The Understanding of the Sacraments in John of Damascus’ Theology
Résumé
The final chapters of John of Damascus’ Expositio fidei are usually considered incoherent and labelled capita diversa. In a previous paper (Kontouma 2006 and 2015), I suggested some ways of interpreting these chapters within the theological project of John of Damascus. More specifically, concerning chs. 81–92, I had argued that they constituted a whole related to the ‘means of Salvation bequeathed by the Lord’. That is the subject I wish to explore further in the present paper. Focusing on the sole text of Expos., I will examine the first part of this unit, namely chs. 81–86, to highlight its thematic coherence as well as its particular interest. This shall also provide a first overview of the sacramental doctrine expressed by their author. Inter alia, my contribution is intended to illustrate with a particular example the theme of the workshop ‘John of Damascus: more than a Compiler’.