Babai the Great

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Babai the Great (* around 551 in Beth Ainata; † 628 ) was an important theologian within the Assyrian Church of the East . Babai was born into a wealthy Persian family. He studied at the Nisibis School . He revived the monastic movement of the Assyrian Church of the East. He was also the third abbot of the monastery on Mount Izla, the founder of which was Abraham von Kashkar . He is also known for systematic christology.

Life

Babai the Great was born in Beth Ainata in Beth Zabdai in the Sassanid Empire . Born into a wealthy Persian family, he studied Pahlavi books extensively . He continued his studies at the school of Nisibis under the direction of Abraham of Beth Rabban. Around 571, when the Origenist Henana von Adiabene became the new rector and Abraham von Kaschkar founded a new monastery on Mount Izla above Nisibis, he taught for some time at Xenodocheio of Nisibis. He then joined the newly founded monastery of Abraham on Mount Izla. When Abraham died in 588, Babai left the monastery to establish a monastery with a school in his home country of Beth Zabdai. On his return, Babai became the third abbot of the monastery on Mount Izla.

Abraham of Kashkar began a monastery reform movement that Babai and other disciples continued, as Bar Sauma and the Council of Beth Lapat encouraged monks and nuns to marry. When Babai returned to Mount Izla in 604, he excluded married monks from the monastery and instituted strict discipline, emphasizing a life of prayer and solitude. This resulted in many monks, not only married ones, leaving the monastery, but the Assyrian Church was on Babai's side.

In 604 the Assyrian Catholicos Sabrisho died and a successor had to be chosen. The council rejected King Chosrau II's candidate and chose Gregory instead. When this Catholicos also died in the year 608/609, the royal doctor Gabriel von Schiggar suggested that Henana von Adiabene or one of his students be made Catholic. This proposal terrified the church, but the church was forbidden from designating the Catholicos until the king was deposed and murdered in 628.

In order to circumvent the royal regulation, Babai the Great was made a "visitor to the monasteries" in the north and ruled the church together with Archbishop Mar Aba . This new position allowed him to control the orthodoxy of the monasteries and monks in northern Mesopotamia and to enforce discipline and order.

Babai the Great and Mar Aba thus ruled the Church of the East for 17 years until the king was assassinated in 628. Babai was immediately officially elected Catholicos, but turned down the post. A short time later, at the age of 75 or 77, he was found dead in his monastery cell.

Babai's teachings

Aside from strengthening discipline in the monasteries and administering the church, Babai is known for his Orthodox teachings. Between 610 and 628 the most devastating wars took place between the Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire . First the Persians conquered parts of the Byzantine Empire, which was mainly inhabited by Miaphysites (Monophysites) and Chalcedonians . In order to gain popularity with the newly won provinces, King Chosrau II no longer supported the Assyrian Church. During the Byzantine counter-attack of 622-628, the Miaphysites in particular gained the upper hand, and many villages converted to the Monophysite faith.

Babai's writings

To explain the Nestoric culture and to defend it against the Miaphysites, Babai wrote about 84 writings. He developed a systematic Christology, the only one in Nestorian Mesopotamia. Nothing has survived from his intensive exegetical work on the Bible. To date only two hagiographies on ascetic life and mythology have survived.

The surviving writings show that his main source was Theodor of Mopsuestia , although he also cited some church fathers . There is no evidence that he was able to read Greek , which is why he likely had to rely on translations. He fought mainly against the Miaphysites and the Origenist Henana. They represented Babai's internal enemies. Furthermore, his writings were directed against Mani , Marcion , Bar Daisan , the Messalians and the general loss of discipline since the Council of Beth Lapat.

Babai's most systematic extant script is the Book of Unity , which deals with Christian customs and consists of over 200 pages divided into seven chapters.

An important source for Babai's position against Origen and his successor is his comment on Evagrius Ponticus . He also shows his opposition to Messalianism. A manuscript from the 8th century has survived in which a text by Evagrius was provided with an abbreviated commentary by Babai. However, the longer version of the commentary that Babai wrote earlier has been lost.

Babai's Christology

Babai mainly dealt with the theological approaches of Theodor of Mopsuestia and Diodorus of Tarsus . But he also referred to John Chrysostom , the Cappadocian Church Fathers and Ephraem the Syrian , who was also accepted in the West. Through his exegetical methods, he brought together the rational theses of Theodor of Mopusestia and the mythical writings of authors such as Evagrius.

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