Bardesanes

Bardesanes (also Bar-Daiṣān ; Syrian-Aramaic ܒܪܕܝܨܢ, "son of the (river god) Daiṣān"; * July 11, 154 in Edessa ; † 222 perhaps in Ani , Armenia) was a Syrian-Aramaic philosopher and Gnostic .

Life

Bardaisan was the son of gentile pagan parents and was raised at the court in Edessa. Before he became a Christian, he is said to have been a priest of the great mother goddess Dea Syria in Hierapolis Bambyke (Mabog in Syria). Abgar VIII the Great (177–212) was a childhood friend of Bardaisan, who probably won the king for Christianity. Abgar VIII would be the first Christian king in world history. However, the Roman emperor Caracalla already set the son and successor of Abgar the Great, Abgar IX, around 214 . , from. Bardaisan lived mostly at the court of Abgar IX. After the city of Edessa was conquered by the Romans in 216, he went to Armenia, where he probably died around 222.

plant

Bardesanes was closer to church teaching than other Gnostics of his time. However, his mind was heavily influenced by Chaldean mythology and astrology. He was particularly interested in cosmological speculation. Since Ephraem the Syrian, his views attracted the displeasure of later authors. This led to the loss of Bardesan's writings, both his poetry and his prose. So the teachings of Bardesanes must largely be reconstructed from the reports of his opponents. After his teachings, one of his students wrote a slightly dialogical treatise on fate, the so-called “Book of Laws of the Countries” ( liber legum regionum ). Besides the heresiological sources, it is the only thing that gives a direct insight into his thinking. It was translated into Greek and is quoted in the Recognitiones of Pseudo-Clemens in Latin and by the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea in Greek. Bardesanes is also known as the father of the Syrian hymn . Ephraem the Syrian knew a book of his with 150 psalms or hymns.

meaning

Bardesanes was, besides the Enkratites , of the greatest influence on the Syrian Christianity of the 3rd century . The legend of Abgar was probably also created in his circle. The activity of the successors of Bardesanes can still be proven in the early Islamic period.

expenditure

• Hendrik JW Drijvers (Ed.): The book of the Laws of Countries , 1965.
• François Nau (Ed.): Liber legum regionum (Patrologia Syriaca 2) , 1907, pp. 490–657.
• François Nau (Ed.): Bardesane, Le Livre des lois des Pays , 1931.

literature

• Einar Thomassen: Bardesanes (Bardaisan) by Edessa. In: Christoph Riedweg et al. (Hrsg.): Philosophy of the imperial era and late antiquity (= outline of the history of philosophy . The philosophy of antiquity. Volume 5/1). Schwabe, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7965-3698-4 , pp. 874–877, 1084 f.
• Javier Teixidor: Bardesane de Syrie. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-271-05195-9 , pp. 54-63
• Hendrik JW Drijvers: Bardesanes . In: Theological Real Encyclopedia . Volume 5, de Gruyter, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-11-007739-6 , pp. 206-212
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Bardesanes. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 368-369.
• Sebastian Brock: Bardesanes . In Der Neue Pauly , Volume 2, Stuttgart 1997, Sp. 446
• Hendrik JW Drijvers: Bardaisan of Edessa , 2nd edition, Assen 1966.
• Adolf Jülicher : Bardesanes . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 8 f.

Remarks

1. ↑ Recognitiones 9: 19-29.
2. ↑ Eusebius, Praeparatio evangelica 6, 10, 1-48.