 1:15).
He reveals the Father. âNo one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (John 1:18).
The Holy Spirit is the image of the Son. âNo one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spiritâ (1 Cor 12:3).
2. The foreknowledge of God. Everything has already been determined by God's eternal and unchanging counsel. Images and figures of what He is to do in the future are called predeterminations by the holy Dionysius the Areopagite. The things predetermined by Him were characterized and immutability fixed before they took place.
3. Mankind is made in God's image (Gen 1:26,27).
4. Figures and types set forth by Scripture. Immaterial things are clothed in form and shape for our intellectual contemplation. We see images in created things which remind us of divine tokens (Rom 1:20). Sun, light, brightness, and running water remind us of the Trinity.
5. Reminders of future events. Healing by looking at a serpent on a standard foreshadows our healing from Christ on the Cross.
6. Remembrances of past events, such as miracles or good deeds, for us to emulate, or of wicked deeds, for us to shun. This image is of two kinds, either through the written word in books, where the word represents the thing, or through a visible object, as when God commanded the urn and rod be placed in the ark for a lasting memory.
FIVE KINDS OF ADORATION
1. Latreia is the worship we give to God alone. âAll things are Your servantsâ (Ps 119:91). Some worship willingly. Others worship unwillingly in spite of not knowing God.
2. The worship of admiration and desire we give to God on account of His glory. He alone is worthy of praise, being Himself the cause of all glory and all good.
3. Thanksgiving for the good we have received. âAll things have been created through Him and for Himâ (Col 1:16).
4. We ask God to satisfy our needs and desires, recognizing that without Him we neither do nor possess anything good.
5. The worship of contrition and confession. As sinners we worship God, and prostrate ourselves before Him, needing His forgiveness.
SEVEN KINDS OF WORSHIP in SCRIPTURE
1. We worship those PLACES IN WHICH GOD HAS RESTED, such as in His saints and in His holy Mother Mary. These are the ones who are made like to God as far as possible by God's indwelling. âI will walk among you, and be your God, and you shall be My peopleâ (Lev 26:12). They are to be worshiped not on their own account, but as possessing God who is worshipful by nature.
2. We worship creatures by honoring those PLACES OR PERSONS WHOM GOD HAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORK OF OUR SALVATION. For instance, I (John of Damascus) venerate Mount Sinai, Nazareth, the stable at Bethlehem, and the cave, the sacred mount of Golgotha, the wood of the Cross, the nails and sponge and reed (at Christ's crucifixion), the sacred and saving lance, the dress and tunic, the linen cloths, the swathing clothes, the holy tomb, the source of our resurrection, the sepulcher, the holy mountain of Zion and the mountain of Olives, the Pool of Bethsaida and the sacred garden of Gethsemane, and similar spots. I cherish them and and everything connected with God's name, not on their own account, but because they show forth the divine power, and through them it pleased God to being about our salvation.
3. OBJECTS DEDICATED TO GOD. The holy Gospels and other sacred books, sacred vessels, chalices, thuribles, candelabra, and altars.
4. IMAGES SEEN BY THE PROPHETS. Aaron's rod, the figure of Our Lady's virginity, the urn, and the tabernacle.
5. The WORSHIP OF EACH OTHER as having upon us the mark of God, fulfilling the law of charity (Eph 5:21).
6. The WORSHIP OF THOSE IN POWER AND AUTHORITY. âGive to all men their duesâ (Rom 13:7).
7. The WORSHIP OF SERVANTS TOWARD THEIR MASTERS, as when Abraham bought the double cave from the sons of Emmor (Gen 23:7,12).
This reviewer believes that John of Damascus made his job of defining the true worship of God too difficult by applying the word âworshipâ to activities which should have been described by other words. For example, in number 5 above, the obligation of Christians to love one another because Christ lives within them should not be referred to as âworship.â âCharityâ is a better word. In number six, we don't âworshipâ governmental authorities, we âobeyâ them. John weakens his argument against violating God's commands to not worship anyone but Him by applying the word âworshipâ too broadly.
