The Harp (Volume 20 Part 1): Festschrift: Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil 9781463233082

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The Harp (Volume 20 Part

The Harp (Volume 20 Part 1)

Volume 20/1

Edited by

Geevarghese Panicker Jakob Thekeparampil Abraham Kalakudi

1 gorgias press 2011

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in 2006 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2011

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ISBN 978-1-61143-654-9 Reprinted from the 2006 Kottayam edition.

Printed in the United States of America

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Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil.

Contents Editorial Tabula Gratulatoria 1

Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil - Geevarghese Panicker

9 Gathering Earth's Daughters - Terry C. F alla

3 5 A Note on Syriac Studies in Japan - Hidemi Takahashi

47 A short service for the dead - Emmanuel Thelly C.M.I.

55 Construis-moi un château dans le ciel - Françoise Briquel Chatonnet

65 Die Ambivalenz der Präsenz der Russen in Urmia -Martin Tamcke

73 Dionysius bar Salibi's Syriac Polemical Treatises - Rifaat Ebied

8 7 Have the Flames of Diamper Destroyed All the Old Manuscripts of the Saint Thomas Christians? - Istvân Perczel

105 Hoc est Christum cognoscere... - Karl-Heinz Kuhlmann

111

Paradise-Church and the Kingdom in St. Ephrem's Hymns on Paradise VI - Thomas Kollamparampil, CMI

121 The Autonomous Monastery - John Madey

151 The Dialogue between the Two Thieves - Sebastian P. Brock

171 The History of Christianity in Iraq of the 20th and 21st Century - Harald S nermann

Voi.x:x200ii

The Harp

195 The Malankara Catholic Catholicos and the Catholicate - Geevarghese

Chediath

2 0 9 The Mystery of the Son did not journey without the Church - Christian Lange

221

The Name of God in Syriac Anaphoras - Martin Lugmayr

2 3 5 The social Obligation of Property -Günther Claas

249

The Syrian Origin of the Divine Condescension - Shinichi Muto

2 6 3 The Theology of Episcopacy - Thomas

Mannooramparampil

2 7 5 Two Syriac Writers from the Reign of Anastasius -John

W.Watt

2 9 5 Vatican II And Ecumenism After Forty Years - Dietmar W. Winkler

317

A short analysis of the Definition of Chalcedon and some reflections - Theresia Ha in thaler

333

Narsai, Homilie XI

- Luise Abramoiuski

3 4 9 Two Syriac Inscriptions Commemorating

Maferians

-AmirHarrak

361

Jacques de Jerusalem, figure du notaire apostlique - Alain D

387

Reverting the God-Given Order: Sarah and the Mother of the First- Born in Aphrahat's Demonstrations - Cornelia B. Horn

3 9 9 The CMS Missionaries and the Malankara Church - Baby Varghese

447

Iconography of the Holy Cross in the Syriac Tradition - Abdo Badwi

Publications of

The Harp

SEERI

VOL XIX 2006:

Editorial SEERI, in its publication "The Harp", has already brought out three Festschrift numbers to thank and honour a few at least among the many close associates, collaborators and friends of SEERI. The present number is dedicated to Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil, the Founder-Director of St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI). In this voluminous issue, among the many scholarly contributions, is one on the subject of this Festschrift, by Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Panicker, the Dean of Studies of SEERI and long time close collaborator of Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil. There is no doubt that all who know Dr. Ijacob personally will fully endorse every word in this article. Those who have not had the opportunity to know Dr. Jacob personally can learn what an extraordinary person he is! All other contributors to this issue too have written genuinely valuable articles, which should benefit our readers and earn their appreciation. This number is but a modest tribute to the Founder-Director of SEERI. Every one associated with this unique Institution - SEERI - will join the Editors in paying tribute to Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil and wishing him continued success in his relentless efforts to promote Syjiac studies and foster ecumenism in practice.

Vol. XIX 2006

The Harp

Tabula Gratulatoria

1. Dr Alison Salvesen Fellow in Jewish Bible Versions, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and University Lecturer, Oriental Institute, Oxford University, U.K. 2. Prof. Susan Ashbrook Harvey Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Graduate Studies Dept. of Religious Studies PO Box 1927/ 59 George St. Brown University Providence, RI 02912 3. Dr. Wolfgang Hage In der Gemoll 40, D-35037, Marburg, Germany

Vol. XX 2006

The Harp

Geevarghese

Panicker

REV. DR. JACOB THEKEPARAMPIL:

THE FOUNDER AND THE ARCHITECT OF SEERI

Christianity originated in an Aramaic-speaking environment. There has always existed an Aramaic (or Syriac) tradition within Christianity, represented by the various Syriac Churches today. According to the modern general perception of the history of Christian tradition, only two main strands with the Christian tradition are usually spoken of: the 'Greek East' and the 'Latin West'. The existence of a third essential stand namely the 'Syriac Orient' (Aramaic tradition) is left totally out of consideration. Till recently in Europe the study of Christian history has been concentrating on the Latin West and the Greek East. Only recently scholars like Prof. Sebastian Brock have been stressing on the necessity of studying the Syriac Orient as the third important strand of Christian tradition. As a result in the modern context, there are some welcome signs that at least in some quarters attitudes are beginning to change. It is in this context one should see the establishment of the St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI) for Syriac studies, Kottayam. The person who is solely responsible for the establishment of SEERI is no one other than Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil. At present only at a very limited number of Universities in Europe and America is it possible to study the Syriac language and the rich literary heritage of the Syriac Churches, and nowhere are these accorded any central role in the VoJ. XX 2006

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Rev. Dr. Geevarghese

Panicker

curriculum. "What is urgently needed - and this is for the sake of the entire Christian tradition and not just for the sake of Syriac Churches alone - is at least one academic centre somewhere in the world where the Syriac Orient is the central focus of attention and not just a sideline". These words of Prof. Sebastian Brock should be kept in mind when one speaks of SEERI. Prof. Brock himself has pointed out thus: "It seems to be that SEERI is in an admirable position to take over this role - and indeed it could be said to have begun to do so already thanks to the foresight and efforts of its Director (Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil), it has built a remarkable specialist library of Syriac studies - one of which any long established western University might justly feel proud". The Institute (SEERI.) was planned in 1976 by the Most Rev. Dr. Zacharias Mar Athanasios, the then Bishop of Tiruvalla Diocese. His successor His Excellency Isaac Mar Youhanon took steps to realize this plan. These two Bishops wanted this Institute to be ecumenical, to be of use to the seven Syriac Churches of India which claim Syriac patrimony. The two bishops menlioned above found in the person of Fr. Jacob Thekeparampil, who was completing his Syriac studies in the Universities of France and Germany, the most suitable and equipped person for the task of starting the Institute. Eminent scholars and experts as Re\. Dr. P.M. Gy O.P. (Director of the Institute for Higher Studies in Liturgy, Catholic institute. Paris, Rev. Dr. I.H. Dalmeis O.P (Catholic Institute, Paris). Rev. Fr. Franois Graffin S. (Director of Palrologia Orientalis. Paris). Dr. John Madey, Adam Mohler Ecumenical Institute. Paderborn, Bishop Mar Aprem, Assyrian Metropolitan Bishop of Trifchur are among the many who encouraged Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil and Bishop Zacharias Mar A t h a n a s i o s to plan the Institute and to a c c o m p l i s h the task successfully. It was the dream of Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil that those Churches in Kerala who have the same liturgical tradition and share the same Syriac patrimony should together study and undertake research works on their common heritage and exchange the fruits of their erudition and research. The Syriac Churches of Kerala are in the habit of boasting about their liturgical and Syriac heritage but no one has dared to study or create an atmosphere for studying in depth the valuable treasures, which have come down to the Syrian Churches through a tradition reaching back to the Apostle St. Thomas. llPligTO

Rev, Dr. JACOB THEKEPARAMPIL:

THE

FOUNDER.

3

It is worth recalling a story told by the late Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of Trivandrum on the occasion of the inauguration of St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI). This story has a pointed message to all the Churches in India sharing the patrimony of St. Thomas and the Syrian heritage. The story goes thus: A certain man in the evening of his life, decided to live the life of a mendicant Sanyasi. He persuaded his son to go with him and they together wandered all over India worshipping at various shrines and thriving on the alms given by generous people. The father always earned on his shoulders a tightly bound bundle. The bundle, however, was never opened. If any one asked him about that bundle he would simply say "this was given to me by my father". When the old man realized that his earthly sojourn was drawing to a close, he held his son close to him and said: 'My son, when I am gone, take good care of this bundle. As my father had given it to me, so I give it to you now". The son continued his pilgrimage on earth carrying the bundle on his shoulders. He too never opened it. One day a stranger who met this young Sanyasi was curious to know what the bundle contained and he took it by force and untied it. There was a fairly large collection of costly pearls and gold pieces inside the ancient bundle. The stranger turned to the Sanyasi and said: "You have been carrying these costly pearls and gold all these years arid goiiig about begging. Shame on you!" We have inherited valuable treasure that has come down to us through a tradition reaching back to the Apostle Thomas. Thank God we have not lost this treasure trough. We have not however, properly appreciated and evaluated or made adequate use of the precious contents of the bundle of our apostolic heritage to enrich our ecclesial and liturgical life. We Christians in Kerala have almost failed in our vision and commitments. It is providential that SEERI, this religious and cultural research centre is set up in Kottayam, which has been the Christian Centre for centuries. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil through hard persevering labour has done a great service to foster the cause of Syriac research and studies, by opening the treasure trough of Syriac patrimony and heritage at SEERI. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil, born on April 12th 1942, during his priestly studies in the Pontifical Athenaeum. Pune, India took his

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Rev. Dr. Geevarghese

Panicker

Baccalauréat in Philosophy and Theology (B.Ph & B. Th. Degrees) and also the licentiate degrees (L.Ph, L.Th) from the Papal Athenaeum, Pune. Thereafter for two years he did pastoral work in the diocese of Tiruvalla. From 1971-1977, he was in Europe for higher studies. He took Master's degree in liturgy, Diploma in Syriac Language and Doctorate in theology on the theme "Sedre et le rite de l'encens dans la liturgie Syro-Occidentale". In 1977-78 he did research on Syriac Manuscripts at the study centres at Gôttingen, Munich and Berlin. From 1978 to 1982, he did research at Gôttingen (Germany) on the manuscripts of the West Syriac Liturgy of Holy Week and collaborated in the preparation of the concordance of the Syriac Bible. From 1982 to 1984, he laboured for the acquisition of books and copies of books at Gôttingen and Tubingen for the projected foundation of a centre for Syriac studies in India. In 1985, he came back and established the St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI) at Kottayam. From 1985 onwards he continues to work hard and with great zeal for the cause of Syriac as the Director of SEERI. Besides, the numerous seminars and refresher courses conducted regularly every year, regular study programmes in Syriac are given at SEERI, such as Certificate course in Syriac language, Master's degree course in Syriac Language and Literature, Doctoral programmes leading to Ph.D degree in Syriac language and literature, in collaboration with Mahatma Gandhi University. Kottayam. Mahatma Gandhi University has recognized SEERf as its postgraduate centre of Syriac studies and as the Research Institute of the University for Syriac language and literature. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil is also the Director of Publishing Department of SEERI, which publishes periodicals and the 'Motan Etho' series of books. SEERI has in its library books and articles published in Europe since 1800, all based on the ancient Syriac manuscripts. Micro films of early documents, which are not yet published, readers for reading microfilms and microfiches, Greek, Hebrew and Syriac type writers, etc. make the Centre quite modern. The present collection of microfilms covers more than 15,000 pages of early manuscripts of Syrian liturgy, biblical commentaries, ascetical works, lectionaries etc. In the course of nine years from 1978 -1987, Fr. Jacob Thekeparampil iliiii

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THE

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had undertaken research on the Syriac mass preserved in the European Libraries like the British Museum, London, the University library of Oxford, the National library of Paris, the Vatican library of Rome, the State library of West Berlin etc. and acquired copies of literary works only available in these centres. In India there is no other centre with so much literature in Syrian Christian heritage as SEERI. At present, because of the dearth of persons having experience in research work and possessing academic degrees in Syriac, the Director has to seek the help of teachers of other Institutions on a part time basis or as guest lecturers, until the Institute can get persons who are qualified as full time members on the staff. SEERI is neither a theological faculty nor a major Seminary for the formation of future priests. SEERI is not merely an academic Institution. It is true that SEERI has been accepted by the Mahatma Gandhi University as its centre for postgraduate studies in Syriac and as a research Institute for research in Syriac language and literature. It cannot be merely an academic Institution, established on neutral grounds like the State Universities. It is essentially an Institution of the Church of Christ and in the service of the people of God. Thai is why liturgical life has to be a constituent element of SEERl's activities. As Prof. John iMadey has pointed out, the Oriental patrimony which SEERI attempts to discover for the Oriental Churches in India and else where is, to a large extent, although not exclusively, found in the liturgical services of the Syro-Oriental and Syro-Antiochean Churches. Prof. John Madey refers to a few specific areas of study, which SEERI should concentrate in the present context: (i) Teaching and learning Syriac. Syriac should be taught in such a way as to make the student able to delve into the original Syriac texts of the Syriac patrimony. It is the very spirit of the language he has to grasp in order to delve deep into his subject. (ii). Study of the patristic sources. As an Institute of research, SEERI must take into consideration the post-apostolic writings such as the "Doctrine of the twelve apostles"(Didache), the Apostolic Constitutions etc. as well as the writings of the early Fathers and Doctors of the Church, among whom may be mentioned St. Ignatius, St. Ephrem, St. Basel the Great, St. John Chrysostonu St. Gregory Vol. XX 2006

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of N a z i a n z u s , St. G r e g o r y of N y s s e , Narsai, T h e o d o r e of M o p s u e s t y a , S e v e r u s of A n t i o c h , P h i l e x a n o s of M a r b u r g , Dionysios Bar Salibi etc., last not least, the canonical sources, as laid down in the Councils and Synods. So SEERI should offer an additional course in Greek. Many Fathers whom the Syriac Churches hold in high esteem, Cappadocean and Antiochean, wrote their works exclusively in Greek. (iii). Study and practice of the liturgy. Every attentive student of the Syro-Oriental and Syro-Antiochean liturgies will realize quickly that, despite the existing differences in externals, they have a common basis and that their spirituality, symbols and mysticism are not at all different. Liturgy must not only be studied but also experienced in life itself. SEERI could become a model in this respect. In order to fulfill the above requirements the staff of the Institute has to be augmented. Candidates should be trained to equip themselves for accomplishing the yeoman task, which SEERI is expected to undertake in this regard. Candidates going for such training abroad should work hard and acquire knowledge in Syriac and the Syriac patrimony, considering themselves to be the pioneers of the great adventure of research and scholarship in Syriac. For the past many years Fr. Jacob Thekeparampil has been working untiringly for the development of SEERI as a pioneering Institute for the development of Syriac language and literature and also for providing research facilities for the study of Syriac patrimony of the Syriac Churches. His frequent and untiring travels abroad to the Syriac study centres of Europe, U.K. and U.S.A. have helped him to renew his contact with Syriac Scholars ábroad and to obtain financial help for the establishment of facilities of buildings on the campus of SEERI and for the establishment of an admirable library. In order to get qualified persons to teach he needs among others the generous help of the hierarchy of the Malankara Catholic Church to find suitable candidates and to send them abroad for higher studies in Syriac and the continuance of the help of teachers from other institutions like Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam (Old Seminary), Paurasthya Vidyapitam (St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor), M.T. Seminary, Kottayam etc. T h e Harp

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Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil is a person who is deeply in love with Syriac language and with Syriac liturgical and theological patrimony. His frequent journeys (in spite of his failing health) to USA, U.K., Australia, Europe and to the Middle East, all have been to find help and contact to build up SEERI as a great centre for Syriac studies. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil with his untiring zeal and persevering effort has established at Kottayam a centre specifically devoted to the study of Syriac Orient, an academic centre where the Syriac Orient is the central focus of attention. May I conclude this article with a long quotation from the speech of Dr. Sebastian Brock: "It seems to me that SEERI is in an admirable position to take on this role [of an academic centre where the Syriac Orient is the central focus of attention and not just a sideline] and indeed it could be said to have begun to do so already: thanks to the foresight and efforts of its Director, it has built up a remarkable specialist library of Syriac studies - one of which any long-established western university might justly feel proud; it is situated in one of the heartlands of the Syriac Churches, and a network of excellent ecumenical contacts all over the world is being built up; it hosts a very successful series of international Syriac conferences, which have led to important academic contacts with Syriac scholars on every continent. In these, and in other areas, the foundations have already been well established: what is needed now is the will and cooperation that are necessary i n order to exploit this potential of SEERI that is already present. Once properly recognized as a higher educational establishment where future teachers of the Syriac tradition can be trained, SEERI will prove to be a resource which will benefit, not only the Churches of the Syriac tradition, but also the wider Church as a whole, since SEERI will be playing a very important part, on an international scale, in enabling Christians of all the Churches gradually to recover a proper awareness of - and thus benefit from - this littleknown third (and essentially Asian) strand of Christian tradition. Here, then, is an opportunity whereby SEERI can play a role that is not only of international significance from an academic point of view, but also which will be of benefit to the entire Christian tradition. It is much to be hoped that this opportunity will not be lost." Vol XX 2006

Tne Karpi

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Holy Mar Subhalmaran on: "The sixth wise gift, which is good patience in every deed and every temptation" "Furthermore, by this means all the upright discerned the outcome of their affairs, and prayed for their persecutors. As for example Stephen, when he was stoned, prayed for his killers 'Lord, do not reckon this sin to them'. Against James too, who was called the brother of our Lord, they instigated Jews who had come together in Jerusalem from among the Gentiles to complete the second feast, the one after Passover. They summoned blessed James to come to their assembly, to tell them about matters concerning our Lord. This was because many were surprised at him, since he had earlier been a priest and a prophet and a great Nazirite, and an honoured person, and had been vehement against the doings of our Lord. He did not give his mind to understand from the beginning, because his brothers said to our Lord, 'If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world'. They also transmitted something from what the evangelist said by way of clear reproach: 'Even his brothers did not believe in Jesus'. But because some of the things about our Lord astonished him by reason of their greatness, he fully gave himself to understand and to believe, so that in the end he was more convinced than anyone else, and was made perfect by his love in order that he might be equal to the gift of leadership and be the first bishop in Jerusalem". (continued in page... 54)

Itflllp

Vol. XX 2006!

