Saint John of Damascus expresses himself in remarkably scientific terms when addressing decidedly unscientific popular legends found in the two short treatises/ fragments below, translated here from the original Greek. The modern reader may still find fault with his easy deference to written authority, but Saint John’s dispassionate application of Scripture, theological principles, and objective scientific observation while debunking contemporary superstition deserve our admiration. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first appearance of these fragments in English…