CONCLUSIONS
John of Damascus clearly loved and worshiped the one true Triune God. He distinguishes between worshiping God and honoring man-made images of Christ, His Cross, His mother Mary, and the saints who were noted for their closeness to God. However, he could have been more clear and precise in the language he used to make these distinctions. For example, he gives examples of seven types of âworshipâ in Scripture. He uses the word âlatreiaâ as referring to worship reserved for God alone. But he also uses the word âworshipâ to refer to honor we pay to human beings (the saints and Mary) who are devout. This can be very confusing to new and young Christians who are learning to âworshipâ God and no one else but God. The words âhonor,â ârespect,â and âadmirationâ would be more appropriately applied to devout human beings and keeping the word âworshipâ separate and reserved for God alone. We must treat God much differently and more distinguished than anyone else.
âI am God, and there is no one like Meâ (Isaiah 46:9).
John refers to places and objects âconnected with God's nameâ with the words âworship,â âhonor,â âcherish,â and âvenerateâ while maintaining a distinction of giving âlatreiaâ only to God. Again, this could only lead to confusion. Sacred places and objects can be certainly be admired for the part they play in the salvation story, but our interest in them should PALE next to our worship of the âhigh and exalted Oneâ (Isaiah 57:15). How much attention should be given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side and the sponge soaked with vinegar to quench His thirst? In fact, if we never visit Bethlehem where Jesus was born or Golgotha where He died, we can truly worship Him âin spirit and in truthâ right where we are, every minute of every day. The woman at the well said to Jesus, âOur fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people [the Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.â Jesus said to her, âWoman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthâ (John 4:20-24).
Technically, John of Damascus is not wrong in defending some devotional benefit from pictures and images of Christ, His cross, events such as His birth, miracles, death, and resurrection. He would have had a stronger argument if he had made it quite clear that pictures and images should always be subordinate to the use of the Scriptures in worshiping God.
âThis I know, that God is for me; in God whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trustâ (Ps 56:9-11).
The Scriptures, being the Word of God, must be given highest priority in worshiping God.
King David said, âO how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the dayâ (Ps 119:97).
Jesus compared the Bible with physical food, âMan shall not live on bread alone, but on EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of Godâ (Matt 4:4).
The best information we have about who God is, was given to us by God Himself in the Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit inspired (2 Pet 2:20,21). We could not have known God had He not revealed Himself to us. It is by praying His very words back to Him, that we can give Him our highest devotion.
âYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Meâ (John 5:39).
It is the exact words of John of Damascus translated into English. The 3 treaties tend to repeat each other because they were all written at different times. It defends the use of icons very well. The writing is beautiful and enjoyable. However it can get a bit tedious for a person who doesn't fully appreciate lengthy scripture reading.
Here is detailed summary copied from Amazon (The summary is not mine):
St. John of Damascus (676 â 4 December 749 AD) was an Arab Christian monk and priest. He served as a Chief Administrator to the Muslim caliph of Damascus. He wrote hymns still in use today. In 726 AD, Emperor Leo III issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their public exhibitions. John initiated a defense of holy images. After his death, his writings played an important role at the Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD) which met to settle the icon dispute.
I gave this book four stars for some confusing language that John used to defend some images for devotional purposes.
WHAT JOHN BELIEVES
I believe in one God, the source of all things, without beginning, uncreated, immortal, everlasting, incomprehensible, bodiless, invisible, uncircumscribed, without form.
I believe in one supersubstantial being, one divine Godhead in three entities, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and I adore Him alone with the worship of latreia (worship).
I adore one God, one Godhead but three Persons, God the Father, God the Son made flesh, and God the Holy Ghost, one God.
GOD CONDEMNS IDOLATRY
You see that God condemns the adoration of any created thing more than the Creator, not to give the worship of latreia except to Him alone.
