CREATOR OR CREATION? by Saint John of Damascus

I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter Who became matter for my sake . . .

Saint John of Damascus

“All we know of an angel is that it is incorporeal, immaterial, and only by comparing it with God-who is incomparable-can we see that it has some density and body after all, since in reality only God is truly immaterial and incorporeal.”

“Think of the Father as a spring of life begetting the Son like a river and the Holy Spirit like a sea, for the spring and the river and sea are all one nature. Think of the Father as a root, and of the Son as a branch, and the Spirit as a fruit, for the substance in these three is one. The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Spirit as heat.”

“In former times, God, Who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God Whom I see.

“The whole earth is a living icon of the face of God. ... I do not worship matter. I worship the Creator of matter Who became matter for my sake, Who willed to take His abode in matter, Who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation! I honor it, but not as God. Because of this I salute all remaining matter with reverence, because God has filled it with his grace and power. Through it my salvation has come to me.”