The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus
<p>John of Damascus was an early eighth century theologian in the Jerusalem Patriarchate. His family supplied financial administrators in Syro-Palestine for most of the seventh century, who were involved in surrendering Damascus to the Arabs if not also to the Persians. They thrived in the sec...
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| Формат: | Дипломын ажил |
| Хэл сонгох: | English |
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2016
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| _version_ | 1826308884426391552 |
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| author | Ables, S |
| author2 | Cameron, A |
| author_facet | Cameron, A Ables, S |
| author_sort | Ables, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>John of Damascus was an early eighth century theologian in the Jerusalem Patriarchate. His family supplied financial administrators in Syro-Palestine for most of the seventh century, who were involved in surrendering Damascus to the Arabs if not also to the Persians. They thrived in the sectarian environment under the Umayyads. Numerous Greek <em>Lives</em> paint John in legendary terms; however, these are late and unreliable. I deconstruct the <em>Lives</em> decoupling his timeline from Byzantine Iconoclasm, arguing that there is no evidence and good reason to think that he did not leave the Arab administration because of vexed piety, persecution or administrative language change. Rather, focusing on the chronicler's treatment of John's family, I argue that John left office for his own reasons. I propose that John was instrumental in a <em>quid pro quo</em>: cathedral for patriarchate negotiation. Consequently, the Arabs built the Damascus Mosque on the site of the cathedral church of St John the Baptist, and the (dyothelite) Chalcedonian party moved to Jerusalem, where they reestablished the Jerusalem Patriarchate. Thus, I argue the context of John’s polemical works is Jerusalem and patriarchal policy. Further, I argue that John was commissioned to produce something like 'proto-school' texts in the context of debate in the Anastasis with internal Maronite and external West and East Syrian interlocutors. Then I look at one example of John’s theological creativity to show how this context impinged on his theological program. John appropriates Maximus the Confessor's term <em>perichōrēsis</em> and reduces its scope to the Incarnation while moving it into the doctrine of God for the first time. I show that he does this for polemical reasons in order to contravene each of his interlocutors with a simple biblical rhetorical model providing Chalcedonian monks in debate with a simple formula against better educated foes. This thesis demonstrates that reading John out of context fails to appreciate his creative response to these local exigencies.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:25:55Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:8fc9a6e5-8c62-4e7b-9da4-de8b5e25fbe0 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:25:55Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:8fc9a6e5-8c62-4e7b-9da4-de8b5e25fbe02022-11-14T11:14:45ZThe purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of DamascusThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:8fc9a6e5-8c62-4e7b-9da4-de8b5e25fbe0John, of Damascus, SaintChurch--History of doctrinesMiddle East--JerusalemTheology, Doctrinal--HistoriographyTheology, Doctrinal--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500Maximus, Confessor, Saint, approximately 580-662EnglishORA Deposit2016Ables, SCameron, AEdwards, MBehr, J<p>John of Damascus was an early eighth century theologian in the Jerusalem Patriarchate. His family supplied financial administrators in Syro-Palestine for most of the seventh century, who were involved in surrendering Damascus to the Arabs if not also to the Persians. They thrived in the sectarian environment under the Umayyads. Numerous Greek <em>Lives</em> paint John in legendary terms; however, these are late and unreliable. I deconstruct the <em>Lives</em> decoupling his timeline from Byzantine Iconoclasm, arguing that there is no evidence and good reason to think that he did not leave the Arab administration because of vexed piety, persecution or administrative language change. Rather, focusing on the chronicler's treatment of John's family, I argue that John left office for his own reasons. I propose that John was instrumental in a <em>quid pro quo</em>: cathedral for patriarchate negotiation. Consequently, the Arabs built the Damascus Mosque on the site of the cathedral church of St John the Baptist, and the (dyothelite) Chalcedonian party moved to Jerusalem, where they reestablished the Jerusalem Patriarchate. Thus, I argue the context of John’s polemical works is Jerusalem and patriarchal policy. Further, I argue that John was commissioned to produce something like 'proto-school' texts in the context of debate in the Anastasis with internal Maronite and external West and East Syrian interlocutors. Then I look at one example of John’s theological creativity to show how this context impinged on his theological program. John appropriates Maximus the Confessor's term <em>perichōrēsis</em> and reduces its scope to the Incarnation while moving it into the doctrine of God for the first time. I show that he does this for polemical reasons in order to contravene each of his interlocutors with a simple biblical rhetorical model providing Chalcedonian monks in debate with a simple formula against better educated foes. This thesis demonstrates that reading John out of context fails to appreciate his creative response to these local exigencies.</p> |
| spellingShingle | John, of Damascus, Saint Church--History of doctrines Middle East--Jerusalem Theology, Doctrinal--Historiography Theology, Doctrinal--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500 Maximus, Confessor, Saint, approximately 580-662 Ables, S The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus |
| title | The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus |
| title_full | The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus |
| title_fullStr | The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus |
| title_full_unstemmed | The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus |
| title_short | The purpose of perichōrēsis in the polemical works of John of Damascus |
| title_sort | purpose of perichoresis in the polemical works of john of damascus |
| topic | John, of Damascus, Saint Church--History of doctrines Middle East--Jerusalem Theology, Doctrinal--Historiography Theology, Doctrinal--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500 Maximus, Confessor, Saint, approximately 580-662 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abless thepurposeofperichoresisinthepolemicalworksofjohnofdamascus AT abless purposeofperichoresisinthepolemicalworksofjohnofdamascus |