Terry C. Falla

"GATHERING EARTH'S DAUGHTERS": RECOVERING T H E MEANINGS OF CLASSICAL SYR I A C W O R D S lifcwai Uo i>|

ILL.

not of an age but for all time Ben yonson

Jacob Thekeparampil is a remarkable person. I recall as if I were still there, the pleasant SEERI courtyard where Fr Jacob welcomed me at the end of my journey from Australia, and his greeting in her and his own language each new arrival from some distant part of the globe. It was an intimation of the convivial warmth of a person whose ecumenicity and vision are earthed in the need of the moment, but are like satellites in their compass. To me St Ephrern Ecumenical Research Institute is now more than a title for a unique centre of teaching, learning and discovery. It is virtually an epithet for Fr Jacob himself. It epitomizes his passion for the Syriac language and liturgy as expressions of Kerala's history, humanity and faith. Fr Jacob and SEERI are virtual synonyms for hospitality and community. The Vof. XX 20061

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Terry C. Falla

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conference visitor, and those who stay longer, leave SEERI's Fr Jacob with a canopy of grateful memories: conversations and introductions, shared meals, a taste of Kerala, and an experience that widens one's world, lingers in the day-to-day, and weaves its colours into the next visit. Fr Jacob's gift has been to bring East and West together in a manner that will help shape the future of how we view and practise Syriac studies and schol arship. It is a joy to dedicate this offering to him. Introduction The enduring mystery of human language is an ancient subject that intrigues many modern disciplines. Paleoanthropology, the study of ancient humans, suggests that our ability to communicate our thoughts through language, which allows us to analyse situations and pass on information at a level not possible for other living creatures, goes back as far as 5,000 generations—100,000 years.' In recent times, dictionaries have become an important part of the study of language, so that they are now a universal phenomenon. But compared to the evolution of language, dictionary making, which became a serious discipline about 400 years ago, happened only yesterday. Linguistics, the burgeoning science of the study of language, of which lexicography is now considered a sub-discipline, is even more recent. 2 Against this background, the concern of this paper seems microscopic, for it tells the story of a search for the meaning of but three occurrences of a common Classical Syriac word. In a sense, however, the study of even one meaning of a polysemous word can take us to the heart-beat of lexicography, the theory and practice involved in providing the information we find in a dictionary. In ancientlanguage lexicography, studies of this kind are part of a wider quest: the investigation of the meanings of words. Among other things, this involves testing recorded and assumed meanings, ascertaining the 1 2

Lee R. Berger with Brett Hilton-Barber, In the Footsteps of Eve: the Mystery of Human Origins (Washington, D.C.: Adventure Press, 2000), 18. David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (5th ed.; Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), under "Linguistics," 272-73, and "Lexicography," 267.

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meanings of words that have not been fully investigated or not previously listed in a lexicon, and the search for lost meanings, as important aspects of an ever expanding discipline. 3 The dictionary as we know it today—a list of words arranged alphabetically, or according to root in some ancient-language lexica, together with an explanation of their meanings—is a relatively new invention. Shakespeare (1564-1616), for instance, did not have access to a dictionary of his own language. But since the advent of the modern dictionary, these two features are seen as indispensable: first, the listing of the words themselves, and secondly, the tracking and recording of the various meanings of each word as it was used in a particular period. It was these features that so enthralled Samuel Johnson that it led him to say in the preface to his famous Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755, "I am not yet so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth and things are the sons of heaven."4 In consequence, this man, so steeped in the flowering of his language, devoted his life to "the gathering of these daughters of earth," to the extent that, for instance, for "the verb 'take' he listed, with supportive quotations, no fewer than one hundred and thirteen senses of this particular verb's transitive form and twenty-one of the intransitive." 5 These days we realize that until we have at our disposal not only the word that we want, but also the breadth and depth of that word's meanings, we miss the glory of the language itself. In Classical Syriac, the detailed semantic analysis of each word is a task that still lies before us—a road we have just begun to 3

4 5

For an enquiry into the needs of contemporary Syriac lexicography see Terry C. Falla, "A Conceptual Framework for a New Comprehensive Syriac-English Dictionary," in Foundations for Syriac Lexicography: Colloquia of the International Syriac Language Project (ed. A. Dean Forbes and David G. K. Taylor; vol. 1 of Perspectives on Syriac Linguistics, ed. Terry C. Falla; Piscataway: Gorgias Press, forthcoming), 1-89. Simon Winchester, The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words (London: Viking, 1998), 86-87. Winchester, The Surgeon of Crowthorne, 84.

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travel. Even the most magnificent of our lexica do not come close to exhausting the different meanings of all the words that they list. The common noun \B>U> is a simple example. R. Payne Smith's Syriac Latin Thesaurus Syriacus6 has the most comprehensive coverage, but its detail is invested, not in its treatment of the senses of the word, but in its illustrative referenced examples in the introductory paragraph and in its subsequent impressive list of more than sixty items consisting of nomenclature, idioms and other terms. The examples include a l a 3 b stone upon stone, £>b ^pa he moves every stone = he leaves no stone unturned, Lsb ^iLa a jeweller, and )jsb pio, JLL.?, for which J. Payne Smith has the rendering "a stylite is one who stands on a column."1 The listed items include hailstones, ,s>jb liotf chrysolite, Lab • s>U> * grindstone, hard stone fit for grindstones, (ivX^ms. • a hewn or squared stone, jLL»« Lsb a millstone, l a b ;_=> \Ji> a rock-fish,

)Lslij unhewn stones,

|n. ..¿c^:-^ JLs>Lp a

stone in the bladder. As a lexical entry. R. Payne Smith's examples and list give a valuable intimation of how jLsb is used in Syriac literature and how it varies in size and purpose. But these items can never be an adequate substitute for a treatment that intentionally records the semantic scope of this noun's meanings. A semantic analysis cannot therefore be satisfied by R. Payne Smith's single gloss lapis (a stone), the glosses lapis and grando (hail) in Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, or a stone, rock in J. Payne Smith, even though they are qualified and supplemented by examples and/or references. If we move from the micro, which is well illustrated in R. Payne Smith, to the macro which is not, we find that ranges from a pellet of hail, a stone in the bladder, precious stones used as jewellery, geologically separate stones and rock.-, rock hewn for building, industrial, domestic 6 7

R. Payne Smith, ed„'Thesaurus Syriacus (2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879-1891; repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1981). J. Payne Smith, ed., A Compendious Syriac Dictionary, founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith (Oxford:: Clarendon Press, 1903).

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and ritual purposes, to massive rock formations, and stone and rock as a substance. This may be illustrated by the following lexical analysis of jLsjla in the Syriac New Testament with reference to its background in the Syriac Old Testament. The analysis includes Syriac words and phrases of similar meanings used in the biblical corpus. For the sake of brevity, these words and phrases are called "synonyms" and are presented in courier italics,8 The analysis ends with the celebrated wordplay on the name li>b in Mt 16:18. Unless it is indicated otherwise, references and illustrative examples in the analysis are from the Peshitta.9 Most occurrences of |i>b in the Peshitta New Testament correspond to Ai0oc. In Jn 2:6 the correspondence is Aithvoc (IsLo, - AiOtvm), and in Jn 19:13 Lsb, translates AISOCTTQGJTOV. In six instances it is not Ai0o)b in the Peshitta New Testament: Mt 16:18; 27:51,60(ls< occurrence; = J i i J n Sinai text); Rom 9:33(2nd occurrence) and 1 Cor 10:4, 4. With one exception, all other New Testament occurrences of nixoa are translated by IXQA.:, which may be defined as a geological rock formation as opposed to separate 8

For a discussion of the comparative suitability of these terms when used in lexica see Falla, "A Conceptual Framework," §7.1.4: 9 The editions employed for the Peshitta are: The Old Testament in Syriac according to the Peshitta Version, edited by the Peshitta Institute, Leiden, for the books of the Old Testament that have been published in this series; Philip E. Pusey and George H. Gwilliam, Tetraeuangeiium Sanctum juxta simplicem Syrorum versionem ad fidem codicum, Massorae, editionum denuo recognitum (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901), and The New Testament in Syriac (London, British and Foreign Bible Society, 1905-1920; repr. 1950). The texts employed for the Old Syriac are: Agnes Smith Lewis, The Old Syriac Gospels, or Evangelion da-Mepharreshe; being the text of the Sinai or Syro-Antiochian Palimpsest, including the latest additions and emendations, with the variants of the Curetonian text... (London: Williams & Norgate: 1910); and F. Crawford Burkitt, Evangelion da-Mepharreshe; the Curetonian Version of the Four Gospels, with the Readings of the Sinai Palimpsest.. vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1904). The text employed for the Harklean version is the one prepared by Andreas Juckel for George Anton Kiraz's Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospe/s Aligning the Sinaiticus, Curetonianus, Peshitta & Harklean Versions (4 vols.; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996).

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Terry C. Falla

pieces of rock normally referred to as IsjLa: Mt 7:24, 25; Mk 15:46; Lk 6:48, 48; 8:6, 13; Rev 6:15, 16. The exception is 1 Pet 2:8 where T

ntTQOL is rendered by a stone, which is the only occurrence in the Syriac New Testament of this comparatively rare noun. 1. stone, rock as a substance: "we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone" Acts 17:29. 1.1 often as epithet: JLsJlo, l i ^ J stone pitchers, stone water jars Jn 2:6; U q ^ I s b t stone tablets Deut 5:22; jLslo, rock, rocky crevices Isa 7:19, cf. Isa 2:19, 21; Jer 13:4.

clefts of

1.2 L | s T h e Stone Pavement, an area in Jerusalem paved with flat blocks of stone and forming a kind of courtyard— not a thoroughfare: "he sat down on the judge's seat in the place called The Pavement of Stones, but in Hebrew is called in 19:13. Gabbatha QhJzA^' 2. stone, separate piece of rock, of a (smooth) stone selected for use in a sling 1 Sam 17:49, synonym: LL^ smooth stone, pebble, cf. LaLo, five smooth stones 1 Sam 17:40; that can be picked up and used to stone a person Jn 8:7, 59; "order these stones to turn into bread" Mt 4:3; of twelve stones taken from the river Jordan Josh 4:3, synonym: li^J 1 Pet 2:8: of a large stone (iJS^i Lab): used to seal a tomb Mt 27:60; Mk 15:46; Lk 24:2; Jn 11:38, 39; "one of the mighty angels picked up a great stone like a millstone (jl^J ^J \s>H) and threw it into the sea " Rev 18:21, cf. LL^ the millstone of an ass Mt 18:6; Mk 9:42; Lk 17:2, 2.1 tsla I^joo (rsi&ri^ k'uco Cureton & Sinai) a stone's throw Lk 22:41. 3. of hewn stones: 3.1 used in building Mk 13:1; "I am laying in Zion a stone (rciarcii), a tested stone (rtf&reii) in the honoured corner, the principal (stone) of the wall's foundation" Isa 28:16, cf. 1 Pet

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2:6; . a b ^ .sb A^ .arei* Mt 24:2; Mk 13:2 Sinai)//Y. a stone upon a stone, one stone upon another Mt 24:2; Mk 13:2; Lk 19:44. 3.2 serving as an altar I Sam 14:33; hewn or unhewn, used as an altar Judg 6:20, 21; 13:19, synonym: pi. o / i b ? Isa 65:3. 4. of precious adjectival

attribute,

stones, gems, jewels, (jsjb ([^¿r

always qualified by-

precious jewel Rev 21:11;

U», lua. l a b costly gem Wis 7:9; pi

l a b precious stones 2

Sam 12:30; Rev 17:4 and iLi^L' Jl|,b precious stones 1 Cor 3:12; Rev 18:12, 16; 21:19, cf. Isa 54:12, synonym: precious gems Dan 11:38. 5. rock, large rock formation, into which a grave has been hewn Mt 27:60, see also Isa 22:16, synonym: in synoptic parallel Mk 15:46 and in Sinai text of Mt 27:60\ "like the shade of a great rock b b ) in a weary land" Isa 32:2; of the water-giving rock Num 20:8-11; Neh 9:15; "he brought you water out o/flinty r o c k b b ) " Deut 8:15 (cf Deut 32:13), cf. synonym h-^l in Ex 17:6; Ps 78:20; 105:41; in parallelism to Jo,]^ Ps 78:15-16; 114:8-, Isa 48:21\ of rocks among which people live Job 30:6; "the earth was shaken and the rocks; were split" Mt 27:51; synonyms: jb^ Ex 33:21, 22; Isa 2:10, et al., JikJ&xu.; cf. also 1 °u a* 1 Sam 13:6; Jer 4:29. 6. rock, stone as a figurative extension of meaning: 6.1 "the shepherd, the Rock of Israel " Gen 49: 24—Pesh. O.T. usually substitutes Hebrew words for rock that refer to God with another term; e.g. Ps 28:1; 31:3; 62:3, et al.; ¡^ in U o ^ ¿ w > P s 7 1 : 3 ; U w » P s 18:47; Ps 31:4; U Ps 92:16; U^ooL Ps 18:3; Laool Ps 62:8; Deut 32:3,18; 1 Sam 2:2; 2 Sam 22:3; Ps 18:3, etal. 6.2 Pesh N.T.: of the Messiah with reference to his being the cornerstone of a building: "the stone flLsb) that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone or jj-'; Vol. XX 2006;

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16

jLo'i,)" Mt 21:42; M k 12:10; Lk 20:17, cf. Ps 118:22; I s a 2 8 : 1 6 cited above;

"they drank from the spiritual rock

rock («A

laid) was the Messiah"

the water-giving 6.3

in

J_e>)Lo) ... and the

1 Cor 10:4, which

interprets

rock ( L s b ) hi N u m 2 0 : 8 - 1 1 (Ex 17:6 has \J-JJ-

the

play on words replicated from the Gr. "you are j j s b (Kepha) and upon this li>b (Peshitta & Cureton; Harklean has Lc*J I will build my church" Mt 16:18. On the question of an Aramaic wordplay underlying the Gr. see Davies and Allison, The Gospel According to Matthew, 2:605, 625-26; Fitzmyer, To Advance the Gospel: New Testament Studies, 112-24. For detailed discussion of the early Syriac Fathers' use of stone and rock imagery, including their exegesis of Mt 16:16-18, see Robert Murray, Symbols of Church and Kingdom, 205—38.

