Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Why I Am Catholic

Home
5 Ways Of Worshiping God (By A Saint Who Was A Dhimmi)

5 Ways Of Worshiping God (By A Saint Who Was A Dhimmi)

Last updated on: January 24, 2017 at 6:53 pm by Frank Weathers

5 Ways Of Worshiping God (By A Saint Who Was A Dhimmi) 2017-01-24T18:53:02-05:00 Frank Weathers

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

St. John of Damacus, Public Domain

I’ve been reading some of the selections on the YIMCatholic Bookshelf. As it turns out, a good number of the books in that collection are written by authors whose names begin with the letter S. Saint this, or Saint that, for example.

Sometimes these folks have brief passages in their works that are both short and helpful. In fact, some of them are like the listicles that the interwebs have come to know and love. Like the one below, which was written by St. John Damascene.

Did you know that this particular Doctor of the Church was a Dhimmi living in Damascus when his neighbors were mostly adherents of Islam? This fact didn’t seem to bother him, or them. In fact, it appears that before he headed off to the cloister, he may have served as the chief councilor to the Umayyad Caliph in Damascus.

Let’s get to the listicle alluded to in the title above, shall we? It appears in his Apologia Against Those Who Decry Holy Images. Remember the iconoclasts? Yep. The Doctor from Damascus wasn’t amused when other Christians started being bitten by the politically correct bug waffling over the adoration of icons, and religious art. He torpedoes that whole movement pretty handily.

So, what are the 5 ways of worshiping, or adoring God? St. John thought you’d never ask.

On Adoration.

What is Adoration?

Adoration is a token of subjection,—that is, of submission and humiliation. There are many kinds of adoration.

On the kinds of Adoration.

The first kind is the worship of latreia, which we give to God, who alone is adorable by nature, and this worship is shown in several ways, and first by the worship of servants. All created things worship Him, as servants their master. All things serve Thee, the psalm says. Some serve willingly, others unwillingly; some with full knowledge, willingly, as in the case of the devout, others knowing, but not willing, against their will, as the devil’s. Others, again, not knowing the true God, worship in spite of themselves Him whom they do not know.

The second kind is the worship of admiration and desire which we give to God on account of His essential glory. He alone is worthy of praise, who receives it from no one, being Himself the cause of all glory and all good, He is light, incomprehensible sweetness, incomparable, immeasurable perfection, an ocean of goodness, boundless wisdom, and power, who alone is worthy of Himself to excite admiration, to be worshipped, glorified, and desired.

The third kind of worship is that of thanksgiving for the goods we have received. We must thank God for all created things, and show Him perpetual worship, as from Him and through Him all creation takes its being and subsists. He gives lavishly of His gifts to all, and without being asked. He wishes all to be saved, and to partake of His goodness. He is long-suffering with us sinners. He allows His sun to shine upon the just and unjust, and His rain to fall upon the wicked and the good alike. And being the Son of God, He became one of us for our sakes, and made us partakers of His divine nature, so that we shall be like unto Him, as St John says in his Catholic epistle.

The fourth kind is suggested by the need and hope of benefits. Recognising that without Him we can neither do nor possess anything good, we worship Him, asking Him to satisfy our needs and desires, that we may be preserved from evil and arrive at good.

The fifth kind is the worship of contrition and confession. As sinners we worship God, and prostrate ourselves before Him, needing His forgiveness, as it becomes servants. This happens in three ways. A man may be sorry out of love, or lest he should lose God’s benefits, or for fear of chastisement. The first is prompted by goodness and desire for God himself, and the condition of a son: the second is interested, the third is slavish.

You can find the entire book right here.

Umayyad Caliphate, huh? Hmmm. That rings a bell.

Umayyad Palace (720AD), the Citadel, Amman, Jordan.
Image credit: Connor Eberhart

Doctors of the Church

YIMCatholic Bookshelf

Previous Post

May 14, 2016

Because the Church was Catholic at Pentecost

Next Post

May 16, 2016 BREAKING: SCOTUS Decides Not To Decide On The HHS Mandate UPDATED

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog News Conversion Story Culture Learning Living Nature Prayer Uncategorized Working

Select a Month June 2016 May 2016 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city did Paul write his first letter to the Corinthians from?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ephesus Corinth Rome Athens