21 September 2009

Patristic Quote of the Day

Isaiah saw the coal. But coal is not plain wood but wood united with fire; in the like manner also the bread of communion is not plain bread but bread united with divinity. -- St. John of Damascus [NPNF2 9:83 - cited in The Lutheran Study Bible on Isaiah 6:7

2 comments:

Edward Reiss said...

I think I like this analogy better than the heat in the hot iron one, because it always seemed to me we would not say "this is heat", but we may say "this is burned wood" or "this is charcoal".

Chris said...

St. John of Damascus, always good stuff. He wasn't called Chrysorroas (gold-streaming) for nothing..