The Reception of Aristotle in “On Icons” by St. John Damascene

Abstract

This text will explore Aristotle’s influence on the defense of the veneration of holy images in St. John of Damascus’s Three Apologetic Treatises against Those Decrying the Holy Images. Written between 726 and 730, this work is a foundational document from the initial phase of the conflict over sacred images and is crucial to the Church’s argumentation on worship. St. John of Damascus’s apologetic approach is focused on refuting the iconoclasts and affirming the reverence for holy icons. As a systematizer of Christian philosophy, St. John applied Aristotelian philosophical principles to the exposition of Orthodox theology. His work, the first of its kind in this period, provides a detailed defense of religious images and includes a comprehensive theory.