FIetqoi; ... TiexQa:

For m a n y r e a d e r s f a m i l i a r with S y r i a c l i t e r a t u r e , the m e a n i n g s listed in the p r e c e d i n g restricted a n a l y s i s m a y c o m e as no surprise. But the fact remains that w e w o n ' t f i n d t h e m all in e x i s t i n g l e x i c a , j u s t as w e w o n ' t f i n d a f u l l a n a l y s i s of n u m e r o u s other Syriac w o r d s . T h i s is t h e r e f o r e an e x c i t i n g t i m e to be involved in Syriac lexicography: roaming the world to gather these " d a u g h t e r s of the e a r t h , " these n u a n c e s of m e a n i n g , and to b r i n g t h e m t o g e t h e r into o n e p r i n t e d w o r k . I n e v i t a b l y , m o s t of the t i m e is spent at the desk, w h i c h is p e r h a p s why S a m u e l J o h n s o n , t o n g u e in c h e e k , l e f t his p e r s o n a l s i g n a t u r e in his d i c t i o n a r y ' s d e f i n i t i o n of " l e x i c o g r a p h e r : ' " " a w r i t e r of d i c t i o n a r i e s ; a h a r m l e s s d r u d g e , that b u s i e s h i m s e K in t r a c i n g the o r i g i n a l , and d e t a i l i n g the s i g n i f i c a t i o n of w o r d s . " B u t s o m e t i m e s , if o n e is to r e c o v e r the m e a n i n g of a p a r t i c u l a r o c c u r r e n c e of a p a r t i c u l a r S y r i a c w o r d , r o a m i n g the earth is literally an a p p r o p r i a t e thing to do. This p r o v e d to be the c a s e w h e n I sought the m e a n i n g of the very c o m m o n C l a s s i c a l Syriac Peal verb in the P e s h i t t a text of Mt 27:4, 24 a n d A c t s 18:15 a n d s o m e of t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s of t h a t s e a r c h f o r S y r i a c lexicography. W h a t f o l l o w s is the story of that s e a r c h .

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I s J in Mt 27:4

In Mt 27:3 we read that Judas, having discovered that Jesus has been condemned, is filled with remorse and returns the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. In the next verse we hear Judas acknowledging the ghastly thing that he has done: "I have sinned," he says "by betraying innocent blood." 10 In response, the religious authorities callously fling back at him: "What is that to us (^L L*> —a dismissal that denies mercy to Judas, justice to Jesus, and any kind of responsibility before God.11 They then add a phrase that in Syriac is a puzzle, or at least has been to Western scholarship. The context suggests that this phrase is intended to be as cruel as it is curt. In the Peshitta text it consists of the three words ¿Jj ¿Jj (at yotha at): the active participle preceded and followed by the second person masculine singular personal pronoun. 12 The English meaning we tend most readily to identify with the Peal is "know." In the Gospels, we can assign to this meaning the more definitive nuances "know, know about, have knowledge of, be acquainted with" (Mt 25:13; Lk 16:15; 18:20; Jn 1:48; 6:42); "know, realize, be aware o f ' (Lk 11:44); "know, understand, perceive, comprehend" (Mt 9:4; Mk 4:13; 12:12; Lk 9:47); "know how to, understand how to" (Mt 7:11; 27:65); "know, learn, find out" (Lk 7:37; 19:15). If we assign "know" to in jvjf ^ in Mt 27:4 we end up with the translation "you know." "What is that to us?" says 10 The Peshitta reading UoJ follows the reading ¿9«ov innocent (blood). The reading of the Sinai text, r&u:i\:i (the blood) of the righteous, is in closer agreement with biiouov righteous (blood). The Cureton version is not extant for this section of Matthew. 11 Adapted from a quotation from F. D. Bruner, Matthew Volume 2: The Churchbook Matthew 13-28 (Dallas, 1990) in W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (3 v o l s . ; ICC; Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997), 3:564. In Bruner, "mercy to Judas" follows "justice to Jesus." 12 In the Sinai text, the Peal a.!U is an imperfect preceded by the 2nd ms. pronoun: k i r t ' . This difference in tense is discussed later in the essay.

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the religious elite, "You know!" As a phrase, "you know" is a perfectly understandable translation, but not in this context. As a rendering, it is enigmatic to the point of not making sense. The situation is not helped by trying to rescue the rendering "you know" by replacing it with one of the nuanced glosses listed above. I lived with this ¡¡Jl ^JJ ¡sjj, which it seemed to me didn't in this context mean simply "you know," for ages. The procedure I follow in seeking to establish the meaning of an occurrence of a word in a Syriac biblical translation is threefold. The first step is to evaluate each instantiation of a word in its textuai context, then in the light of the underlying source text, and then in relation to all other occurrences of that Syriac word in the source text, and also evaluating the nature of their relationships to the source language. It is a procedure that allows one to discover the different and sometimes diverse meanings of the same lexical item as it is used in the target text, to guard against misreadings of that text, to distinguish properly between any different translational uses of a word, and to discern peculiarities and patterns in the techniques used by the translator(s). Resources are often important, especially existing lexica, grammars and critical editions of the source and target texts. Translations of the Syriac text can also be helpful. While they should not be used as an authoritative basis for establishing the meanings of words, 13 used circumspectly, they can be helpful resources, both positively and negatively, in the making of a Syriac lexical entry. A careful scrutiny of a translation can reveal how it has rendered and understood a Syriac word. To this extent, a translation can contribute to the investigation of a word in a particular context in a particular text. This, as we shall see, proved to be the case in the study of jO

¿ J in Mt 27:4.

In accordance with the above procedure, I sought first to evaluate the Peal in Mt 27:4 primarily as an element of the text 13 Falla, "A Conceptual Framework," §8.2.4. Problems that have resulted from using translations of the Greek New Testament as authorities on the meaning of Greek words are discussed by John A. L. Lee, A History of-New Testament Lexicography (New York: Peter Lang, 20Q3), 31-44. The Harp

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in which it occurs, namely, in a particular unit in a particular Gospel in the Peshitta New Testament. In other words, I tried to evaluate it, not as a translation of the Greek, but in its immediate syntacticsemantic context in the Syriac text and as a word belonging to the Classical Syriac language. But this initial step doesn't get us very far. The Syriac gives us no clue, no lead to follow as to the essential meaning of this phrase in the context of Mt 27:4. As to other resources such as Syriac lexica and glossaries, with one exception, they are silent on the matter and do not cite this verse. The exception is Henry F. Whish's Clavis Syriaca. Without explanation, but perhaps because he had no better alternative, he accepts the literal meaning "Thou knowest;"14 in modem English, "you know." As we have seen, in the right context this would be a perfectly plausible rendering. But in Mt 27:4 it is an enigma. This brings us to translations of the Peshitta Gospels. Apart from Whish, they are the only Syriac-based resources to which we can turn. Their potential value lies in the fact that, by virtue of their undertaking, they are committed to expressing an opinion, even though that opinion may be expressed without explanation. But each translation brings us back to our starting point. Like Whish, four of them settle for the literal meaning "you know:" George H. Gwilliam, who has the rendering tu noveris in his Latin translation of the Peshitta Gospels,15 14 Henry F. Whish, Clavis Syriaca (London: Deighton, Bel! & Co, 1883; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1926), 354. 15 Pusey and Gwilliam, Tetraeuangelium Sanctum. The Latin verb nosco is usually glossed as "to get a knowledge of, become acquainted with, come to know." Used figuratively (by metonymy), this verb, according to Charlton T. Lewis, A Latin Dictionary for Schools (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1889), 676, has the meanings "examine," "consider," "acknowledge," "admit." The first two of these meanings are also listed in Lewis and Short's A Latin Dictionary, (Charlton T. Lewis, A Latin Dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary [Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1879], 1216, col, 3), but as literal and not figurative. If we assigned these meanings to Gwilliam's translation we could interpret it to mean something like "You examine (it)," "You acknowledge (it)." But While Gwilliam would have been familiar with thesis, dictionaries, it is most unlikely that he would have had such an interpretation in mind, and even less likely that he would have expected his readers to arrive at such a conclusion. Vol XX 2005

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Terry C. Falla 16

17

and Francis C. Burkitt, Agnes Smith Lewis, and E. Jan Wilson18 in their respective English translations of the Sinai version of the Old Syriac, which is relevant because it employs the same essential construction as the Peshitta.19 Perhaps it is because he perceived a problem that Wilson does not settle for Burkitt's simple "Thou wilt know," or Lewis's and Whish's straightforward "Thou knowest." Instead, Wilson introduces two new elements into his translation. First, he makes the phrase a conditional interrogative extension of the preceding phrase. This he achieves by joining the two phrases together by the conjunction "if." As the " i f ' does not exist in the Syriac text, he encloses it in brackets. Secondly, he adds the object "it" to the end of the phrase. By introducing these two elements, Wilson achieves the rendering: "And they said to him, What is that to us (if) you know it?" But in his inventiveness, Wilson distorts the syntax and leads us away from a credible semantic solution, not towards one. Two other translations, to which I will return later, give a quite different translation. One is the generally judicious 1892 translation of James Murdock, 20 and the other the frequently flawed AramaicEnglish Interlinear New Testament (AEINT).21 Instead of a literal rendering of the Syriac, each adopts a meaning assigned by Greek lexica to the Greek that underlies the Syriac text. Their respective renderings are "See to it thyself' and "You take care of it." The assumption behind Murdock and AEINT's translations is that in this instance the Syriac has sought to render accurately the Greek underlying it. It is an assumption worth examining. While the 16 Burkitt, Evangelion da-Mepharreshe. 17 Agnes; Smith Lewis, A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest (London: Macmillan, 1894). 18 E, Jan Wilson, The Old Syriac Gospels: Studies and Comparative Translations (2 vols.; ECS 1; Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2002). 19 See note 12. 20 James Murdock, Murdock's Translation of the Syriac New Testament from the Peschito Version (Boston: Scriptural Tract Repository, 1892). 21 The Way International Research team, eds., Aramaic-English Interlinear New Testament (2 vols.; New Knoxville: American Christian Press, 1988). While this interlinear has proved popular, it must be used with caution because of its many translation errors.

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Peshitta and Old Syriac often diverge from the Greek, they are also often reliable witnesses to it, and frequently reveal the bi-lingual gifts of their Syriac translators and their semantic and syntactic knowledge of Koine Greek. In this case, the study of the Syriac text alone does not disclose the meaning of K i t ^ ¡ ^ The next step, therefore, is to scrutinise the Greek behind it. One difference immediately emerges. Unlike the Syriac phrase j^,) ^ ^ about which Syriac lexica and grammars are silent, the Greek phrase ctu 6i}>r] has been subjected to intensive investigation and has been listed in Greek lexica informed by philological study for well over a century. 22 r iVanslated literally, the Greek verb (from OQCXW) means "see." This fact alone invites attention, for strictly speaking; the earliest Syriac translations of the Gospels in which this verse is extant (the Sinai and Peshitta) seem to depart from the Greek by their rendering "see" by the Peal "know." This is confirmed by the later Harklean version which, in accordance with Thomas of Harqel's translation policy, reverts to the literal "see" in j^L KJ¡you will see. Greek scholarship does not, however, assign a literal meaning to cru ovj^i]. Nor does it translate o^'q as a future indicative. According to several scholars from the nineteenth century to the present, cru o^'i] finds its origin in the 22 Cf. "see thou to it,""that will by thy concerrt' as the meaning of cru 6i|)i] Mt 27:4 in Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament being Grimm's Wilke's Novi Testamenti(4th ed.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark. 1901), 451; "The colloquialCTUD%] ¡n Mt 27:4 ... may not mean more than 'you will see to that' (Proleg. p, 177): Gildersleeve, on the other hand, finds in the fut. an imperative conception, 'see thou to that' (Syntax i. p. 116 n.1)" in James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources (London: Hodder and Stoughtpn, 1949), 455. The source, Proleg., to which Moulton and Milligan refers is James Hope Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, vol. 1, Prolegomena (3rd ed.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1908), 177, where we read that the future indicative in question as in the colloquial cru o4>r] in Mt 27:4 "may have the tone of absolute indifference," and that "Against Winer's remark (p. 397) that this form 'was considered milder than the imperative,' we may set Gildersleeve's emphatic denial. 'A prediction may imply resistless power or cold indifference, compulsion or concession' (Synt. 116)." Vol. XX 2006

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Terry C. Falla 23

Latinism tu videris, "see to it yourself." Furthermore, in a context such as this one, the future indicative 6i(rq is defined as having an "imperative conception," 2 4 as "expressing a command," 2 5 an "imperatival future," 26 and a "volitive future" used "instead of the imperative and subjunctive."27 If, for instance, we turn to the newest edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG), we find that semantics and syntax coalesce in the treatment of this little Greek phrase in Mt 27:4. It is assigned the definition "to accept responsibility for causing 23 J. H. Thayer, "Language of the New Testament," in J. Hastings, et al., eds., Dictionary of the Bible (4 vols.; Edinburgh: 1899-1904; rev. by F. C. Grant and H. H. Rowley, 1963); A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (4th ed.; Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), 109-10; D. Hesseling in F. Blass and A. Debrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (trans, and ed. Robert W. Funk; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961), §362; Frederick William Danker, ed., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3rd ed. [BDAG]; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 720. 24 "The colloquial CTU in Mt 27:4 ... may not mean more than 'you will see to that' (Proleg. p. 177): Gildersieeve, on the other hand, finds in the fut. an imperative conception, 'see thou to that' (Syntaxi. p. 116 n.1):" James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Nonliterary Sources (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1949), 455. The source, Proleg., to which Moulton and Milligan refers is James Hope Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, vol. 1, Prolegomena (3rd ed.; Edinburgh: T&T Ciark, 1908), 177, where we read that the future indicative in question, as in the colloquialCTÜöij'i] in Mt 27:4, "may have the tone of absolute indifference," and that "Against Winer's remark (p. 397) that this form 'was considered milder than the imperative,' we may set Gildersleeve's emphatic denial. 'A prediction may imply resistless power or cold indifference, compulsion or concession' (Synt. 116)." 25 Nigel Turner, A Grammar of the New Testament Greek, vol. 3 Syntax (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1963), 86; Stanley E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament (Biblical Languages: Greek 2; Sheffield: JSOT, 1992), 224. 26 Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1996), 569-70. 27 Blass and Debrunner, A Greek Grammar, §362; cf. Porter, Idioms, 44. lllllfl

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something to happen," glossed as "look, see to, take care of," and translated as "see to that yourself!," "that's your affair!" 29 Could it then be that the translators responsible for the Syriac phrase in the Sinai version of the Old Syriac and in the Peshitta knew from the outset the meaning of this Greek idiom and matched it with an appropriate Syriac idiom, an idiom that does full justice to its source text? My sense is that that is exactly what happened. How then should we translate the Syriac? First, it would be appropriate to avoid the connotation of "see" as in "you see to it" as retained by Murdock, so that the distinctive semantic quality of the Syriac Peal is retained, while still doing justice to the underlying Greek. For this reason I assigned this apparent Syriac idiom in Mt 27:4 the meaning: "it is your responsibility," "that is your affair," "you bear the burden of your own knowledge." But, just as the shadows of doubt must have flitted across the resolution arrived at by Greek lexicography at the time it was first debated, so I have wondered whether my definition would stand the test of time. Towards the end of 2001, I stayed in a Chicago flat with three Syriac-speaking people who have found a home in the US: Abdul-Massih, his brother Saad, and their wonderful mother Mrs Saadi. In the midst of an animated evening conversation, the little r

r

phrase ^Li k±I came to mind and I showed Saad, a poet, what I had done with it. Next morning, having broken the bread and blessed 28 Danker, ed., A Greek-English Lexicon, 720. (Introduced by Danker, definitions of meanings are a new feature of the lexicon). See also Max Zerwick and Mary Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament (5th ed.; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1996), 91. 29 Cf. "See to it yourself" (Revised Standard Version, 1946, and New Revised Standard Version, 1989), "See to that yourself" (New English Bible, 1970), "It is your concern" (Revised English Bible, 1989), "That is your concern" (Jerusalem Bible, 1974, and New Jerusalem Bible, 1985), "That's your responsibility" (New International Version, 1979), "it is your business" (R. E. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech, 1912), "That is your business!" (Today's English Version, 1966), "it is your affair, not ours!" (James Moffatt, The New Testament: A New Translation, 1913). The earlier Kings James Version (1611) and Revised Version (1881) respectively have "see thou to that," and "see thou to it."