âI am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image (idol), or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God (Deut 5:6-9).
You see that God forbids image-making on account of idolatry, and that it is impossible to make an image of the immeasurable, uncircumscribed, invisible God.
When âthe Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire, you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form, only a voiceâ (Deut 4:12).
God said to Moses, âYou cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!â (Ex 33:20).
JOHN WORSHIPS THE PHYSICAL CHRIST
I do not adore creation more than the Creator, but I adore the Creature (Jesus) created as I am, that He might elevate our nature and make us partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Together with my Lord and King I worship Him clothed in flesh. His flesh endures after its assumption. The Word was made flesh through union (καθ ÏÏοÏÏαÏιν). Therefore I venture to draw an image having become visible for our sake through flesh and blood. I do not draw an image of the immortal Godhead. For it is impossible to represent a spirit. How can you depict the invisible? How can you picture the inconceivable? How can you give expression to the limitless, the immeasurable, the invisible? How can you give form to immensity? How can you paint immortality? How can you localize mystery? But when the invisible God takes upon Himself the body of flesh, then you may draw His likeness, and show it to anyone willing to contemplate Him.
IMAGES IN CREATION
âFor since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been madeâ (Romans 1:20).
We see images in creation which remind us faintly of God when, for instance, we speak of the holy and adorable Trinity, images by the sun, or light, or burning rays, or by a running fountain, or a full river.
I do not worship matter. I worship the God who became matter for my sake, and worked out my salvation through matter.
The ARK of the COVENANT
God ordered the ark to be made of imperishable wood, and to be gilded inside and outside, and the ten commandments to be put in it, and the staff and the golden urn containing the manna, for a remembrance of the past. Who can say these were not images? They were in sight of all the people. They were not worshiped for themselves. The people were led through them to remember past signs and to worship the God of wonders. They were images to serve as recollections.
âTHE IMAGE LEADS TO THE PROTOTYPEâ
St Basil said, âHonoring the image leads to the prototype.â
From the time that the Word became flesh He is as we are in everything except sin, and of our nature, without confusion. He has deified our flesh for ever, and we are in very deed sanctified through His Godhead and the union of His flesh with it. And from the time that God, the Son of God, impassible by reason of His Godhead, chose to suffer voluntarily He wiped out our debt, also paying for us a most full and noble ransom. We are truly free through the sacred blood of the Son pleading for us with the Father. And we are indeed delivered from corruption since He descended into hell to the souls detained there though centuries (1 Pet 3:19) and gave the captives their freedom, sight to the blind (Mt 12:29), and chaining the strong one. He rose in the plenitude of His power, keeping the flesh of immortality which He had taken for us. And since we have been born again of water and the Spirit, we are truly sons and heirs of God.
MYSTERY FROM THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
John of Damascus believes that the Church was set in order by patristic traditions, both written and unwritten. As the written Gospel has been preached in the whole world, so has it been an unwritten tradition in the whole world to represent in images Christ, the incarnate God, and His mother Mary, and the saints, to adore the Cross, and to pray towards the east.
He believes that the written Scriptures and certain non-written apostolic traditions were equally nourishing for spiritual growth. He quotes St Basil, âIn the cherished teaching and dogmas of the Church we hold some things by written documents; others we received in mystery from the apostolic tradition.â Both are of equal value for the soul's growth. For if we neglect unwritten customs, as not having much weight we bury in oblivion the most pertinent facts connected with the Gospel. How do we know the Holy place of Calvary, or the Holy Sepulcher? Does it not rest on a tradition handed down from father to son? It is written that our Lord was crucified on Calvary, and buried in a tomb, which Joseph hewed out of the rock (Mt 27:60), but it is unwritten tradition which identifies these spots. The apostle Paul said, âTherefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned either by word, or by our epistleâ (2 Thess 2:15).
