8th century

John of Damascus, The Fount of Knowledge: A Compendium of Eastern Dogmatics

John of Damascus, according to Lane the last of the Greek fathers, systematized the teaching of his time in The Fount of Knowledge, in three parts: the Dialectic (the philosophical terms of the doctrines of the Trinity and Christ), the Book of Heresies (103 heresies) and the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (100 chapters). He stressed that he offered not his own conclusions but what had been gathered from the theologians: "like a bee, I must gather all that accords with the truth." In Christology he sets out the Chalcedonian definition with Maximus the Confessor's addition on the two wills and energies. Pelikan notes that the formula "I believe in order to understand" applies also to Maximus and John.