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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.

In spite of his [[Christian]] background, his family held a high hereditary public office with the [[Islam|Moslem]] rulers of Damascus, lead led by caliph Abd al-Malik. He succeeded his father in his position upon his death; ''John de Damascene'' was made ''protosymbullus'', or chief councilor of Damascus.

It was around his term in office that burst of insurgence by the [[iconoclasm|iconoclasts]] began to appear in the form of [[heresy]], actions which disturbed the Church of the East. In 726, in disregard of the protests of Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, Emperor [[Leo the Isaurian]] issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their exhibition in public places. A talented writer and in the secure surroundings of the caliph's court, ''John de Damascene'' initiated his literary defense against the monarch in three ''Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images.'' This was the earliest of his works and the one which earned him a reputation. Not only did he attack the monarch, but his use of a simpler witting style brought the controversy to the common people, inciting revolt among those of [[Christian]] faith.

Unable to punish the writer openly, [[Leo the Isaurian]] managed to get possession of a manuscript written and signed by ''John de Damascene'', which he used to forge a letter from John to the Isaurian monarch offering to betray into his hands the city of Damascus. Despite John's earnest advocation to his innocence, the caliph dismissed his plea and discharged him from his post, ordering his right hand, which he used for writing, to be severed at the wrist.

He died in 749 as a revered Father of the Church and is now universally recognized as a [[saint]].

* Three ''"Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying the Holy Images"'' - These treatises where among his earliest expositions in response to the edict by [[Leo the Isaurian]] of Constantinople, which banned the worship or exhibition of [[icons|holy images]].