However, this reviewer understands the âtraditionsâ that are mentioned refer to the apostles' teachings, specifically here in this context the teachings about the return of Jesus Christ. Paul beseeches them, âwith regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him (v.1), that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come (v.2). Let no one deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy come first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destructionâ (v.3). The Thessalonians were worried that Jesus had already come back, but Paul taught that certain events had to take place before He returned. He tells them to stand fast in what they have been taught by the apostles, either orally in person, or in their writings.
MOSES PREFIGURED CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION WITH AN IMAGE
In Numbers 21:8, God told Moses to âMake a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard, and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, will liveâ (Num 21:8). Jesus referred to this when He told Nicodemus, âAs Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted upâ (John 3:14).
So if a man makes an image of Christ crucified, and he is asked who He is, he replies, âIt is Christ our Lord, who became incarnate for us.â So we worship His flesh, not for the nature of flesh, but for the Godhead united to that flesh.
If we make an image of the invisible God, we would do wrong. For it is impossible to make a statue of One who is without body, invisible, boundless and formless. Again, if we make statues of men and hold them to be gods, we would be impious. But we make the image of Christ, who became incarnate and visible on earth, a man among men through His unspeakable goodness.
All worship is for God. Honor shown to the image is given to the original that it represents.
SIX TYPES OF IMAGES
1. Christ is âthe image of the invisible Godâ (Col 1:15).
He reveals the Father. âNo one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (John 1:18).
The Holy Spirit is the image of the Son. âNo one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spiritâ (1 Cor 12:3).
2. The foreknowledge of God. Everything has already been determined by God's eternal and unchanging counsel. Images and figures of what He is to do in the future are called predeterminations by the holy Dionysius the Areopagite. The things predetermined by Him were characterized and immutability fixed before they took place.
3. Mankind is made in God's image (Gen 1:26,27).
4. Figures and types set forth by Scripture. Immaterial things are clothed in form and shape for our intellectual contemplation. We see images in created things which remind us of divine tokens (Rom 1:20). Sun, light, brightness, and running water remind us of the Trinity.
5. Reminders of future events. Healing by looking at a serpent on a standard foreshadows our healing from Christ on the Cross.
6. Remembrances of past events, such as miracles or good deeds, for us to emulate, or of wicked deeds, for us to shun. This image is of two kinds, either through the written word in books, where the word represents the thing, or through a visible object, as when God commanded the urn and rod be placed in the ark for a lasting memory.
FIVE KINDS OF ADORATION
1. Latreia is the worship we give to God alone. âAll things are Your servantsâ (Ps 119:91). Some worship willingly. Others worship unwillingly in spite of not knowing God.
2. The worship of admiration and desire we give to God on account of His glory. He alone is worthy of praise, being Himself the cause of all glory and all good.
3. Thanksgiving for the good we have received. âAll things have been created through Him and for Himâ (Col 1:16).
4. We ask God to satisfy our needs and desires, recognizing that without Him we neither do nor possess anything good.
5. The worship of contrition and confession. As sinners we worship God, and prostrate ourselves before Him, needing His forgiveness.
SEVEN KINDS OF WORSHIP in SCRIPTURE
1. We worship those PLACES IN WHICH GOD HAS RESTED, such as in His saints and in His holy Mother Mary. These are the ones who are made like to God as far as possible by God's indwelling. âI will walk among you, and be your God, and you shall be My peopleâ (Lev 26:12). They are to be worshiped not on their own account, but as possessing God who is worshipful by nature.
2. We worship creatures by honoring those PLACES OR PERSONS WHOM GOD HAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORK OF OUR SALVATION. For instance, I (John of Damascus) venerate Mount Sinai, Nazareth, the stable at Bethlehem, and the cave, the sacred mount of Golgotha, the wood of the Cross, the nails and sponge and reed (at Christ's crucifixion), the sacred and saving lance, the dress and tunic, the linen cloths, the swathing clothes, the holy tomb, the source of our resurrection, the sepulcher, the holy mountain of Zion and the mountain of Olives, the Pool of Bethsaida and the sacred garden of Gethsemane, and similar spots. I cherish them and and everything connected with God's name, not on their own account, but because they show forth the divine power, and through them it pleased God to being about our salvation.