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Terry C. Falla

it, we sat down to our breakfast of goat's cheese, hummus, olives, and conversation. Saad asked his mother about the phrase, and her opinion of how I had translated it. At this point you need to know that Mrs Saadi, who is fluent in three dialects of Syriac, can speak no English. "Yes, yes," she said, "of course it means what Terry says. It was a saying we used in our village. It was used by my parents and grandparents, and is very familiar to me in both my Mardini and Turoyo dialects." "We can use it," she continued, "in its literal sense of 'you know.' But it can also serve to express rejection and accusation. It has a harsh and unforgiving edge." Mrs Saadi then confirmed that as she understood it in the context of Mt 27:4 (Peshitta version) it meant "it is your responsibility, that's your affair, that is your problem (implying that it is not ours):" "I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood," (= "Hfiaoxov naQabobi; aijaa aScpov),-10

Uaj Iboi JSjso\«.ij

says Judas in anguished remorse. "What is that to us?" jbo

( =

T i

7TOOC

RIFIEXS),

the religious elite fling back in his face. "That's your affair, not ours;" "That's your problem." r

hJ ^

r

(= ov mjn])-

When I returned from Chicago to Melbourne, I shared this story with some friends, one of whom quipped that I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if 1 had simply consulted with Mrs Saadi in the first place. It is certainly true that I could have resolved my dilemma more quickly if at the outset I had had the good sense to consult Syriacspeaking friends to see whether they had come across this phrase. It is a lesson that I hope 1 have learned. But as Samuel Johnson knew, there is no simple path to "gathering earth's daughters." Nor is this quite the end of the tale. A few months after my visit to Chicago, while boarding a flight to Cochin with a colleague, a voice behind us said: "You must be Terry and Beryl." It was Father Georgas Alkan. We 3 0 See note 10. The Harp

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The.

had not met before, but he knew we would be on the same flight. Originally from Turkey, Georgas now lives in Sydney. Syriac is his mother tongue. A s we winged our way to India, 1 could not resist asking Georgas if he had an opinion as to the meaning of ¡>J[ ^

¿Jj

in M t 27:4. The reason was that I was to present at S E E R I in embryonic form the story that was to become this paper. " Y e s , " he said, quoting the whole verse in Syriac. "This phrase in this verse, it means as we would say in Australia, 'That's your problem mate: you sort it out.'" Here, then, in contemporary Syriac is a saying that has through the millennia retained its essential force. I confess to there being a touch of romance in talking to people who in their mother tongue are acquainted with an ancient idiom that has remained a mystery to Western scholarship. Tracking down earth's daughters doesn't of course usually lead to a destination in the form of a person whose language is Syriac. Nor can the investigation end there, for the survival of the old in the now must be thoroughly tested in the text where the journey began.

A Parallel Occurrence to Mt 27:24 In this regard, an important issue still to be addressed is the fact that Mt 27:4 is not the only place in the Syriac N e w Testament in which w e fi nd a form of the Syriac idiom composed of the Peal verb with the pronoun of the second person. It also occurs in the Peshitta and Sinai texts of M t 27:24 and the Peshitta text of Acts 18:15.31 In M t 27:24, Pilate washes his hands before the crowd and declares himself innocent.32 He then says to the crowd u^ieu; 6v['£ct9e see

to

that

yourselves!,

that's

your

affair!,

that

is

your

31 As in Mt 27:4. the Harklean text translates the Greek literally with the imperfect verb v o u > k , 32 The Peshitta reads:LL,i L'i, ^ W / am innocent of this man's blood - A 0 A ; O C EI-F-IL A N D TOU AIF-IAXOS T O U SiKaiou T O U T O U , or TOUTOU TOD I)LKAIOI>—the words xoubucaiou occur at different places in a variety of manuscripts (Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament [2nd ed.; Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1994]). The Sinai text, which has ^ i m ^ r&rC ^ I am innocent of this blood, follows the Greek reading that lacks I 0 (, 5iKctiou the righteous. Voi.XX 2006

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Terry C. Falla

responsibility! As exegetes note, Mt 27:24 parallels verse 4,33 though "the similarities are really differences:" Whereas Judas declares his guilt for innocent blood, Pilate denies his; and while Pilate, seeking to avoid responsibility, tells others to 'see to it yourselves', this is what Judas, who acknowledges his responsibility, is told to do by others ... unlike Pilate, he acknowledges his sin.34 The repetition of the Greek idiom is matched by the Syriac versions with their apparently native Syriac idiom, which equals the original in meaning and intensity. Like the Greek, the Syriac puts into the mouth of Pilate the words that the authorities had flung at Judas. With their potent idiom, the Peshitta and Sinai versions are able to replicate the similarities and maintain the intended differences of the source text. One thing that is certain is that the literal renderings of Whish in his analysis of the Peshitta,35 and of Burkitt ("ye know it"), Lewis ("ye know") and Wilson ("you know it)" in their respective translations of the Sinai text are mistranslations, albeit attractive mistranslations because in the contexl of this verse they make sense. According to this approach, Pilate bluntly informs the religious elite that they know full-well that he is innocent: "I am innocent ... you know [itl." The same cannot be said for verse 4. As we have seen, such a sense cannot be forced successfully onto the Syriac idiom as it is used in liiat earlier instance. In that verse, we are inescapably confronted wi.h a problem that the use of a mistranslation does not allow us to avoid. Gwilliam also apparently supports a literal interpretation, though the Latin verb he chooses does require a comment. !t is cognosco (vos cognoscetis), which Lewis and Short gloss as "to become thoroughly acquainted with, (by the senses or menially), to learn by inquiring, to examine, investigate, perceive, see, understand, learn." As is often the case w ith a Latin translation of the Syriac, the 33 Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:564; Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew (Louisville: John Knox, 1993), 313. 34 Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:564. 35 Verse 24 is dealt with under verse 4, p. 354. The Harp;

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reader is left wondering as to how much or how little significance to attach to the translation. In this case, did Gwilliam intend vos cognoscetis to bear a weight and sophistication of meaning that goes beyond "you know"? As a translation, there is nothing unusual about the use of cognosco in this context, and it could be argued that it is unlikely that Gwilliam would expect of his audience a connotation that he did not make explicit. That we should not read too much into this rendering is supported by Lewis' critical notations (entitled Similia in aliis Codd.) in her Syriac text of the Old Syriac Gospels. 36 She notes that the Peshitta reading is and uses the same Latin verb as Gwilliam to translate it: ' V ^ = cognoscetis." No doubt she attributes the same meaning to the same verb in the Sinai text, which she translates into English as "ye know" in The Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest. Murdock and AEINT again echo the Greek. Both are in accord with the meaning assigned to the Greek by Greek léxica and English translations of their time. Murdock has "see ye to it." AEINT repeats its translation of verse 4, "You take care of it." Syriac Tenses in M t 2 7 : 4 and 2 7 : 2 4

It is of some interest that in verse 4 the Sinai has the imperfect verb and the Peshitta the active participle, and that in verse 24 we have the reverse: ^písurs' in the Sinai version and ébJj v 0 ^ in the Peshitta. Both translate the Greek future indicative. It is impossible to know for certain whether the translators responsible for the Sinai and Peshitta versions varied the tenses of the Peal in Mt 27:4 and 24 in order to achieve an exegetical outcome. But it is likely, for the participle does introduce an element of "contextual exegesis" into both texts, that seems to accentuate the similarity and difference between the parallels.37 Furthermore, it is not impossible that the Peshitta reading is a revision of an Old Syriac text-type that 36 Lewis. The Old Syriac Gospels, 76. 37 Emmanuel Tov, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research (Jerusalem: Simor, 1981),; 83, defines "contextual exegesis" in a translation as "elements that deviate from the literal sense of a given word, phrase or sentence." Vol. XX 2006!

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Terry C. Falla

had the same reading as the Sinai text. If this were the case, then the Peshitta's reversal of the tenses requires explanation, and that explanation would seem to lie in the Peshitta reviser's awareness of his parallel texts and the nature of their relationship to each other. As Theodor Noldeke and Takamitsu Muraoka demonstrate, the Syriac active participle is used to indicate several nuances of tense. 38 One of these signifies the "Actual Present"—"what is happening at the moment of speaking."39 This aspect is applicable to the use of the participle in the Peshitta phrase tsJ ^ ¡ J j in Mt 27:4: "You are responsible," "This is your affair (your concern, your problem)," perhaps with the implication that Judas must now bear the burden of his own his own "knowing," the knowledge of what he has done. But the present tense of jv^,' ^JI may also be seen as bearing an ongoing nuance, for frequently the active participle also denotes "the continuing as well as the momentary Present, and in this meaning it almost entirely supplants the Imp[erfect]."40 In this regard, we may even see in the participle in liJl hJi what Muraoka calls an "immediacy and certainty of realisation."41 By signifying the present, with its probable implied reference to a continuing condition that is now set in motion, the Peal participle ^.U, in verse 4 can be perceived as adding a poignancy to the narrative that is not present in the Greek. In the Peshitta participle the end is made present. It is not the implied command, the imperative conception that we have in the Greek that we have here. Judas is not being told to bear the responsibility of what he has done, which would have been the case if the Syriac imperfect had been used. Instead, he is informed that this is the way things are: he is responsible now and in futurity for what has happened. The Syriac participle turns (he imperative force of the Greek future indicative from an order into a pronouncement. "Judas, this is your problem" is 38 Theodore Noldeke:, Compendious Syriac Grammar (trans. James A. Crichton; London: Williams and Norgate, 1904), §264-68; Takamitsu Muraoka, Classical Syriac for Hebraists (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1987), §68; Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar with a Chrestomathy (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997), §83. 39 Muraoka, Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar, §83. The Harp

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the message of the Peshitta text, as against "Judas, make it your problem" in the underlying Greek. The participle collapses Judas' past and future into an irredeemable continuing present tense. It locks him into the terrible and total isolation to which the authorities condemn him, while the reader is left knowing that the indifference and callousness of those who reject Judas' remorse "mask culpability."42 Often, the Syriac imperfect "carries a modal nuance of can, must, might, should, may, etc." 43 This is the case in verse 24 where the Peshitta preserves the intent of the Greek tense. The Peshitta imperfect of verse 24 seems to provide an intentional contrast to verse 4. Through his directive, Pilate tries to shift responsibility for the fate of Jesus, who has been declared innocent, from himself to others. It is a nuance that could not be expressed through the participle, and that is changed significantly by reversing the tenses as they exist in the Sinai text. In verse 4 in the Peshitta, the end is present and prescient in the idiom because of the present-tense participle. In verse 24, because of the imperfect with its imperative conception, the idiom becomes Pilate's demand that will determine the future. Whether the Peshitta reading was preserved from a version of the Old Syriac or is a revision of an Old Syriac text-type, the attention given to observable detail elsewhere in the Peshitta New Testament inclines one to the view that the sequence of participle followed by imperfect was not coincidental. In other words, the Peshitta's order of tenses would seem to indicate a subtle dramatising of the narrative's intent—a dramatising that would be difficult to replicate in an English translation. The placing of the imperfect in Mt 4 0 Noldeke, Compendious Syriac Grammar, 211. 41 The participle, says Muraoka (Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar, §83), "also e x p r e s s e s the idea of futurity, intention ( P r o s p e c t i v e Present), or immediacy and certainty of realisation ¡ike the Englfish] syntagm be going to+ lnf[initive]."41 As an example he cites ^ lu he is going to inherit me. See also Muraoka, Classical Syriac for Hebraists. § 6 8 . 4 2 Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:564. 4 3 Muraoka, Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar, §82.

30

Terry C. Falla

:

27:4 and the participle in Mt 27:24 in the Sinai text suggests that it may contain in reverse order an older version of this subtle dramatization. Another Occurrence in Acts 18:15 In Acts 18:15 our Greek and Syriac idioms respectively occur in the phrases oif'eaSe auxoi and a a k J ^ . obJl. In this instance, the idioms are employed to return responsibility to its rightful place. Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, tells opponents of Paul that if the matter they were bringing before him were a misdemeanour or a crime, he would attend to it, but that if their complaint belonged to their own jurisdiction they must settle the matter themselves. The outcome is good for Paul. As in Mt 27:4, 24, the Greek verb is the f u t u r e indicative 4 4 and the phrase may be translated "see to it yourselves," 45 "settle the matter yourselves," 46 "you may settle the matter yourselves," 47 "you must deal with it yourselves.'' 48 The use of the active participle in this verse must be distinguished from its function in Mt 27:4. In the latter verse it is used to express the present tense. In this verse it is employed in the apodosis—the clause stating the consequence—of its conditional sentence. 49 Accordingly, it requires the translation "but if the matters in question are about speech a n d n a m e s and y o u r o w n l a w (liO^» ^ ^ ^jul Lcoasaj ^ o yourselves

looaii. " ^ o ) , you shall settle the matter among ^ i j ^¿KJ!

or "you yourselves shall be

responsible for the matter." i'hc suffixed preposition yourselves

among

is virtually parallel to " y o u r s e l v e s " In the three

contemporary English translations of the Greek that are quoted above, and reveals itself to be, not a flourish, but finely tuned to the meaning of the Greek idiom in this particular context. As in the Matthean 44 See notes 22 and 24. 45 Blass and Debrunner, A Greek Grammar., §362; Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version. 46 New International Version. 47 The Revised English Bible. 48 The Jerusalem Bible and The New Jerusalem Bible. 49 Muraoka, Classical Syriac: A Basic Grammar, §83. The Harp

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verses, it is better when translating the Syriac to avoid the Greekverb connotation "see," which Murdock and AEINT retain in their respective renderings "see to it yourselves" and "you see to [it] among yourselves." Conclusion Some time after my conversations with the Saadi family and Fr. Georgas Alkan, Syriac-speaker and scholar George Kiraz pointed out the significance of context for a proper understanding of our idiom in the Kthobonoyo dialect. The context can range from a casual exchange between people, to a mild, offhand dismissiveness, a formal decision as in the case of Mt 27:24 and Acts 18:15, to a rebuff, rebuke with an edge of insult, to an outright brutal rejection as in Mt 27:4.50 It is apparent that this semantic range was in essence familiar to the translators of the Syriac New Testament. We must always exercise great caution before we move from the contemporary use of a word or phrase to its use in an ancient text. But this idiom's threefold appearance in Matthew and Acts as a confident rendering of the Greek expression behind it, and its continuance in contemporary Syriac allows us to conclude first that it was part of the Classical Syriac language prior to the translation of the Greek New Testament into Syriac, and secondly that we have a saying that has survived the best part of two millennia. Moreover, it is only because of that survival that we are able to establish with confidence the meaning of the idiom in its Syriac New Testament contexts. For more than a century, modern lexicography has sought to establish and refine the meaning of the Greek idiom. The evidence suggests that the Syriac translators knew it all the time. Competent in both Syriac and Greek, they were acquainted with the semantic value of the Greek idiom in Mt 27:4,24 and Acts 18:15, and realized that they had at hand the ideal Syriac idiom to match it. For those translators our Syriac saying would have been an exceedingly appropriate lexical choice. The study began with the search for a 50 In his forthcoming paper, "Kthobonoyo: Some Observations and Remarks," read at Symposium Syriacum IX, Beirut 2004, Kiraz argues that Kthobonoyo Syriac is a term that applies to the spoken (not written) form of Classical Syriac:

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Terry C. Falla

lost meaning. From a text-critical and lexical perspective, it ends, not only with the recovery of an idiom, but with the meaning of that idiom as a versional witness to the meaning of the Greek behind it. But this should not be taken to mean that we can define the Syriac idiom in exactly the same way as the Greek. Just as the precise shade of a colour can alter dramatically when it is placed next to a different colour,51 so does the context of the Greek and Syriac idioms we have studied redefine the way in which we view them, and the parties who speak them and to whom they are addressed. The core meaning is coloured by the contours of the narrative, and the profile and shades of those contours are in turn sharpened by the core meaning. Earlier in this essay we saw thai Frcdcrick Danker's definition of the Greek idiom is "to accept responsibility for causing something to happen." The definition is not without ambiguity. As ii stands, it infers first that it is the party to whom the idiom is directed that has caused what has happened, and secondly that the party that is addressed accepts responsibility lor what has happened. Rightly or wrongly, its focus is on the person(s) to whom the idiom is addressed. I am not convinced that this is what the definition intends to convey. The Syriac calls for the reverse: a definition that focuses on the speaker and what the speaker says rather than on ihe party who is addressed. The definition should not be affected by the rhetorical issue of whether the narrative's spotlight is on the speaker or on the person(s) being spoken to. While the second person, the "you" at whom the Syriac idiom is directed., is an inherent and explicit part of it, the fact remains that the idiom comes from the speaker and not the party at the receiving end. The issue is not, as Danker's definition implies, what the human object of the idiom may or may not have done, and does or does not do as a consequence. While the context may reveal that, the idiom in itself does not. It is therefore the declaration of the speaker that should determine the definition and not the action of the party who is addressed. Accordingly, we may define the Syriac saying as "to call on someone to accept 51 Ginny Dougary, "The world according to Salman:" Good Weeend: The Age Magazine (September 2 4 / 2 0 0 5 ) : 37.

