Barsauma from Nisibis

Barsauma of Nisibis , ( Aramaic ܒܪܨܘܡܐ, Barṣaumâ, Barsuma, Bar Sauma, also: Bar Sula - son of the shoe; * shortly after 400; † around 495 ) was Bishop of Nisibis and is one of the "Syrian Church Fathers " of the " Nestorian " "Church of the East".

Life

Born at the beginning of the 5th century near the then Persian-Sassanid Nisibis, Barsauma, who spoke Syriac, Greek and Persian, studied at the theological school of Edessa in the Roman Empire . In 435 he returned to the Sassanid Empire and was ordained bishop of Nisibis. As such he represented the "Nestorian-Diophysitic" doctrine of Theodor von Mopsuestia (* approx. 350– † 428) and thus the doctrine of the Antioch patriarchate about the two natures of Christ, which were based on the councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451 ) was rejected or relativized. Given the increasing contrast between the Greek Orthodox Church in the Eastern Roman Empire and the Antichalkedonian Eastern Syrian Church in the Sassanid Persian Empire , the good relations between Barsauma and the Persian Great King Peroz (457–484) are not surprising. On the other hand, the bishop came into opposition to the head of the "Nestorian" church, the Catholicos Babowai ; Points of conflict were the authoritarian behavior of the Catholicos and his lack of loyalty to the Persian ruler. The council of Bet Lapat (or Gundeschapur), probably convened in 484, is said to have been under Barsauma's leadership and strengthened his church policy. The synod ultimately brought about the final separation of the Persian Church from that of the Roman Empire, which ultimately led to an improvement in the position of Christians in the Sassanid Empire.

Around this time Barsauma, over 80 years old, had married the former nun Mamai. After Barsauma's death, he founded a theological school in Nisibis, which the bishop provided with ample financial means and which could accept up to 800 students. Head of the academy was the famous church teacher Narsai von Nisibis (* after 410- † 503), who had to flee from Edessa between 471 and 489 and found a welcome reception in Nisibis.

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  BARSUMAS (Bar Sauma). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 383.
• Stephen Gerö : Barsauma of Nisibis and Persian Christianity in the fifth century . CSCO 426, Subs. 63, Louvain 1981
• Wassilios Klein (Ed.): Syrian Church Fathers . Urban TB 587, Stuttgart 2004, pp. 102-110