3. OBJECTS DEDICATED TO GOD. The holy Gospels and other sacred books, sacred vessels, chalices, thuribles, candelabra, and altars.
4. IMAGES SEEN BY THE PROPHETS. Aaron's rod, the figure of Our Lady's virginity, the urn, and the tabernacle.
5. The WORSHIP OF EACH OTHER as having upon us the mark of God, fulfilling the law of charity (Eph 5:21).
6. The WORSHIP OF THOSE IN POWER AND AUTHORITY. âGive to all men their duesâ (Rom 13:7).
7. The WORSHIP OF SERVANTS TOWARD THEIR MASTERS, as when Abraham bought the double cave from the sons of Emmor (Gen 23:7,12).
This reviewer believes that John of Damascus made his job of defining the true worship of God too difficult by applying the word âworshipâ to activities which should have been described by other words. For example, in number 5 above, the obligation of Christians to love one another because Christ lives within them should not be referred to as âworship.â âCharityâ is a better word. In number six, we don't âworshipâ governmental authorities, we âobeyâ them. John weakens his argument against violating God's commands to not worship anyone but Him by applying the word âworshipâ too broadly.
CONCLUSIONS
John of Damascus clearly loved and worshiped the one true Triune God. He distinguishes between worshiping God and honoring man-made images of Christ, His Cross, His mother Mary, and the saints who were noted for their closeness to God. However, he could have been more clear and precise in the language he used to make these distinctions. For example, he gives examples of seven types of âworshipâ in Scripture. He uses the word âlatreiaâ as referring to worship reserved for God alone. But he also uses the word âworshipâ to refer to honor we pay to human beings (the saints and Mary) who are devout. This can be very confusing to new and young Christians who are learning to âworshipâ God and no one else but God. The words âhonor,â ârespect,â and âadmirationâ would be more appropriately applied to devout human beings and keeping the word âworshipâ separate and reserved for God alone. We must treat God much differently and more distinguished than anyone else.
âI am God, and there is no one like Meâ (Isaiah 46:9).
John refers to places and objects âconnected with God's nameâ with the words âworship,â âhonor,â âcherish,â and âvenerateâ while maintaining a distinction of giving âlatreiaâ only to God. Again, this could only lead to confusion. Sacred places and objects can be certainly be admired for the part they play in the salvation story, but our interest in them should PALE next to our worship of the âhigh and exalted Oneâ (Isaiah 57:15). How much attention should be given to the lance that pierced Jesus' side and the sponge soaked with vinegar to quench His thirst? In fact, if we never visit Bethlehem where Jesus was born or Golgotha where He died, we can truly worship Him âin spirit and in truthâ right where we are, every minute of every day. The woman at the well said to Jesus, âOur fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people [the Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.â Jesus said to her, âWoman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthâ (John 4:20-24).
Technically, John of Damascus is not wrong in defending some devotional benefit from pictures and images of Christ, His cross, events such as His birth, miracles, death, and resurrection. He would have had a stronger argument if he had made it quite clear that pictures and images should always be subordinate to the use of the Scriptures in worshiping God.
âThis I know, that God is for me; in God whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trustâ (Ps 56:9-11).
The Scriptures, being the Word of God, must be given highest priority in worshiping God.
King David said, âO how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the dayâ (Ps 119:97).
Jesus compared the Bible with physical food, âMan shall not live on bread alone, but on EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of Godâ (Matt 4:4).
The best information we have about who God is, was given to us by God Himself in the Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit inspired (2 Pet 2:20,21). We could not have known God had He not revealed Himself to us. It is by praying His very words back to Him, that we can give Him our highest devotion.
âYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Meâ (John 5:39).