Gathering Earth's Daughters": Recovering The...

33

responsibility for having caused something to happen," "to put on someone the responsibility for something." It is a definition that I think is also applicable to the Greek. In some contexts, (he definition may be modified to reflect the speaker's apparent avoidance of responsibility, and by the foisting of blame on the party that is addressed, but that would be to allow the context to influence the definition of a particular occurrence. To those of us w h o inherit the Western tradition, the recovery of this Syriac idiom inevitably brings with it not only a l i n g u i s t i c f a s c i n a t i o n , b u t a l s o an e x e g e t i c a l and e x i s t e n t i a l dimension. Its applicability to the present is so apparent that it loses none of its ancient power. It explodes out of the Gospel narrative to c o n f r o n t us in the same m o m e n t with the worst and best in the h u m a n condition. In its Matthean context, the idiom intentionally mirrors the darker side of h u m a n nature. Judas, recognizing the horror and consequences of what he has done, returns the bloodied betrayal money. But in this instance, religion's representatives offer him no sign of hope. Instead, their response epitomizes rejection at its worst. Judas turned to faith's officials. Their answer: ¿ J j v j ¿ J j that's your affair, not ours; it is your responsibility; that's your problem. Thus, with this abrupt, incisive phrase Judas is condemned to his hell. But in this same idiom, when viewed in its narrative context, is another embedded m e s s a g e that runs f r o m the beginning of the Matthean Gospel to its end: the call for the recognition of an alternative reality; a community of grace and hope that helps us f a c e the evil in ourselves and the world, that takes us beyond our cruelty and prejudice, that opens a f u t u r e where forgiveness is waiting; an inclusive community that incarnates reconciliation and restoration and is unafraid of the resurrecting power of love. T h e e x a m p l e t h i s e s s a y h a s e x p l o r e d is b u t o n e of innumerable creative Syriac renderings that prove a challenge to the lexicographer, if for no other reason than that they have never been included in a lexicon. It illustrates that while the dictionaries we do have provide a wealth of invaluable information, there is still much to be done in the area of ascertaining the signification of Syriac lexemes. There remains the need for the gathering together in the one place

34

Terry C. Falla

the multiplicity of a word's meanings, the defining of those meanings, and the citation of their sources. In this regard, we are just at the frontier where the scope for further research is immense. We are still a long, long way from an inventory of the Syriac language that has as its goal the presentation of every word, every nuance, every shade of meaning and spelling, every word of similar meaning— through which we can enter into the interconnectedness of a headword's semantic universe—and every judicious illustrative citation from even a selection of the great sources of Syriac literature.52 But a frontier is an exciting and wonder-filled place to be, especially when we let it remind us that we do not yet know, and have not yet discovered the names of so many of "earth's daughters."

52 Parts of this passage are based on Winchester, The Surgeon of Crowthorne, 90 and 92.

Hidemi Takahashi

A NOTE ON SYR I AC STUDIES IN JAPAN Syriacists, of course, needed no reminder that Syriac Christianity had played an important role in the religious and cultural scenery of lands well beyond the eastern borders of the Middle East. The fact that the Syriac tradition was still very much a living one in India was also something that they were fully aware of. The fact, on the other hand, that the tradition was being taken seriously at an academic level among the spiritual sons and daughters of St. Thomas may not have been quite so obvious if it had not been for the one who is being honoured in this Festschrift. For through his presence at many an international gathering of Syriacists, through his work at SEERI, and especially through those wonderful conferences he has hosted there, Fr. Jacob Thekeparampil has not only played a vital role in promoting the study of the Syriac language and tradition in India, but has helped to impress upon us the vitality and the high standard of academic work being conducted there. Most Syriacists, on the other hand, will not be so fully aware of the academic work being carried out in the field in parts of Asia further east. In those parts Syriac Christianity can no longer be said to constitute a living tradition in the sense of being a religion practised by a significant section of the population, even though traces of its presence in the past are to be found in various locations up to the eastern seaboard of the continent. In the case of the chain of islands off that coast, one has yet to come up with any convincing evidence Vol. XX 2006:

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lakahashi

o f t h e p r e s e n c e o f C h r i s t i a n i t y p r i o r t o t h e a d v e n t o f St. F r a n c i s X a v i e r in 1 5 4 9 , e v e n if m a n y , i n c l u d i n g s o m e s e r i o u s s c h o l a r s , h a v e tried to s e e t r a c e s o f it in v a r i o u s h i s t o r i c a l d o c u m e n t s , a r t e f a c t s a n d r i t u a l s . ' T h i s d o e s not m e a n , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e a r c h i p e l a g o is t o t a l l y b a r r e n t o d a y as f a r as S y r i a c s c h o l a r s h i p is c o n c e r n e d , e v e n if m o s t o f t h e w o r k b e i n g p r o d u c e d t h e r e is in a l a n g u a g e w h i c h is i n a c c e s s i b l e to t h e m a j o r i t y o f S y r i a c s c h o l a r s . 2 T h e o n l y J a p a n e s e n a m e that a p p e a r s in M o s s ' Catalogue,

which

in e f f e c t c o n s t i t u t e s t h e m o s t c o m p r e h e n s i v e b i b l i o g r a p h y o f w o r k s o n S y r i a c s t u d i e s d o w n to 1960, is that o f Y o s h i r o S a e k i ( 1 8 7 9 - 1 9 6 5 ) , t h e a u t h o r o f Nestorian

Monuments

Nestorian

and Relics

Documents

in China in China

(London 1916) and

{Tokyo

1937). 3 L a r g e l y

u n k n o w n to s c h o l a r s o u t s i d e J a p a n a r e his n u m e r o u s p u b l i c a t i o n s in Japanese w h i c h include, besides the Japanese counterparts of the two w o r k s j u s t m e n t i o n e d , 4 a f o u r - v o l u m e w o r k o n C h r i s t i a n i t y in C h i n a 5 1

It seems unlikely that Christianity entered Japan in any organised form in the early centuries as some claim. Given the traffic of people between China and Japan during the period in which Syriac Christianity flourished in China, it is quite possible that some individual Christians crossed the East China Sea, but this will: be more difficult to prove. Indirect influence of Syriac Christianity via; elements which entered Chinese Buddhism may be a fruitful field of research. - Much ( some it more in the realm of science;fiction than academia, has been written on the subject in recent years both in print and in electronic media. Here, I limit myself to naming just one of the relatively less fantastic of these publications by authors whose names will not be unknown to those familiar with the recent developments in Assyrian circles: Ken Jozefu Sr. & Jr. [= Kenny Joseph: & Ken Joseph Jr.], Kakusareta\Jujika no Kuni Nippon [Japan, a Secret Land of the Cross*], Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 2000.

2

It might be mentioned here that many academic publications in Japan are at least accompanied by summaries in Western languages, so that their contents not completely inaccessible even to those unfamiliar with the language.

3

See C. Moss, Catalogue of Syriac Literature, London 1962, 958f.

4

Keikyo Hibun Kenkyu, Tokyo: Tairo Shoin, 1911, 173 + 99 pp ; (Repr. Tokyo: Ozorasha, 1996); Keikyo no Kenkyu, Tokyo: Toho Bunka Gakuin Tokyo Kenkyujo, 1935, 11 + 2 + 30 + 1000 + 2 + 220 + 32 pp., 17 plates (Repr. Tokyo: Meicho Fukyukai, 1978).

Printed

Books

and

Related

A Note on Syriac Studies in Japan

37 6

and a translation of Budge's The Monks of Kuhlai Khan, school textbooks for English and works on Roman law.

as well as

Another Japanese name that will not be unknown to Syriacists worldwide is that of Takamitsu Muraoka (1938-). While most of his publications have been in English, among his publications in Japanese is a translation from Syriac of the Apocalypse of Baruch, found in the collection of Japanese translations of the Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha published from Kyobunkwan by the Japanese Biblical Institute (Nihon Seishogaku Kenkyujo). The same collection also includes a translation from Syriac of the Odes of Solomon by Takashi Onuki. 7 B e s i d e s the w o r k s of these scholars, there has b e e n an increasing number of academic publications in Japan in recent years on subject matters that fall within the field of "Syriac studies", at least in a relatively wide sense of the term. Provided below is a list of such publications which have come to the notice of the present writer. 8 It is often difficult to decide where to draw the line when compiling such a list as this. The list concentrates, though not quite exclusively, on those items which are intended for an "academic", as opposed to a more general, readership. Excluded from the list are publications dealing specifically with Syriac Christianity in China, including those by Saeki. since the present writer does not as yet feel competent to deal with these in an adequate manner. 9 5

Shina Kirisutokyo no Kenkyu, Tokyo: Shunjusha Shohakukan, 194349, 592 + 548 + 630 + 650 pp. (Repr. Tokyo: Meicho Fukyukai, 1979).

6

Genshu Fubirai ga Oshu ni Haken shitaru Keikyo So no Ryokoshi, Tokyo: Tairo Shorn, 1932, 419 + 50 pp.

7

The translation by Muraoka of the Wisdom of Ben Sira in the same collection (vol. 2, Old Testament Apocrypha II, Tokyo: Kyobunkwan, 1977, 67-207, 361-510) is based on the Greek version/ but frequent reference is made to the Syriac version in the commentary.

8

I am indebted to Messrs. Yasuyuki Mitsuma and Takumi Ishiwata, both of the University of Tokyo, for bringing to my attention a number of the items in the list which would otherwise have been overlooked.

9

One monograph, which falls in the domain of Christian Arabic, rather than Syriac, studies and is therefore not included in the list, but which should be mentioned here in view of the rarity of works in that field, which is germane to Syriac studies, in Japan and in view of the high standard it sets, is by a career diplomat: Hirofumi Wakabayashi,

38

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Takahashi

The list serves to illustrate the appeal of Syriac studies to those engaged in a wide variety of fields of research. For the authors named in the list include specialists in Semitic linguistics (Narazaki, Takashina), 1 0 Arabic studies (Niitsuma), South Arabian studies (Shitomi), Armenian studies (Sato), Biblical studies (Onuki), patristies (Omori), classical philology (Akiyama), ancient history (Ishiwata, Mitsuma), archaeology (Egami) and musicology (Awakura) - and even an amateur linguist (iijima) - alongside those whose main fields of research are in Syriac studies proper (Muto, Takeda, Takahashi). There are also other signs of an increasing interest in Syriac studies in Japan. A course in Syriac is on offer at present at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies (Takashina), while a new course is due to start in April 2005 at Keio University (Takahashi). A quick search on the internet reveals a good number of unpublished lectures and talks on themes related to Syriac studies, many of them by those whose names appear in the list below, as well as sites where matters relating to Syriac are discussed in a serious manner, often in connection with Biblical studies or linguistics. Among interesting developments observable on the Internet there is also a surprisingly usable on-line Syriac grammar." There is as yet no formal association of scholars interested in Syriac studies in Japan. The present writer is of the view that the amount of work being done is such as to justify, or rather to require, the formation of some kind of a network to coordinate and facili tate the research in the field. It is his hope that such a network will come Seizoga Ronso to Isuramu [The Iconoclastic Controversy and Islam. A Study on the life and literature of Theodore Abu Qurrah, with translations of two Arabic texts: Michael of Antioch, Vita of St. John of Damascus, Theodore Abu Qurrah, A Treatise on the Veneration of the Holy Icons], Tokyo: Chisen Shokan, 2003, xii + 268 + 66 pp. 10 Works on modem Aramaic dialects used by Christians of the Syriac traditions are included in the list below. As a work on a (Jewish) Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialect by a Japanese Semitist (in English), there is: Akio Nakano, Conversational Texts in Eastern Neo-Aramaic (Gzira Dialect), Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1973. 11 'Tamago' [= A. Matsubara], "Lesana Suriyaya", http://www1.bbiq.jp/ qaddishahaykla/top.html.

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into being in the near future and will perhaps then, among other things, take on the responsibility of reporting to Syriacists worldwide the future progress of the research in the field in Japan, in lists which will hopefully grow more and more substantial than the one compiled below. N.B.: For the translations of titles given in square brackets in the list below and elsewhere in the paper, an attempt has been made as far as possible to use the translations given in the publications themselves. Where this was not possible, English translations were provided by the present writer and marked with asterisks. The abbreviations used for the names of journals are as follows. BSWSAS: Seinan Ajia Kenkyu [Bulletin of the Society for Western and Southern Asiatic Studies] (Kyoto University), Kyoto, 1957Eikon: Eikon - T5ho Kirisutokyo Kenkyu [EIKQN - Studies in Eastern Christianity] (Japanese Association for Eastern Christian Studies), Nagoya, 1988-. JChS: Kirisutokyogaku Kenkyu [Journal of Christian Studies] (The Society of Christian Studies, Kyoto University), Kyoto, 1978-.12 JRS: Shukyo Kenkyu [Journal of Religious Studies], (Japanese Association for Religious Studies), Tokyo, 1914-. SZ: Shigaku-Zasshi [Journal of the Historical Society of Japan*], Tokyo, 1889-, ThSJ: Nihonno Shingaku: Shingaku Nenpo [Theological Studies in Japan: Annual Report on Theology] (The Japan Society of Christian Studies), Tokyo, 1962-. TG: The Toyo Gakuho. The Journal of the Research Department of the Tokyo Bunko, Tokyo, 1911-. Akiyama, Manabu [Tsukuba University], "Shiriago to no Taisho ni yoru A r a m u g o Doshi Katsuyo Taikeika no K o k o r o m i " [Systematization of the Aramaic Conjugation Pattern in Comparison 12 On the Journal, see the website of the Department of Christian Studies, Kyoto University: http://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/christ/en/ index.html. Vol. XX 200G

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with the Syriac Verbal System], Bungei Gengo Kenkyu, Gengo Hen [Studies in Language and Literature: Language] (Literature and Linguistics, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba) 41 (2001) 1-41. Awakura, Hiroko,13 "Konnichi no Iraku ni okeru Ni-Shurui no Senritsu Taikei - Bagudaddo no Iraki Makamu to Shiria Seikyokai no Senritsu kara" [Two Tonal Systems in Iraq Today - From a Study of the Iraqi Maqam of Baghdad and the Melodies of the Syrian Orthodox Church*], Ongakugaku [Journal of the Musicological Society of Japan], vol. 24 (1977). -, "Shiria Seikyokai: Seisanshiki no On-Soshiki" [The ToneSystem in the Eucharistic Service of the Syrian Orthodox Church], in Shominzoku no Oto: Koizumi Fumio Sensei Tsuito Ronbunshu [Sounds of the Nations: in Memory of Prof. Fumio Koizumi*], Tokyo: Ongaku-no-Tomo-Sha, 1986,661-685 (English summary on p. 832). -, "Shiria Seikyokai Seika no On-Soshiki - Urufa no Dento ni Mirareru Hasshu no Senritsu - Seisanshiki no Baai" [The Tone System of the Sacred Music of the Syrian Orthodox Church - The Eight Tones in the Tradition of Urfa - The Case of the Eucharistic Liturgy*], in Girei to Ongaku I. Sekai Shukyo Minzoku Shukyo Hen [Ritual and Music, I. World Religions and Ethnic Religions*], Tokyo: TSkyo Shoseki, 1990,175-204. -, "Arabu Shakai no Oto to Hito - Shiria Seikyokai Seisanshiki no Oto Sekai wo Megutte [Sound and Man in Arab Society - On the Sound World of the Eucharistic Service in the Syrian Orthodox Church*], in Tetsuo Sakurai & Osamu Yamaguchi (ed.), Oto no Konjaku [Present and Past of Sound*], Tokyo: Kobundo, 1996. Derukoru Shinpu [= Fr. Aloisio/Luigi Delcol, SDB, ob. 1995], Sei Efuremu Den [ L i f e of St. E p h r e m * ] , O s a k a : Aishinkan, 1993, 129 pp. Derukoru Shinpu & Kimie Eto [translated by], Shiriajin Sei Efuremu, Kyokai Hakase. Seibo Sanka [St. Ephrem the Syrian, 1 3 A w a k u r a ' s works mentioned here are based on field studies conducted in Iraq in 1977 and in Syria in 1984. The Harp

