Eirini ARTEMI

Published in Manifestations of the Ancient and Medieval World

Keywords: Adam, Christology, John Damascenes, Moses, Orthodox Faith, Paul’s theology, Son of God.

In this paper, we are going to present how John Damascenes used the Pauline Literature to make the treatise An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, mainly the part of Christology. John uses the Pauline epistles in order to speak about the Deity. God gives us the ability to know Him through a mirror. John uses more texts from Paul's epistles than texts of other Church fathers. The passages from epistles are the base for the development of John's dogmatic teaching and arguments. So, by this way, we will reach to the conclusions that the main points in the teaching of John's this work are the some of the main points in the theology of St. Paul mainly. The sin of Adam, and each one’s personal sins, all men are sinners and in need of redemption. In order to save mankind, God sent his Son into the world, born of a woman. Christ communicates his grace and justifies all who believe in him, and are baptized. Christ's grace includes the sending of the Holy Spirit, which constitutes the believer as an adopted child of God. Jesus is the fulfilment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and has established a New Covenant to replace that of Moses; therefore, Christians are not bound by the ceremonial and dietary laws, and circumcision, contained in the Law of Moses. This insight of Paul made Christianity into a religion open to all people.