Messalians
Messalians ( Syrian Beter ; also Massalians, Euphemites, enthusiasts or Euchites) were the followers of various monk-like spiritualistic communities.
Asia Minor
The earliest such movement began in Asia Minor in the fourth century . It was a non-Christian community that cultivated a special and mutilated form of Parsism .
Symeon / Makarios
Another occurred around 350 in Syria and a little later in Asia Minor . Their spiritual leader was Symeon of Mesopotamia , whose writings are preserved under the name of Makarios . They wanted to ward off the devil's dwelling in baptized Christians through constant prayer. The teaching of the Messalians grew out of the Syrian Christian tradition, but was considered to be Manichaean and was condemned in 390 at the Synod of Side and in 431 at the Council of Ephesus .
The monastic rule of Basil the Great largely adopts that of the Messalians. The constant reading of the scriptures, along with prayer, fasting and work, which Basilius requires, already appears in the third homily of Makarios / Symeon. Through this mediation, Messalian ideas find their way into monastic traditions of the East and, via the Rule of Benedict of Nursia, also into those of the West. Possibly the Syrian monks with whom Basil studied were Messalians.
The first German translation of the Makarius / Symeon writings by Gottfried Arnold had a decisive influence on Pietism .
In research, Symeon and Makarios have long been considered different people, with Makarios being considered orthodox and dependent on Gregory of Nyssa . Only Hermann Dörries succeeded in identifying.
Late Middle Ages
In the late Middle Ages up to the 12th century Messalians found themselves together with the Bogomils .
literature
- Hermann Dörries : Judgment and Condemnation. Church and Messalians. How the Old Church dealt with heretics . In: Ders .: Word and Hour, Volume 1: Collected Studies on Church History of the Fourth Century . Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1966.
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Diadochus von Photike (author), Karl Suso Frank (ed.): De perfectione spirituali capita centum (Biblioteca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana). Teubner, Leipzig 1912 (Latin / Greek)
- German: feeling for God. One hundred chapters on Christian perfection (Christian Masters, Vol. 19). Johannes-Verlag, Einsiedeln 1982, ISBN 3-265-10260-2 , pp. 21-26.
Remarks
- ^ Hermann Dörries: Die Theologie des Makarios-Symeon (Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen , Philological-Historical Class, 103). Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1978, ISBN 3-525-55361-7 .
- ↑ Full text available on the BSB .