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Doctor of the Church. Hymns to the Holy Mother*], Osaka: Aishinkan, 1993,277 pp.14 Egami, Namio [1906-2002], Mongoru Teikoku to Kirisutokyo [Mongol Empire and Christendom], Tokyo: San Paolo, 2000, 99 + 109 pp., 70 plates.15 Iijima, Osamu, Möko Shiria-Kei Moji Nyümon [Introduction to Syriac Mongolian Script*], sine loco [Tokyo], 1992, 85 pp.16 Aramugo: Iesu no Tanjö, Kirisutokyo no Zenbö [Aramaic: the Birth of Jesus, an Overview of Christianity], Tokyo: KokusaiGogaku-Sha, 2001.17 See also under Satö. Ishiwata, Takumi: see under Mitsuma. Matsubara, Atsushi, "Koten Shiriago Shiryö Arubera Nendaiki ni okeru 'Seishoku' Ninshiki" [Perception of 'Holy Orders' in the Classical Syriac Chronicle of Arbela*], graduation thesis, Kyushu University, 2003 (unpublished). Mitsuma, Yasuyuki, & Takumi Ishiwata, "Saishi Aitairähä to Josai Hapusai no Junkyö" [Martyrdom of Aytaylähä and Hajjsay: Japanese Translation and Commentary], to be published (in 2005) in Eikon. Mitsuma, Yasuyuki, Takumi Ishiwata & Hidemi Takahashi [translated by], Arubera Nendaiki [Chronicle of Arbela], Tokyo: Kyobunkwan, in preparation. 14 Based on the Italian translation by G. Ricciotti (S. Efrem Siro. Inni alia Vergine, Rome 1925/Turin 1939). 15 The book contains revised versions of three papers previously published in 1967, with new English translations by Yasuko Fukuhara: "The Remains of the Royal Capital Olon-Sume of the Yuan-Period Ongut Tribe", "The Lineage of Nestorianism of the Ongut Tribe of Yuan-Period mOngolia", "The Background of the Dissemination of Roman Catholicism to the East by Giovanni da Monte Corvino". 16 Elementary grammar of Mongolian in Mongolian, as opposed to Cyrillic, script, which is compared with the Syriac script; with a brief note on Syriac Christianity. 17 On various forms of Aramaic, including a section on Syriac. Vol. XX 2006

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Muraoka, Takamitsu [Leiden, Emer.], "Shiriago Baruku Mokushiroku" [Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch*], in Seisho Galten Giten V. Kyüyaku Seisho Giten III [Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, vol. 5. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha III*], Tokyo: Kyobunkwan, 1976, 67-154 (Japanese translation), 367-402 (commentary). Mutö, Shinichi [Osaka Prefectural College of Technology] 18 , "Nishibisu no Efuraimu no Kaishakugaku" [The Hermeneutics of Ephrem ofNisibis], JChS 15 (1996) 81-93. -, "Nishibisu no Efuraimu to Kuryusosutomosu no Kaishakugaku no Hikaku" [Comparison of the Hermeneutics of Ephrem ofNisibis and Chrysostom*], ThSJ 35 (1996) 51-70. -, '"Perushia no Kenja' Afurahato no Kaishakugaku [Hermeneutics of Aphrahat the Persian Sage], JChS 17 (1997) 77-87. "Afurahato ni okeru Kami no Kakö to Ningen no Jöshö Kaishakugakuteki Kanten kara" [Divine Descent and Human Ascent in Aphrahat: Seen from the Hermeneutical Point of View], JChS 19 (1999)39-57. -, "Nishibisu no Efuraimu ni okeru Kami no Kakö to Ningen no Jöshö - Kaishakugakuteki Kanten kara" [Divine Descent and Human Ascent in Ephrem ofNisibis: Seen from the Hermeneutical Point of View*], BS WS AS 50 (1999) 20-32. -, Seisho Kaishaku toshite no Shiika to Shüji. Shiria Kyöfu Efuraimu to Girishia Kyöfu Kuryusosutomosu [Poetry and Rhetoric as Biblical Interpretation. Ephrem the Syrian and Chrysostom the Greek], Tokyo: Kyobunkwan, 2004,204 + xlii pp.19 18 Cf. id. "Early Syriac Hermeneutics", The Harp 11/12 (1998/1999) 4365; "The Hermeneutics of Eusebius of Emesa in Comparison with that of Ephrem of Misibis", paper presented at the 5th Syriac Conference, SEERI, Sept. 2002. - The following article by Muto is on John Chrysostom, a fact which may not be clear from the title: "Shukyo Seikatsu kara Seikatsu Shukyo he - Yon-Seiki Shiria Kirisutokyo no Tenkan" [From Religious Life to Religion for Life - A Turning in FourthCentury Christian Syria], JRS 77>2 [no. 337] (2003) 53-74. 19 Original dissertation: Kyoto University, 1996. The Harp

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Narazaki, Katsunori, "Koten Shiriago Zenchishi 1- (la:mad) no Kino ni tsuite" [On the Function of the Preposition 1- (lamad) in Classical Syriac*] (Kyoto Daigaku Gengogaku Konwakai Hökoku/Report of Kyoto University Linguistics Colloquium*), Gengogaku Kenkyü [Linguistic Research] (Kyoto Sangyo University), 15 (1996) 100. -, "Aramugo ni okeru Ippan Döshi to Iwayuru Sonzai Döshi to no Fukugö Döshi ni tsuite" [On Compound Verbs Consisting of Normal Verbs and So-Called Verbs of Existence in Aramaic*], Kyoto Sangyö Daigaku Kokusai Gengo Kagaku Kenkyüjo Shohö [The Bulletin of the International Institute for Linguistic Sciences, Kyoto Sangyo University], 20 (1999) 151-217. "Koten Shiriago Shinyaku Seisho ni okeru Iwayuru Rinri Yokaku no Kinö ni tsuite" [On the So-Called Ethic Dative in the Syriac New Testament*], BSWSAS 55 (2001) 1-18. -, "Koten Shiriago Kyüyaku Seisho ni okeru Rinri Yokaku no Shutsugen Jökyö ni tsuite" [On the Conditions of Occurrence of the Ethic Dative in the Classical Syriac Old Testament*], Jinbunchi no Aratana Sögö ni Mukete, 21 Seiki COE Puroguramu "Guröbaruka Jidai no Tagenteki Jinbungaku no Kyoten Keisei": Dai-Ni-Kai Hökokusho 4 (Bungaku Hen 1 [Ronbun]) [Towards a New Integration of Humanities: Second Report of 21st Century COE Program "Towards a Center of Excellencc for the Study of Humanities in the Age of Globalization", Part 4 (Literature Section 1, Papers)*], Kyoto: Kyoto University, 85-106.20 Niitsuma, Jinichi [Asia University], "Shiria Seikyökai to Gengo Kyöiku" [The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Role of the Syriac Language in its Revivalism], in Tasuku Miyama (ed,)Ajia no Gengo Kyöiku Shükyö [Language, Education and Religion in Asia*] (Ajia Daigaku Ajia Kenkyüjo Purojekuto Hökoku [Project Reports of the Institute for Asia Studies, Asia University*] no. 7), 1994, 31-54.21 20 Also accessible at www.hmn.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/report/2-pdf/ 4_bungaku 1/4 J34.pdf. 21 The article includes a useful list of magazines, some of them little known, which were published in Syrian Orthodox circles in the 20th century, as well as a list of Syrian Orthodox publications in Arabic, Vol XX 2006

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Ömori, Masaki [Nanzan University], "Shiria he no Izanai" [Invitation to Syria], Eikon 17 (1997).-Reprinted in id. TöhöDökei - Kirisutokyö Töhö no Seishin wo Motomete [) had sent the "Voice" (rAo> i.e. John the Baptist, so that the Word might betroth the Church "from among the waters" ( n ^ a o ^ ^ f . We find the same idea in a section in the Commentaire de l'évangile concordant45 which does not seem to be authentic either 46 . There, a disciple of Ephraem's states that Christ betrothed his Church through the baptism, which he received from John (III. 17). Betrothals as that of Eliazar and Rebecca (Gen 24:1-67), Jacob and Rachel (Gen 29:1-30), and Moses and Zipporah (Ex 2:16-21), had prefigured Christ's betrothal to the 43 I follow William Petersen's suggestion who introduced the term „school of Ephraem" for Ephraem's disciples (cf. W. Petersen: „Some Remarks on the integrity of Ephrem's Commentary on the Diatessaron", in: Studia Patristica 20 (1989), 197-202. 44 Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Nativita (Epiphania), ed. E. Beck, Louvain 1959 (CSCO 188 SS 82), 1,7-10. For the question of their authenticity cf. Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Hymnen de Nativitate (Epiphania), transi. E. Beck, Louvain 1959 (CSCO 187 SS 83), v-xiii. 45 Saint Éphrem. Commentaire de l'évangile concordant. Texte syriaque (Manuscrit Chester Beatty 709), Dublin 1962 (Chester Beatty Monographs 8). 46 The Commentaire de l'évangile concordant does not seem to be authentic. Instead, it appears rather likely that in ist present form it represents a compilation from the disciples of Ephraem. Cf. Chr. Lange: „Zum Taufverständnis im syrischen Diatessaronkommentar", in: Syriaca. Zur Geschichte, Theologie, Liturgie und Gegenwartslage der syrischen Kirchen. 2. Deutsches Syrologen-Symposium, ed. M. Tamcke, Göttingen 2002, 309-320. Vol. XX 2006

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Church. Consequently, it seems that Jacob rather stands in the tradition of Ephraem than in that of Ephraem's disciples. Two other differing interpretations in the Hymni de Epiphania might strengthen this conclusion. In hymn 3 chapter 9, the author underlines that Jacob's pouring of the oil over the stone (Gen 28:18) does not simply represent the foundation of the Church, but is also related to Christian baptism: "Following this type, your bodies have been sealed with the holy oil of anointment." As we have seen, neither the "authentic" Ephraem nor Jacob make such a connection. The same can be said with regard to another image in the Hymni de Epiphania: In hymn 9 chapter 11 the author writes that the light descended on the ladder that appeared to Jacob at Bethel to its own baptism. Although the idea that a light appeared at Christ's baptism is wide spread among early Christian writers 47 , neither Ephraem nor Jacob make such a connection in their interpretation of Jacob's ladder at Bethel. 6. Conclusion

This short view on Jacob of Sarug's memra on Jacob's vision at Bethel showed that the Bishop of Batnan stands in an exegetical tradition. The Bishop of Batnan shares many of the images and types with Ephraem and Aphrahat. This is not surprising considering that Jacob studied at the school, which stood in the exegetical tradition of Ephraem48. In his anticipating typological interpretation of Gen 28 :1022 Jacob of Sarug's memra is a very interesting and exciting text.

47 Cf. S. Brock: The Bible in the Syriac Tradition, Kottayam no year (SEERI Correspondence Cours), 25. 48 P. Bruns, for example, underlines that Jacob stands in the tradition of Ephraem: „Als Dichter weiß er sich dem Erbe Ephrams verpflichtet" (cf. P. Bruns: „Art. Jakobus von Sarug", in: Lexikon der antiken christlichen Literatur, Freiburg-Basel-Wien 2002 (3rd edition), 370-371. The Harp

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Martin Lugmayr

T H E NAME OF GOD IN SYR I AC ANAPHORAS An important point of exegesis and biblical theology is the meaning of the concept of the "name of God". Liturgical investigations seem not to focus on this question, although "the name of God" is present in nearly all Christian rites. I have chosen Syriac anaphoras, because Syriac as an Aramaic branch of the Semitic language family may have better conserved some characteristics of the use of the "name of God", which are rooted in the Hebrew Bible and its environment. Perhaps the results of this investigation can contribute something to a deeper understanding of Syriac liturgy. 1. The "name", referring to God in Holy Scripture In the Hebrew OT the concept {dgm) is found 778 times in the singular and 86 times in the plural. The passages in which occurs dcm in the singular, 87 of them have the expression dgm Jhwh.1 While in polytheistic religions the names of gods give these gods a certain individuality, monotheistic religions, in confessing the name of God, assert his transcendence over all other beings. 2 In the OT this transcendence is underlined especially during and after the Babylonian exile with the use of "the name" as an equivalent for 1

A. S. van der Woude, here 937.

2

Peter Antes, Gottesnamen, Gottesepitheta, I. Religionsgeschichtlich, LThK3 4 (1995) 935-936, here 935. Vol. XX 2006

. THAT, Bd. 2, Darmstadt 20046, 935-963,

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God himself. This is also a result of reverence for the name, which God himself has revealed and which lays emphasis on his mysterious being: «But Moses said to God, "If 1 come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his n a m e ? ' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I Am W h o I A m . " He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, i Am has sent me to you.' " God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ' T h e Lord ( Y H W H ) . the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to y o u ' : This is my name forever, and this m y title for all generations"» (Ex 3, 13-15). The Tctragrammaton Y H W H was not pronounced, for this quereperpetuum one had to say " A d o n a i " (Lord). In Greek, instead of YHWH, also before Philo and the NT, was written fn; T ou>s\ in S y r i a c f j , (Lord), k is p o s s i b l e that the earlier f o r m of the Tetragrammaton ¡nay be, in its vocalisation, the result of the Aramaic senui, "the name". 4 The name, which in a certain way is no name (beeausc Y H W! i was noi pronounced). 5 appears, accordi ag to Jenni. 6828 limes in the OT. 6 in different circumstances. It is also a sign for the convenanl of GOG with mankind: "In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come lo you and bless y o u " (Ex 20, 24 - rhe subject who speaks is Y H W H , cf. Ex 20, 22: . . . " f t r t f nirr W j ) . In the NT, when God "has spoken to us by the Son" (Heb 1,1), who came "to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for m a n y " (Mc 10,45) and who is the "great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of G o d " (Heb 4, 14), the name of the Son should not be hidden, but "every tongue should confess that 3 Günter Stemberger, Gottesnamen, Gottesepitheta, II. Altes Testament u. Judentum, : LThK3 4 (1995), 936938, here 937. 4 E. Jenni, eäää, THAT, ! (20046) 701-707, here 702. 5 The oniy exception was the „Day of Atonement" (Yom Klppur), when the high priest was allowed to spell the word YHWH, but also in this case the others, who were standing around, gave the explanation: „the name of the glory of his reign" (mYoma 3,8). 6

Ibid., 704.

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Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil 2, 11). This confession "can be seen to reflect Jewish identification of Jesus with YHWH". 7 In no one other than in Jesus is salvation, "for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4, 12).8 This confession is not based upon a "magical" calling of the name "Jesus", 9 but requires a grace, a personal relationship to God, because "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12,3). Nevertheless, the "name" as referring to the Father, also has great importance in the NT, especially the prayer which Jesus Christ taught us: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Mt 6, 9). But it is also remarkable that, in the NT, the motive of the hallowing of the name is found only in this passage and its parallel in Lk 11, 2.10 2. The "name" in Syriac Anaphoras Like all other Christian liturgies, the Syriac anaphoras suppose divine revelation with its final fulfilment in Jesus Christ, who "died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures" (1 Cor 15, 3), and the command that the Lord gave his disciples on the eve of his Passion, when he "instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood" (SC 47): "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22, 19; 1 Cor 11,2425). The meaning of "remembrance" can only be understood in view of the significance of the Hebrew background. The verb zakar (~ci), which is present in all Semitic languages and which means "to remember, to remind, to name etc.",11 has an important connection 7 Charles A. Gieschen, The Divine Name in Ante-Nicene Christology, VigChr 57 (2003) 115-158. here 117. 8

Cf. Rom 10, 9: "if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord frräptov r fiiao!>) and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved".

