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

204 ST -
JOHN OF DAMASCUS.
it is plain that, until some scholar has arisen, with
the ability and patience to give the world a critical
and exhaustive edition of the works of this Father,
any estimate of his position must be to some degree
tentative. If this allowance be made, one or two
reflections seem to suggest themselves as just and
natural.
The one which may first occur to the reader, if he
has followed the review of the writings of Damascenus
given above, is that likely
to arise from the latest
impression on his mind the impression produced
by what have been called the doubtful writings. If
disposed to agree with those critics who think the
"
on "Panegyric St. Barbara," for exam pie, to be genuine,
he can hardly help regarding him, with Voss, 1 as
in plerisque credulus. ;
And this charge of credulity
will, I fear, under any circumstances, have to be
admitted. The degree of it will of course vary con
siderably, according to the verdict finally pronounced
upon this or that particular treatise in respect of
genuineness. One such treatise, for example (I mean
that Concerning those who have died in the faith?) is
rejected by writers like Suarez, Bellarmine, and
Lequien himself, not only from its want of accordance
in doctrine with admitted works of Damascenus, but
from the monstrous fables it contains. The general
subject of it is the benefit which the departed may
receive from the prayers of the living. And, as
1
2
"De Hist. Groec." ii., c. 24.
"De his qui in fide dormierunt," Migne s ed., vol. ii., pp.
248-277.