Theodor Abū Qurra
Theodor Abū Qurra (* around 740 in Edessa ; † around 820 ) was the earliest Christian thinker of the Arabic language and a Melchite theologian. Abu Qurra is an honorary title and means father of comfort.
Life
There is little reliable data about his life. Theodor was born in Edessa, which was then home to a small Chalcadonian community. There he received a first-class profane education in philosophy, medicine and rhetoric. It is believed that when he was younger he was a monk at the Monastery of St. Sabas in Palestine , where he came into contact with and was influenced by the works of John of Damascus . He became Melkite bishop of Harran in Mesopotamia . In Harran, he also had a disputation with local Muslim communities under the eyes of the caliph al-Ma'mūn . There are 43 known works by Abu Qurra in Greek and a large number of works in Arabic. He wrote 30 essays in Syriac , they are considered lost. His works deal with the Trinity and image worship. He also dealt with Islam and had a not insignificant influence on the formation of dogmas in Islam, for example on the controversial ban on images in Islam .
Works
- Johannes Damascenus a . Theodor Abù Qurra, Writings on Islam. Annotated Greek-German text edition by Reinhold Glei u. Adel Theodor Khoury ( Corpus Islamo-Christianum , Series Graeca, 3), Altenberge 1995;
- Lamoreaux, John: Theodore Abū Qurrah , Provo , Utah : Brigham Young University Press 2005
literature
- Georg Graf: The writings of Theodor Abù Qurra, Bishop of Harran (approx. 740-820) . Paderborn 1910 ( online [PDF; 17.5 MB ; accessed on November 29, 2014]).
- Sidney Griffith: Faith and Reason in Christian Kalām: Theodore Abū Qurrah on Discerning the True Religion . In: Jørgen Nielsen, Samir Khalil Samir (Ed.): Christian Arabic Apologetics during the Abbasid Period (750-1258) . Studies in the History of Religions, Volume 63, Brill, Leiden 1994, pp. 1-43.
- John Lamoreaux: The Biography of Theodore Abū Qurrah Revisited . In: Dumbarton Oakes Papers 56 (2002), pp. 25-40.
- Louis Cheikho: Traité inédit de Théodore Abou-Qurra (Abucara), évêque Melchite de Harran (approx. 740–820) on l'Existence de Dieu et de la Vraie Religion . Beyrouth 1912.
- Samir Khalil Samir : Abù Qurrah et les Maronites . In: POC 41 (1991), pp. 25-33.
- Samir Khalil Samir: Le traité sur les icônes d'Abù Qurrah mentionné par Eutychius . In: OCP 58: 461-474 (1992).
Web links
- Wolfgang Schwaigert: Thodoros Abu Qurra. July 10, 1998, accessed November 29, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Ignace Dick: Theodore Abuqurra - Traité de l'existence du Créateur et de la vraie religion (Textes des Etudes de Littérature Arabe Chrétienne Ancienne sous la direction de Mgr Néophitos Edelby avec la collaboration du P. Kh. Samir, SJ, Volume 3, Librairie Saint-Paul, Kounieh / Lebanon 1982), p. XI
- ↑ Anonymi auctoris chronicon, ad A, C. 1234 pertinens, trad. A. Abouna, CSCO, vol. 354; Syri t. 154, Louvain 1974, p. 16
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Theodor Abū Qurra |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Melchite theologian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 740 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Edessa |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 820 |