9 Cf. Robert Siesinski, Der Name Gottes in der byzantinischen Tradition. Vom Hesychasmus zur Imyaslavie, IKaZ 22 (1993) 78-90. 10 Adelheid Ruck-Schröder, Der Name Gottes und der Name Jesu, Neukirchen-Vlyn 1999, 145. 11 Detailed information is given by Eising, ThWAT II (1977), 571593, here 572. Vol X> 200Ö

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with Passah (Ex 13, 3), convenant (Gen 9, 15.16; Ex 2, 24; 6, 5; Jer 14, 21; Ps 105,8; Ps 106, 45; Ps 111,5) and the name of God (Ex 3, 15,Hos 12, 6). Ex 20,24 especially underlines the relation between the name of God and the place of worship: "In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you". The noun zikkar, which is often used with 'ot (sign) 12 , is found with this characteristic also in the legislation for the Passah (Ex 12, 13.14): blood as a sign and the day of Passah as remembrance. T h e n o u n 'azkarah, w h i c h is t r a n s l a t e d by the L X X as TO j i y r ^ d c J W O y a n d by the Vulgate as memoriale, was probably also used to express the calling of the name of God over the part of the sacrifice that was exclusively devoted to him. Within the rabbinic tradition 'azkarah is also used in place of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God. 13 We can therefore say that the "name" stands in relation to the mystery of God himself, his revelation and the liturgy, in which his salvific deeds become, in a certain way, real and present. It is known that the Syriac -»4 is the Hebrew in Syriac letters. The question which must be answered in the following sections is whether the content of the concept, 14 especially in its liturgical use, is identical.

2.1. An overview over the anaphoras which have been investigated The following anaphoras will be put forth for consideration: a) the Anaphora of Addai and Mari in its critical editions by Macomber 15 and Gelston 16 ; 12 Jcs 4,6.7.; Ex 13,9; Num 15, 15; 17,3.; Ez 12,13.14. 13 Cf. Douglas Jones, é v i p v r | 0 i < i n the LXX and the interpretation of I Cor. XI.25", JThS NS.6 (1955) 183191, here 185, footnote 1. 14 For general information about the use of concept -ai. see Thes. Syr., 11,4199-4201. 15 William F. Macomber, The Oldest Known Text of the Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari, OCP 32 (1966) 335-371 (the text itself: 358-371). 16 Anthony Gelston, The Eucharistie Prayer of Addai and Mari, Oxford 1992. The Harp

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b) all the anaphoras that have been critically edited in the "Anaphorae Syriacae": the Anaphora Timotkei Alexandrini,17 the Severi Antiocheni,18 the Anaphora Gregorii Anaphora 19 20 Nazianzeni, the Anaphora Ioannis Chrysostomi, the Anaphora Duodecim Apostolorum Prima,11 the Anaphora Duodecim Apostolorum Secunda,22 the Anaphora Dioscori Alexandrini Prima,23 the Anaphora Dioscori Alexandrini Secunda,24 the Anaphora Syriaca Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel Cyrilli Alexandrini,23 the Anaphora Iacobi Sarugensis Prima 26 the Anaphora Iacobi Sarugensis Secunda,21 the Anaphora Iacobi 28 29 Sarugensis Tertia, the Anaphora Ioannis Sabae, the Anaphora Sancti Iacob, fratris Domini,30 the Anaphora minor Sancti Iacobi, fratris Dominik the Anaphora Syriaca Gregorii Ioannis,22 the Anaphora Caelestini Romani,33 the Anaphora Syriaca Sancti Petri Apostoli Tertia,34 the Anaphora Syriaca S. 17 Ana. Syr., 1/1, Roma 1939, 1-47 (introduced and edited by A. Rücker). 18 Ana. Syr. 1/1, Roma 1939,40-96 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codrington). 19 20 21 22 23 24

Ana. Syr. I/2, Roma 1940,97-147 (introduced and edited by I. Hausherr). Ana. Syr. I/2, Roma 1940,149-201 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codrington). Ana. Syr., I/2, Roma 1940,203-227 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). Ana. Syr., I/2, Roma 1940,229-263 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). Ana. Syr., I/3, Roma 1944,265-299 (introduced and edited by W. de Vries). Ana. Syr., I/3, Roma 1944,301-321 (introduced and edited by W. de Vries).

2 5 Ana. Syr., I/3, Roma 1944,323-363 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). 2 6 Ana. Syr., 11/1, Roma 1951,1 -39 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codrington). 2 7 Ana. Syr., 11/1, Roma 1951,41 -73 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codrington). 2 8 Ana. Syr, 11/1, Roma 1951,75-83 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codrington). 2 9 Ana. Syr., 11/1, Roma 1951,85-103 (introduced and edited by A. Raes), 3 0 Ana. Syr., II/2, Roma 1953,105-179 (introduced and edited by O. Heiming). 3 1 Ana. Syr., II/2, Roma 1953,181-209 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). 3 2 Ana. Syr., II/2, Roma 1953,211-231 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). 3 3 Ana. Syr., II/3, Roma 1973,237-271 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codrington). 34 Ana. Syr., II/3, Roma 1973, 273-323 (introduced and edited by J.-M. Sauget); the page-numbers are lacking for the four appendices and would have been 324-329 - but also the following anaphora, which on the first pages has no numbers, must begin with: 329 - therefore something is wrong in this part. Vol. XX 2006

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Thomae Apostoli, the Anaphora loannis Bostrensis,36 the Anaphora Syriaca Iacobi Edesseni,37 the Anaphora Syriaca Iulii.3H

2.2. The "name" as synonym for God The oldest manuscript of the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, which is named Mar E)a?ya, dates from the 10th/11th century. In section B in Gelston's edition (we also follow his line numbering) we read before the Sanctus: (10 )Priest: Worthy of praise from every mouth and thanksgiving from every tongue (11)

is the adorable and glorious name ((^aasssa of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,... 39

Macomber remarks in his edition that the "name of the Father", without mentioning the Son and the Holy Spirit, is "evidently the more primitive reading". 40 When we compare this text with the Anaphora Syriaca Sancti Petri Apostoli Tertia, which is also called Sharar41 and which has many similarities with the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, we find in the same context (before the Sanctus) the sentence: Glory to you, adorable and glorious name sasso r^x^^ji? r£rnx. vyj * € > o f the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.. ,42 35 Ana. Syr., 11/3, Roma 1973,329-351 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). 36 Ana. Syr., 111/1, Roma 1981, 5-43 (introduced and edited by H. W. Codringtori). 37 Ana. Syr., 111/1, Roma 1981, 45-71 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). 38 Ana. Syr., 111/1, Roma 1981,73-101 (introduced and edited by A. Raes). 39 Anthony Gelston, The Eucharistic Prayer of Addai and Mari, op. cit., 48-49. 40 William F. Macomber, The Oldest Known Text of the Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari, op. cit., 301, note 6. 41 The first words (after a Gloria Patri..., which is not attested by all manuscripts) are Sharar Mori ( ^ Confirm, o my Lord... (a prayer after the creed). 42 Ana. Syr., II/3, op. cit, 298, 5. The Harp

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Taking in account the central position of the "name" in Sharar, the well-founded thesis that the main parts of the Anaphora ofAddai and Mari are earlier than the Council of Nicaea (325)43 or that the common source of both anaphoras goes back to the second or early third century 44 and the fact that in the OT the name is object of praise like JHWH himself (Ps 72,18-19, cf. Ps 103,1), I think that the earliest stratum may have had only "the name" without mentioning even the Father. Indeed, there is another text in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari where the name is object of praise, namely in chapter C of Gelston's edition (also before the Sanctus): (14)

Your majesty, O Lord, adore ( ^ x y » ) a thousands of thousands heavenly beings and myriads of myriads of angels

(15)

and the hosts of spiritual beings, the ministers of fire and spirit, glorifying your

(16)

with the cherubim and the holy seraphim,.. ,45

The only, but important difference is that the name refers to the Lord. Nevertheless, the central position of the name can be seen as an argument for the possibility of an expression with the name alone. in the Anaphora Timothei Alexandrini the priest asks God 0 © ^ ) to forgive the faults, "which your holy name knows". 46 In the Anaphora Ioannis Chrysostomi God is described by the apposition "great and holy and terrible and glorious name". 47 In the Anaphora Iacobi Sarugensis Prima, in a prayer after the "Our Father" we find the sentence: "we do not have the power to resist the evil one if your holy name does not help us".48 43 Johannes Betz, Eucharistie - In der Schrift und Patristik, HDG IV/41, Freiburg i.Br. 1979, 63. 44 Anthony Gelston, The eucharistic prayer of Addai and Mari, op, cit., 76. 45 Anthony Gelston, The eucharistic prayer of Addai and Mari, op. cit., 48-49. 46 Ana. Syr., 1/1, op. cit., 40, 6. 47 Anaphora Ioannis Chrysostomi, Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit., 158, 3. 48 Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 34,12. Vol. XX 2006

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In the Anaphora Timothei Alexandrini, the priest asks the Father to forgive sins because of the prayers of the saints and "because of your holy name that is called upon us".50 God is implored to give "by means of your holy name to flee all reasoning (thoughts) which are not pleasing to you",51 and, immediately afterwards, "to eXpel from us all thoughts of death by means of the name that is written in the middle of the veil of your sanctuary".52 In the Anaphora Severi Antiocheni, God is asked to not allow that "your name is blasphemed among the nations" through heresies.53 The priest prays: "But help me, our God and Saviour, for the glory of your name".54 In the Anaphora Gregorii Nazianzeni we find the expression: "Remember, Lord, all those who invoke your holy name".55 Later, in a prayer, are mentioned those "who bore for your name persecutions and sufferings". 56 In the Anaphora Ioannis Chrysostomi the name of God is the reason for good deeds: "Remember, Lord, all our faithful brothers who, because of your holy name, performed and perform good deeds in every place".57 The Lord is beseeched to turn towards our misery and our penury "by reason of your holy name which is called upon us".58 He Shall give rest in the heavenly rooms to those, "who believed in your name".59 With and within the angels "may we glorify your most honourable and blessed name with [the name] of your Lord 49 I am not quoting the "name" within the "Our Father" and the "Benedictus". 50 Ana. Syr., 1/1, op. cit., 36,13-14. 51 Anaphora Timothei Alexandrini, Ana. Syr., 1/1, op. cit., 42, 2-3. 52 Anaphora Timothei Alexandrini, Ana. Syr., 1/1, op. cit., 42, 3-4. 53 Ana. Syr. 1/1, op. cit., 72,18. 54 Anaphora Severi Antiocheni, Ana. Syr. 1/1, op. cit., 72, 21. 55 Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit., 124,16. 56 Anaphora Gregorii Nazianzeni, Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit., 132, 8-9. 57 Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit.. 178, 6-7. 58 Anaphora Ioannis Chrysostomi, Ana. Syr. 1/2, op. cit., 168, 10-11. 59 Anaphora Ioannis Chrysostomi, Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit., 188, 5. The Harp

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Jesus Christ and of your Holy Spirit...". After the "Our Father" the Lord is asked "to make us worthy by your grace so that your glorious and holy name may be hallowed in us, humble ones and creatures of earth". 61 In the Anaphora Duodecim Apostolorum Secunda the Lord is prayed to forgive sins, "so that in us and for us be glorified and praised and magnified your most honourable and blessed name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ", 62 The priest asks the Lord: "and make us a temple for your holy name". 63 In the Anaphora Syriaca Dioscori Alexandrini Prima, it is asked that the Lord may have pity on the faithful, "who confesses you and glorifies your name". 64 In the Anaphora Syriaca Dioscori Alexandrini Secunda the priest expresses, in a prayer to the Lord, his will to offer also the sacrifice for those, "who invoke your holy name". 65 We also find the following sentence: "and, as you will, be glorified and praised and honourable your most honourable and blessed name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit, now...". 66 In the Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymiiani vel Alexandrini, the Lord is asked: "May the earth adore and honour your holy name in this congregation..."; 67 "And help all those who invoke your holy name". 68 God our Savour is asked to show us the ways of life and the paths full of light, "so that in and for us by all men may your holy name be praised with (the name) of your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit, now...". 69 The Lord is asked to forgive our sins, 60 Anaphora loannis Chrysostomi, Ana. Syr. 1/2, op. cit., 190, 1-3. 61 Anaphora loannis Chrysostomi, Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit., 192, 4. 62 Ana. Syr., I/2, op. cit., 252,11-12. 63 Anaphora Duodecim Apostolorum Secunda, Ana. Syr., I/2, op. eit., 256,2. 64 Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 280,8-9. 65 Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 310,26. 66 Anaphora Syriaca Dioscori Alexandrini Secunda, Ana. Syr, I/3, op. cit., 318,4-6. 67 Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 338, 6. 68 Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel Alexandrini, Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 348,6-7. 69 Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel Alexandrini, Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 357,9-10,

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"so that, when your name be hallowed in us and your will be done by us, we may glorify you with holiness together with your only-begotten Son and with your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever". 70 And the priest, in the name of the congregation, makes the statement: "We are, o Lord, those who were not ashamed of your passion, nor did we deny your holy name".71 In the Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Prima, in a prayer to the Lord, the heavenly hosts "worship your holy name". 72 It is also asked of the Lord: "Do not say to us: 'I do not know you,' for we have not denied your holy name";73 "Do not allow your holy name to be defiled among the pagans". 74 The Lord shall remember "those who preached your name among the gentiles, the kings and the children of Israel". 75 With the blessed ones and among them "may we praise, extol and glorify your all respected and blessed name with that of our Lord Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit, now, always and forever." 76 In the Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Secunda the priest prays: "Give, o Lord, to the faithful kings the victory over all who are contrary to the name of your only-begotten Son". 77 The Lord is asked to receive the prayers of his servants, "so that herein, as in all things, may be glorified your most honourable and blessed name with (the name) of your Lord Jesus Christ with your Holy Spirit...". 78 In the Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Tertia we find the sentence: "O God, blessed and hidden, whose name is from eternity...". 79 70 Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani velAlexandrini, Ana. Syr. 1/3, op. cit, 358,13-14. 71 Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel Alexandrini, Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 342,10-11. 72 Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 16, 3-4. 73 Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Prima, Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 20, 7-8. 74 Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Prima, Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 24, 8-9. 75 Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Prima, Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 30, 5. 76 Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Prima, Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 32, 10-12. 77 Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit.. 58,17-18. 78 Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Secunda, Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 66, 5-6. 79 Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 76,3. The Harp

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In the Anaphora Ioannis Sabae /he Lord is asked to make the faithful worthy for the goods promised by his Son, "so that also herein, as in all things, may be glorified and praised your holy name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit.. .".80 In the Anaphora Sancti Iacobi fratris Domini the priest asks: "Remember, o Lord those, who carried your holy name before the gentiles, the kings and the children of Israel";81 we may be gathered at the feet of the elect ones..., "so that herein, as in all things, your all honourable and blessed name be glorified and praised with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and of your Holy Spirit...". 82 "May the name of the Lord be blessed and glorified in heaven and on earth always and for ever".83 In the Anaphora Syriaca Gregorii Ioannis we find the prayer that all creatures "may glorify, praise, adore and confess your adorable and holy name". 84 The priest asks the Lord in the name of the faithful to be added to thé chosen ones: "show us how herein, as in all things, be glorified and praised your blessed name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and of your Spirit...". 85 In the Anaphora Caelestini Romani the priest asks the Lord: "Have here mercy upon us, so that also herein, as in all things, be glorified your most honourable and blessed name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and of your Holy Spirit, ,..". 86 In the Anaphora Sancti Petri Apostoli Tertia the priest implores the Son: You have said to your apostles: "Whensoever you are gathered in my name and do my memorial and this mystery 8 0 Ana. Syr., 11/1, op. cit., 1 0 0 , 1 6 - 1 7 . 81 Ana. Syr., II/2, op. cit., 164, 9. 8 2 Anaphora Sancti Iacobi fratris Domini, Ana. Syr., II/2, op. cit., 1 6 8 , 1 3 170, 1-2. The same sentence is found in the Anaphora Syriaca minor Sancti Iacobi fratris Domini, Ana. Syr., II/2, op. cit., 206, 3-4. 8 3 Anaphora

Sancti Iacobi fratris Domini, Ana. Syr., II/2, op. cit., 174, 9.

