For more than five hundred years the life and work of John of Damascus (c. 655-c.745) have been the subject of a very extensive literature, scholarly and popular, in which it is often difficult to get one's bearings. Through the studies included here (of which 6 appear in a translation into English made specially for this volume), Vassa Kontouma provides a critical review of this literature and attempts to answer several open questions: the author and date of composition of the official Life of John, the philosophical significance of the Dialectica (a study which has its first publication here), the original structure of the Exposition of the Orthodox faith, the identity of ps.-Cyril, the authenticity of the Letter on Great Lent, and questions of Mariology. She also opens new vistas for research along four main lines: the life of John of Damascus and its sources, Neochalcedonian philosophy, systematic theology in Byzantium, and Christian practices under the Umayyads.

About the Author
Vassa Kontouma has taught Orthodox Christianity at the A0/00cole pratique des Hautes etudes (Paris) since 2000, whilst also undertaking research at the Centre d'Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance (UMR 8167 and Labex RESMed). Academic director of the library of the Institut franAais d'etudes byzantines (ICP, Paris) since 2004, she was also elected President of the IFEB in 2013.


Book Information
ISBN 9780367599218
Author Vassa Kontouma
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g