Talk:John of Damascus

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Contents 1 2008 Comments 2 First to condemn Muhammad? 3 Barlaam... 4 Regarding the Pictures 5 Ethnicity 6 Yahya Ibn Mansur? 7 WikiProject Class Rating

[edit] 2008 Comments

This is singularly inept biography. I imagine that it needs to be totally rewritten.

One matter that I can contribute to is his family even though what I say is, in fact, original research in the sense that I made the deductions. Nevertheless surely someone else has made the same deductions and published them in referencible form. His father's name is said to be Mansur. This, of course, needs a reference. His father is also said to be that Sargun ibn Mansur who was Mu'awiya's chief administrator. The time span between Sargun and John is too long. Hence Sargun was his grandfather and Mansur ibn Sargun his father. Unless we have evidence to the contrary it seems necessary to assume that the family lost all their caliphate offices when Abd al-Malik Arabized the government (AH 70-75) which is probably before John was born.

In any case, this article is in desperate need of better references. I cleaned up the ones that were there. 66.234.194.83 (talk) 20:47, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] First to condemn Muhammad?

It is also notable that he may have been the first Christian to condemn Muhammad in writing (in De haeresibus), calling him "the forerunner of the Antichrist"(podromos tou antichristou) and a false prophet (pseudoprophetes). (PG, XCIV, 764A, 764B). The Jade Knight 05:37, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Barlaam...

... was almost certainly not written by John. See R. Volk, ed., Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (Walter de Gruyter, 2006), brief summary here. Altering article accordingly, --Javits2000 13:52, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Regarding the Pictures

I'm considering a change in the picture used, as it's a little choppy (both are, but I'm more concerned with the top image). Can anyone give me an opinion regarding the following images? Forgive that I'm not so familiar with the image policy, so if there could be a conflict with the rules, let me know. Here are the images:

• Arabic, but good quality.
• Rough edges, could be cropped.
• Used on OrthodoxWiki, and better than the second picture (which is hopelessly grainy).
• A bit wide, but very clear.
• Not my favorite, but a good size.

I could also attempt to photograph the icon of him at my church when I get the chance, if the above images are unavailable for use. Please let me know which would work best. --C.Logan 14:42, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ethnicity

Sorry C.Logan if I misunderstood you. I agree with the version now. Thanks--Aziz1005 12:11, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yahya Ibn Mansur?

The correct name of St John was Yahya ibn Sarjun. His father was Sarjun b. Mansur. His grandfather Mansur ibn Sarjun. --Cloj 18:26, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

I've found one source to this effect; all other sources, while not listing his Arabic name as such, state his family name as "Mansur/Monsur". The translation of his full name being "John Mansur" is almost universally excepted, and the Catholic Encyclopedia states "Mansur was probably the name of John's father". Do you have any reliable sources to support your argument?--C.Logan 19:51, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject Class Rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 04:11, 10 November 2007 (UTC)