This is the *FIRST* Systematic Theology of the Christian Church. Bookmark this extremely valuable resource by St. John of Damascus: you'll want to read it over and over again!
Written by a man who worked under Arian Islamic rule in Damascus, St. John of Damascus (676-749 A.D.) who lived at the time when the Church was still united, he is considered a saint in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism, and is also commemorated by the Lutherans, Anglicans, and Episcopalians.
St. John is one of the most trusted Orthodox theologians whose inspired hand penned the defense of icons, wrote hymns for the Orthodox Pascha Matins service, the Orthodox Funeral Service, and the entire Book of the Eight Tones (the “Octoechos”). According to one tradition, iconoclast Emperor Leo III reportedly sent forged documents to the Muslim caliph which implicated John in a plot to attack Damascus. The caliph then ordered John's right hand be cut off and hung up in public view. Some days afterwards, John prayed fervently for the restitution of his hand before the icon of the Theotokos: thereupon, his hand is said to have been miraculously restored.
Arianism is the heresy which teaches that Christ was not pre-eternal God incarnate, but only a created being, a prophet or moral teacher. After Arius was excommunicated at the First Ecumenical Council (AD 325), the Arians were exiled to the Arabian penninsula desert. The expression "Arian Islamic" indicates that Islam, which originated in that desert, was established when Mohammed picked up some Arian teaching. In addition, "iconoclasm" is related because it forbade the veneration of icons, calling it "idolatry," which Mohammed also picked up and added it to his Islamic teaching. Some people today who call themselves "Christians" believe that Christ was just a moral teacher or prophet, and accept the idea that any images in their houses of worship would amount to idolatry... very much like Islam!
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