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

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THE "FONS SCIENTI/E."
65
accordingly be the less impropriety in beginning our
survey of the extant works l of John of Damascus
with those which confessedly belong to his monastic
life. Of these the first in order of importance is the
Fons Scientiae,"
or Source of Knowledge."
Under this title is
comprised a group of three
works, each complete in itself, but forming to
They
gether an encyclopaedia of Christian theology.
are (i) "Capita Philosophical (2) De Hceresibus
Liber," (3) Expositio accurata Fidei Orthodoxae."
The general title of Source, or Well-Spring of
Knowledge (Pege Gnoseos] is given by the author
himself, at the end of the second chapter of the first
treatise, in which he says that his intention is to sketch
out an epitome of all knowledge. To this end, he
will first clear and strengthen the intellectual vision
by help of the best philosophical system he knew,
that of Aristotle ;
then he will pass in review the
erroneous opinions of heretics, from the earliest times
to his own ;
and lastly, he will set forth an exposition
of divine truth. From the dedication to Cosmas,
1
It
may be mentioned that the first printed edition of any
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portion of Damascenus was that of a Latin version of the De
Fide Orthodoxa," by Jacobus Faber, in 1507. The first Greek
edition in print was that of the same treatise, with additions, at
Verona, in 1531. The first
approach to a collected edition of
the works, still only in a Latin translation, was that by Gravius
of Bayeux, published at Cologne in 1546. Passing over other
editions, we come to the great one of the French Dominican
Lequien, in two vols., fol., Paris, 1712. This has been re
printed, with the addition of some doubtful pieces, in the series
of the Abbe Migne, 3 vols., Paris, 1864 ; and it is to this
that all references will be made.