Ibas from Edessa

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Ibas of Edessa († October 28, 457 , Aramaic Jehiba or Hiba for short , Latinized Iban , Latin Donatus , "the gift") was bishop of Edessa (today Şanlıurfa ) and head of the Edessa school with interruptions from 435 to 457 .

Life

He took part in 431 as presbyter at the Council of Ephesus , where he was repelled by Cyril of Alexandria's authoritarian appearance. Bishop Rabbulas viewed his writings as heretical, but the ward largely supported him. Expelled from Edessa in 433 because of theological differences, he was elected Bishop of Edessa in 435/36 as the successor of Rabbulas . With his support, the Church of the Apostles was built in Edessa, which contained in a silver box the relics of the apostle Thomas , who was allegedly buried in Edessa after he had preached to the Parthians .

Ibas was a follower of the teachings of Theodore of Mopsuestia and was accused on several occasions of attaching the Nestorian heresy . When Proclus , the Patriarch of Constantinople , asked all bishops of the East in 437 to distance themselves from the views of Theodor of Mopsuestia, Ibas refused, although John of Antioch urged him to advise.

In Edessa, too, there was resistance to his teachings. Instigated by Uranios, the bishop of Himeria, four presbyters, Eulogius, Maras, Samuel, and Cyrus joined together and accused Ibas of heresy at Domnus , the bishop of Antioch , in Hierapolis . They presented a document signed by 17 clergy from Urfa. When Ibas heard of this, he excommunicated Cyrus and Eulogius and threatened all of their followers to do the same. Ibas does not seem to have been entirely sure of his position with Domnus, he did not take part in the Synod of Antioch against Athanasius of Perrha .

However, at Easter 448, Maras and Samuel formally charged, and Iban was summoned to Antioch before the Council of the East to justify himself. The charges were in part personal. In matters of faith he was reproached for having condemned the teachings of Cyril of Alexandria, was a Nestorian and had proclaimed at Easter 445 that he did not envy Christ to have become God, since he could also become God. Ibas avowed his opposition to Cyril, but dismissed the other charges as defamation. Since Cyrus and Eulogius had meanwhile gone to Constantinople to present their accusations to the emperor personally, Domnus refused to give a judgment in the absence of these witnesses, probably also because the synod was very poorly attended overall.

Maras and Samuel then hurried to the capital, where Bishop Uranias and other clergymen from Edessa soon met. The Emperor and Patriarch Flavian listened to the complaints but did not officially take note of them. But there was a party in Constantinople under the leadership of Theodoret that was hostile to the teachings of Theodor of Mopsuestia and thus Iban as well. In the autumn of 448 a commission was set up, which consisted of Uranios of Himeria and Photios of Tire and Eustathios of Beirut , both close friends of Uranios and the imperial tribune Damascius, to investigate the allegations. However, it was contrary to canon law to subject a bishop to the judgment of other bishops by imperial order. The tribunal was to take place in Tire , but was moved to the Bishop's Palace in Beirut because of fear of unrest.

Ibas was able to produce written testimony confirming his innocence, while the prosecution could only call three witnesses. The case was then put down. Iban publicly condemned Nestorianism, reiterating its compliance with the decisions of the Councils of Ephesus and Nicaea , inspired by the Holy Spirit and promising to let the past rest. Only Uranios refused to sign a corresponding agreement.

However, his opponents had meanwhile agitated in Edessa, and Iban had to flee the city shortly after his return and call in troops for his protection. Meanwhile, the Chaereas, the governor of the Osrhoene province , had received orders to arrest Ibas and bring him back to court. Abbots and monks had gathered on the streets of Edessa to demand that their bishop be condemned and burned as “Judas and second Pharaoh”. The trial took place in the presence of Ibas and was accompanied by violent unrest. Chaereas declared Ibas guilty, the emperor installed Nonnus as bishop in his place. Ibas were forbidden to enter Edessa, eventually arrested and taken prisoner in Antioch.

In August 449 he was found guilty in absentia at the Synod of Ephesus (the robber synod) and deposed. Tumultuous scenes accompanied the reading of the indictments. Ibas was deposed as bishop and priest, placed under the anathema and condemned to repay the money allegedly embezzled by him.

In 451 the deposed bishops were allowed to return to their seats. At the fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon Ibas appeared before the assembly in October and, based on the decisions of Beirut that were read out, demanded that the judgment against him be withdrawn, which the assembly finally decided unanimously. Ibas had to publicly condemn Nestor and Eutyches, an order he gladly obeyed since he had already done so in his writings.

Little is known about his later years. Nonnus, who had replaced him in 449, succeeded him after his death in 457. Iban is considered to be the founder of the Edessa School, which also attracted many students from the Sasanid Empire. His successor Nonnus tried to suppress it, and it was finally banned in 489 by Emperor Zenon .

Doxology

Iban sharply rejected all Monophysite teachings. In contrast to Nestor, he believed Mary to be the Theotokos . He attacked Cyril of Alexandria as an Apollonian because he believed in the identity of the human and divine nature of Christ , while orthodox doctrine assumes a perfect union of these two natures in the person of Christ.

At the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 under Justinian I , Iban's "Letter to Mares" was condemned in the course of the three-chapter dispute , as was the works of Theodor of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Kyrrhos .

Works

  • Letter from Ibas to the Persian Bishop Mares (Dadishô) of Seleukia (or Beit-Ardashir), 433

Translations

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ibas from Edessa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Edessa, theologian
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century or 5th century
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 457