===Childhood===

Although he was brought up under the [[Islam|Muslim]] rule of Damascus, this was not to affect his or his family's [[Christian]] faith or cause any grievances with the Muslim countrymen who held him in high esteem. To the extent that his father held a high hereditary public office with duties of chief financial officer for the caliph, Abdul Malekunder, apparently as head of the tax department for Syria.

When John reached the age of twenty-three, his father sought out to find a [[Christian]] tutor who could provide the best education for his children available at the time. Records show that while spending some time in the market place John's father came across several captives, imprisoned as a result of a raid for prisoners of war that had taken place in the coasts of Italy. This man, a Sicilian monk by the name of Cosmas, turned out to be an erudite of great knowledge and wisdom. John's father arranged for the release of this man and appointed him tutor to his son. Under the instruction of Cosmas, John made great advances in fields of study such as music, astronomy and theology. According to his biographer, he soon equaled Diophantus in algebra and Euclid in geometry.

[[el:Ιωάννης Δαμασκηνός]]

[[es:Juan Damasceno]]

[[ro:Ioan Damaschin]]

[[ru:Иоанн Дамаскин]]