st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul

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158 ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS.
Cologne edition of his writings, sixty-four consist
entirely of biblical commentary, embracing illustra
tions of almost every portion of the inspired
volume." 1
Such was what one single scholar was doing in our
own land in the early part of the eighth century. We
have now to see how far St. John of Damascus was a
fellow-labourer in the same field.
The first of the three works referred to at the
beginning of this chapter, and which, for shortness,
be termed Loci Selecti,"
consists of a
may
selection of passages, chiefly from the Homilies of
Chrysostom, appended as a running commentary to
the text of St. Paul s Epistles. According to the
exact title given by the author himself, Selections
taken from the Catholic interpretation of John Chry
sostom," it would seem as if he had begun by drawing
his expositions entirely from the writings of that
father. And, in fact, on the Epistles to the Romans
and Corinthians, the commentary is in the main from
his homilies. But on others especially those to the
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians
it is not from Chrysostom but from Theodoret and
Cyril of Alexandria, that the substance of the annota
tions is derived. 2 From the great brevity of the
1
L. A. Buckingham: "The Bible in the Middle Ages"
1853), p. 29. A list of Beda s commentaries is given by Proessor
(
Stubbs in his article under that name in the "Dictionary
of Christian Biography."
2
This is pointed out by Lequien, who also observes that
here are passages in the notes which appear to be written, if
not by Damascene himself, at any rate by some one who lived
after the rise of Nestorianism ;
terms peculiar to that heresy
being used, as in the comment on Col. ii. 9.