st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul
st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul
st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul
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"<br />
"<br />
92 ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS.<br />
remarkable a feature in the early religious sy<strong>st</strong>ems <strong>of</strong><br />
the peninsula, and which was modified, rather than<br />
extinguished, by Mahometanism, is not here joined<br />
by Damascenus to the two preceding idolatries. From<br />
the time <strong>of</strong> Heraclius, whose reign (611-641)<br />
covered the chief events <strong>of</strong> Mahomet s life, Damas<br />
cenus goes on to say that these pagan super<strong>st</strong>itions<br />
were changed. The new prophet, happening to meet<br />
with the scriptures <strong>of</strong> the Old and New Te<strong>st</strong>aments,<br />
and with a living expounder in the form <strong>of</strong> an Arian<br />
monk 1 (or, according to another reading,<br />
"with<br />
Hebrews, and so-called Chri<strong>st</strong>ians, Arians and Ne<strong>st</strong>orians<br />
formed a<br />
")<br />
composite sy<strong>st</strong>em <strong>of</strong> his own from<br />
these various sources. God, according to the new<br />
religion, is the one Maker <strong>of</strong> all things, neither be<br />
gotten nor begetting. Chri<strong>st</strong> is the Word and Spirit<br />
<strong>of</strong> God, but a created being and a servant, born<br />
without man s intervention <strong>of</strong> Mary, who is<br />
identified<br />
with Miriam, the si<strong>st</strong>er <strong>of</strong> Moses and Aaron. 2<br />
Jesus<br />
was begotten <strong>of</strong> her by the Logos, or Word <strong>of</strong><br />
God. He was a prophet <strong>of</strong> God. But what the<br />
Jews in their wickedness crucified was not Chri<strong>st</strong>, but<br />
a mere shadow. This form <strong>of</strong> Docetism, it may be<br />
1<br />
This <strong>st</strong>atement may have arisen from the <strong>st</strong>ory <strong>of</strong> his meet<br />
ing with the monk Bahira, on one <strong>of</strong> his journeys into Syria.<br />
Sir W. Muir in his<br />
The <strong>st</strong>ory is discussed by<br />
Life <strong>of</strong> Maho<br />
met," i., p. 35.<br />
- This is the inference commonly drawn from the words <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Koran, "Mary, the daughter <strong>of</strong> Imram (i.e. Amram). Sale<br />
tries to save Mahomet from the reproach <strong>of</strong> so <strong>st</strong>range an<br />
anachronism by giving another interpretation to the passage.<br />
See his note on it in Sura iii., and also Sura xvi., sub Jin.