Welcome back to another episode of Five Minutes in Church History.

On this episode we are talking about John of Damascus.

Now we know Damascus today it is the capital city of Syria, a largely Muslim city and a

largely Muslim country.

In Bible times we find the first reference to Damascus back in Genesis 14.

And then there's the book of Acts, Acts chapter 9 specifically and Paul's visit there

with his vision on the road to Damascus, his conversion in that city and then his rather

dramatic exit at night in a basket over the wall.

So we know all about Damascus but who is John of Damascus?

Well he was born in that city in either the year 675 or the year 676.

And we think he died in the year 749 and likely in a monastery near Jerusalem.

He is a significant figure in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

In 635 before John's birth Damascus came under Muslim rule.

And John's grandfather and father were both Arab Christians who held various roles in that

Muslim government and John apparently followed in their footsteps.

He had been privately educated by tutors.

He knew Arabic in Greek.

He would have had what we would call today a classical education.

And he started off his life as a civil servant.

But sometime in the first decade of the 8th century right around the year 705 or 706

it appears that John left behind that civil service and entered the monastery and was ordained.

And from there he left his mark.

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