St. John of Damascus’s Critique of Islam

Orthodoxinfo ^ | 794 | Saint John of Damascus

[kosta50]

Thank you Cookie. It's a keeper.

[kosta50]

And 1200 years later, not a whole lot has changed

Man-made religions are more popular, because they are tailored to man's passions. It is a real miracle that they didn't spread even more.

[G Larry]

BUMP!

[Kolokotronis]

" You get a lot of copy-cats?"

Give that man a cigar!!!!!

[Salvation]

BTTT on the Optional Memorial of St. John of Damascus for the Roman Church, December 4, 2006! (See the Mass Readings for today.)

[Campion]

Notice that St. John calls Islam a "heresy," that is, a twisting and distortion of Christianity, not a pagan religion.

[wmfights]

"Notice that St. John calls Islam a "heresy," that is, a twisting and distortion of Christianity, not a pagan religion."
______________________

I think it is inaccurate to call Islam a heresy. I think Islam is a cult. They do not worship the Trinitarian God. They deny the diety of Jesus and have rewritten Scripture to pervert them to their own ends.

It is more likely that their cult originated from the pagan worship of the moon god "al-ilah". They put crescent moons on top of their mosques and Ramadan is the month that starts and ends with a crescent moon. Neither of these aspects of Islam have anything to do with the Scriptures I know.

[Campion]

I think it is inaccurate to call Islam a heresy. I think Islam is a cult.

All cults are (at least in part) heresies, aren't they?

It is more likely that their cult originated from the pagan worship of the moon god "al-ilah".

This what we've been discussing on the other thread. "Al-ilah" is simply Arabic for "the God". Arabic-language Christian Bibles translate the word "God" ("Deus" in Latin; "Theos" in Greek) as "Allah".

There's no question that there was an element of Arabic paganism mixed into Islam from the beginning. (Some Muslim scholars even admit this.)

They put crescent moons on top of their mosques and Ramadan is the month that starts and ends with a crescent moon.

The crecent moon was a Byzantine Greek symbol before it was a Muslim one. The Muslims stole or borrowed it.

[wmfights]

"All cults are (at least in part) heresies, aren't they?"
_____________________________________

No, heresy is defined as wrong belief and they have no belief in Jesus or the Trinitarian God.

[Campion]

They would object to your saying they "have no belief in Jesus," but they do deny his divinity.

Those sound like heresies to me.

[Salvation]

Doctors of the Catholic Church

Saint John Damascene is the Icon and Image Doctor. He is most famous as one who defended and favored the veneration of sacred images, holy pictures, statues and icons. His writings in the Eastern Church are what the Summa of St Thomas Aquinas are to the West.

John guarded the Church's faith and traditions zealously. His dedicated life of prayer afforded him to put his literary and preaching talents at the service of God. He was a recipent of many miracles. Praying changed everything into beauty for him.

St Damascene spent all his life under Moslem rule and, like all the doctors, had an extraordinary devotion to the Mother of God. It was reported that John received a total healing from a wound inflicted on him through the intercession of St. Mary.

St John Damascene 676-749. The Icon or Image Doctor, Feast Dec 4th.

[kosta50]

Wow, that’s an old one, Salvation! But always appropriate! :) Thanks.