8 4 Ana. Syr., II/2, op. cit., 2 1 8 , 3 . 8 5 Anaphora

Syriaca Gregorii Ioannis, Ana. Syr., II/2, op. cit., 2 2 6 , 1 5 - 1 6 .

8 6 Ana. Syr., II/3, op. cit., 2 6 4 , 4 - 6 . Vol. XX 2006

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among yourself, pray and give thanks and praise and say in this way: Our Father...". 8 7 In the Anaphora Syriaca Ioannis Bostrensis, the Lord "may pardon our sins because of your holy name that is called upon us". 88 And the priest prays: "And everyone, who will see us, faithful as well as unbeliever, may glorify and honour with us your glorious and most honourable and blessed name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and of your Holy Spirit, .,.". 89 In the Anaphora Sancti Domini Iacobi Edesseni the Lord may have mercy on us, "so that also herein, as in all things, be glorified and praised your in all things honourable and blessed name with (the name) of our Lord Jesus Christ and of your Holy Spirit, .. ,". 90 In the Anaphora Syriaca Iulii the Lord may remember those, who "gladly bore afflictions for your holy name". 91 3.

Some remarks

It is interesting that only in the Trinitarian prayer: "May the name of the Lord be glorified and blessed with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit", which is present in many anaphoras (although with slight variations), we have an explicit reference of "the name" to the three persons in God. One exception is the mention of "the name of your onlybegotten Son" in the Anaphora Iacobi Sarugensis Secunda.92 Certainly, we find the quotation of Jesus Christ: "Whensoever you are gathered in my name..." 9 3 , taken from the gospel (Mt 18, 20), but in this case it is not clear if C i s r o € j i w w o | i a means the 87 Ana. Syr., 11/3, op. cit., 310,11-13. 88 Ana. Syr., 111/1, op. cit., 10-11. 89 Anaphora Syriaca Ioannis Bostrensis, Ana. Syr., 111/1, op. cit., 34,18-20

(cf. 41, 19-21). 90 Ana. Syr., 111/1, op. cit., 66,13-15. 91 Ana. Syr., ill/1, op. cit., 94,8. 92 Ana. Syr. 11/1, op. cit., 58,17-18. 9 3 Anaphora Sancti Petri Apostoli Tertia, Ana. Syr., II/3, op. cit., 310,11-13.

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94

name of Jesus or not. In other cases, we can conclude that it is the name "Jesus" or "Jesus Christ", which is meant by "the name", for example, when we read of the faithful, who suffered for "your name", 9 5 or when "the name" is mentioned with the passion of Christ. 9 6 Also the preaching of "your name" before the Gentiles and the children of Israel can only refer to the name of Jesus Christ. 9 7 But very often "the name" stands in relation to "the Lord" (sometimes with "God"). And "Lord" was, as we have seen, the translation of YHWH in the Syriac translation of Holy Scripture. Therefore "the name" in Syriac anaphoras might often be an echo of the use of "the name" in the OT (especially in the cases which we have quoted in 2.2). Therefore, a better understanding of the relevance of "the name" in the OT can be of help for a correct interpretation of the meaning of "the name" in Syriac anaphoras. Nevertheless, it is not only the God of the OT, who is meant by "the name" and who is adored in the Christian liturgy, but the one God, who revealed himself in the OT and the NT. The one God of the Christians is the Trinitarian God, whose name is called upon the faithful in the sacrament of baptism and upon the gifts on the altar during the holy liturgy. In this article we did not examine the date of origin of the anaphoras or of their parts. But one point which may be of help for this task is the position and function of "the name". The more it stands in the centre of a phrase or a section, the older the text or its source seems to be. Abbreviations Ana. Syr.

Anaphorae Syriacae, Roma 1939-1981

94 Cf. Adelheid Ruck-Schröder, Der Name Gottes und der Name Jesu, op. cit., 137-144. 95 Cf. Anaphora Gregorii Nazianzeni, Ana. Syr. I/2, op. cit., 132, 8-9. 96 Cf. Anaphora Cyrilli Hierosolymitani vel Alexandrini, Ana. Syr. I/3, op. cit., 342, 10-11. 97 Cf. Anaphora lacobi Sarugensis Prima, Ana. Syr. il/1, op. cit., 30, 5. Vol. XX 2006

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HDG

Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte

Ibid.

ibidem

IKaZ

Internationale katholische Zeitschrift

JThS NS LThK

3

Journal of Theological Studies, new series Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, 3rd edition, 1993-2001

OCP

Orientalia Christiana Periodica

op. cit.

opus citatum

THAT

Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Testament, Darmstadt 2004 6

ThWAT

Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament

Thes. Syr.

Thesaurus Syriacus (edidit R. Payne Smith), I-II, Oxford 1879-1901

VigChr

Vigiiiac Christianae

Alten

P. Martin Lugmayr Kirchstr. 16, D-88145 Opfenbach E-maiL: [email protected]

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THE SOCIAL OBLIGATION O F PROPERTY In the constitution (Grundgesetz) of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 article 14 (property and law of inheritance), paragraph 2 establishes the following: "Property carries an obligation. At the same time its use should serve the public good." As a basic duty this paragraph is placing thè owner directly under a special obligation, however, without being enforceable in this function. But nevertheless, the "lex imperfecta" is "lex" and not without any sanctions. For a Christian industrialist, however, sanctions can be no option. He will readily follow the warning of Christ and the examples set by other Christians in the course of history. i. The New Testament and Property To understand the sayings of Jesus concerning property in the right way, we cannot look at his words being taken out in the sense of an economical-sociological criticism but they must be embedded in the frame of the overall teaching of Jesus. In the course of this Jesus appears as the proclaimer and the one who is bringing the "Kingdom of God", which is at hand and which indeed has already been fulfilled initially. This "Kingdom of God", which John is referring to as "life", is the message of a beginning time of salvation, in which God in his boundless love of his people is devoting himself especially to the poor and the deprived. Such a love requires an answer. This is appropriate only if penitence and

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faith are expressed in it. Both are mutually dependent. Required therefore is a complete confidence and hope in God who alone is salvation. If the "Kingdom of God" should become real then it is necessary that man is directing all his attention to it. Therefore Jesus in Matthew 6,33 is calling for : "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." But because the "Kingdom of God" is not realized selectively in an otherwise godless world, therefore it is not only the sake of faith of individuals, but concerns the people as a whole and has a social dimension. In society all is about how people can live together. This "how" ,at the same time, concerns the question of fair distribution of property. Although Jesus has no systematic teaching concerning property, we can describe his attitude against the background of the precedence of the "Kingdom of God" as critical of property. Yet, Jesus is not concerned with property itself, but willi possession as far it obstructs the view on the "Kingdom of God". He warns against the dangers which come f rom property as danger to salvation (Mt 19,23ff; Mk 4,18 ff: Lk i 2.15 l'f). On the one hand property comprises the latent danger to serve the own egoism instead fellow man, and on the other hand the temptation to look ai oneself as originator of the property instead of thanking God for all his gifts. Therefore, worshipping God and worshipping Mammon are excluding one another (Mt 6, 24). For reason of this exclusivenessj Luke combines this statement with the demand to sell everything, and to give the proceeds to the poor (Lk 12, 33). The demand to have no possession is a consequence out of the insight that man cannot free himself from the bonds of an enslaving acquisitive greed (Mk 10, 27). The forces which monopolize the proprietor and take his mind off fellow man and God are so strong that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to cnte?' the kingdom of God" (Mk 10, 25). These words of Jesus are not to be glossed over. There can be no doiubt that he looks at rich people as being very much endangered concerning their salvation. About that, however, the fact thai Jesus let himself be supported by rich women(Lk 8, 2 ff) or be invited to

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banquets is altering nothing ( Mk 14,3; Lk 7,36; 11,37;. 14,1. 12). Jesus dealings with property rather show that he is facing it in the same offensive liberty and impartiality as the authorities, the Roman rule and its Jewish aecomplices. Because the "Kingdom of God" has already taken shape and the time of harvest has cdme close, therefore these wordly powers have already been conquered in principle, and therefore Jesus and those who follow him can meet them freely. It would, however, be inappropriate to interpret Jesus' attitude towards property only in the sense of a mere criticism of an inner wrong attitude towards property. Jesus was rather standing totally at the side of the poor and those who were deprived of their rights which comprised a clear criticism of the unjust property conditions. The property conditions in Palestine at the time of Jesus were utterly unfair. Whereas a few rich people got richer, great parts of the population ( small farmers, craftsmen and fishermen) were just vegetating. Jesus himself; being the son of a carpenter, an itinerant preacher without means (Mt 8,20; Lk 9,58), is taking up the long tradition of the Jewish poverty movement. Thus Jesus answers the inquiry of John the Baptist whether he is the Messiah to come; "the good news is preached to the poor" (Lk 7,22; Mt 11,5). That is Jesus taking up the desire deeply rooted in his people for the liberation of the poor, although he did not strive for a change of rule in the sense of driving out the Romans as some Jewish political groups were looking for. That would only change the masters but the lot of the suppressed would be the same. Jesus is rather concerned with the liberation and salvation of the poor from the roots. And this liberation is happening by detaching oneself from wordly bonds. Because the well-to-do are easily in danger that the word of God is falling victim to the; thorns of property (Mk 4,18), and that it does not bear fruit, therefore Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount considers the poor as blessed ones (Mt 5,3; Lk 6,20). Christ is speaking of himself that he is sent to the lost of the house of Israel (Mt 15,29; Lk 19,10). "He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble,: He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty" as we can read in Mary's Song (Lk 1,52 f). Vol. XX 2006

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A softening opinion according to which Jesus demanded only an inner distant position with regard to property has to be ruled out because there are many texts in which the actual abandon of property or a renunciation of its acquisition is required (Mt 6,19 f; Mk 8,36; Lk 12,15-21; 12,33). In a special way the abandonment of property is required from those who are following Jesus totally. Thus Luke reports that the apostles left everything at their calling (Lk 5,11.28). According to his report (Lk 9,3; 10,4) the apostles were not allowed to take anything with them, neither staff nor bag, neither bread nor money (against Mk 6,8 f but with Mt 10.10). Together with Matthew (Mt 19,21; Lk 12,33) Luke reports us that in addition Jesus also requires of his disciples the selling of all possession and to give away the proceeds as alms. Thus Jesus is requiring a radical and demonstrative poverty. By the renunciation of any protection, a life out of confidence is to be conducted as an example. Through this it is testified that all what is needed for life is expected from the heavenly father. The imitation of Jesus comprises a radical change of the person. But because those changes are connected with efforts, and because the message of the coming "Kingdom of God " calls into question previous conveniences, habits, worldly efforts and advantages, it is not surprising that such a message is generally met with disapproval or at least is not obeyed. Instead of the real liberation of men there was at the end the cross of Jesus. And Jesus feeling the powers of denial therefore led those who followed him into an union with the heavenly father which had never existed before. The communion which he founded between him, the Father and the Spirit and the disciples by the Last Supper had to be the bridge through which the true union of the people of God is created. This union makes it possible that the "Kingdom of God" bears fruits after Jesus' death. The unity of Christians with each other we can see especially in the first congregation of Jerusalem of which we read in Acts that they were one in heart and mind (4,32), and that much grace was upon them (4,33). The experience of "koinonia", the expectation of the coming of the Lord and the memory of Jesus' criticism, of Mammon and of the tendency of provisions led to a new The Harp

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understanding of property which could be called a communism of love. Luke is reporting,that they had all in common (Acts 4,32). Nobody was in distress because the rich sold their estates and put the proceeds at the disposal of the poor (Acts 4, 34-37). Surely this depiction of Luke about the community of property is somehow idealized because otherwise the deed of Joseph Barnabas had not to be mentioned (Acts 4, 36) specifically. Nevertheless this account must have a historical basis. The statement that the faithful had all in common, however, should be supplemented: as far as a member did it voluntarily. Otherwise the reproach of Peter against Hananias: "Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?"(Acts 5,4) would have been without sense. One may assume that in the congregation of Jerusalem the worry about property and possession was totally left in the background in favour of the missionary proclamation. They met lor common prayer (Acts 2,42) and for common meals and spent the proceeds of the selling of the estates for the supply of the needy. Such a community which was totally concerned with the proclamation of the "Kingdom of God" and which had no interest in any economical organization could not exist in this way permanently. When under Claudius during the forties there arose a famine the Jerusalem congregation got caught in big financial trouble that other congregations had to help out several times,- especially that in Corinth (2 Cor 8) and Antioch. Because of these experiences but also because the immediate expectation of the coming of the Lord was declining in favour of the worldwide mission task, we find moderate forms of the social living together among the newly founded Pauline mission congregations. The pagan-Christian congregations which for the most part as well belonged to the poorer population in fact shared food with each other but we do not know that they sold whole possessions. Paul himself once had to intervene among the congregation of Corinth in an admonishing way because some rich members even during the Lord's Supper were lacking solidarity with the poor (1 Cor 11,27-34). Anyhow the question of richness and poverty, of property and having no possession for Paul this is at the brink of his proclamation. Above all Paul is concerned with the coming of the Lord (1 Cor 7.29) and

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thus to see the right of possession in relative terms: he who buys something should behave as if he is not the owner, because the form of this earth is passing and time is short. By stressing the eschatological reservation Paul intents to call for a distance in regard to the wordly goods because all the richness of a Christian consists of the new life in Christ (1 Cor 1,1; Eph 3 , 1 6 19; Col 1,27). The freedom to which all faithful are called (Gal 5,13 ff) is carrying a distant behaviour to the worldly goods which at the same time makes it possible to be hospitable and generous (2 Cor 8,1-15. 9,6 f; Rm 12.13; 1 Tim 6, 17-19). Such a freedom shares from the heart although it will not allow to be used. In order to express exemplarily his freedom in regard to the worldly goods Paul does not claim his apostolic right of maintenance (1 Cor 9) although he accepts such a right in principle (1 Tim 5, 17-18). Because greed is ihe root of all evil (1 Tim 6,10) through which many wander off faith, therefore Paul on the other hand in the catalogues of vices is warning of meanness and greed (Rm 1,29; 1 Cor 5,10 f. 6,10; 2 Cor 9,5 f). John, however, is trying to substantiate the social obligation of property out of the basic law of Christian love: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" (1 Joh 3,17). Clearly stronger tones against possessions and richness as in John, Paul or in the Gentile Christian mission congregations we find in the apocalyptic marked Jewish Christians in Palestine, in which the Jewish piety of the poor is still deeply rooted. Especially James not only denounces the antisocial attitude of the rich (Js 2,5 f, 6,4-6) but he criticizes richness in principle (Js 1,10), and he announces God's trial in the manner of the prophetical proclamation of disaster (Js 5.1-11). The criticism of the rich shows above all that early Christianity was also a socio-critical movement which, however, if not calling for a revolutionary self-help nevertheless was waiting for God's trial for the sinful rich. This is mainly clear in John's revelation. There the world of the Roman capitalism and its empire is condemned to death by announcing

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the end of the godless city of Rome and its enormous wealth (Rev 16; 18, 9-24). Such an attitude hostile to richness is then being developed and to be seen in the Early church. II. The Early Church

The option for the poor and the distance against richness is a constant topic of the Early Church. The critical attitude of the New Testament towards property is continued in the apocryphic writings. Thus the author of the apocalypse of Hermas (at the beginning of the 2nd century) is comparing the rich with round stones which are of no use for the construction of the church (Herm. vis. Ill, 6, 5-7). In his booklet "Similitudines pastoris" the author gives reasons for his refusal of richness: " Richness makes blind and blunt in regard to truth", therefore it must be "cut off" (Herm. sim. IX 30,4-31,2). Tertullian is even more plain. He writes that "God despises the rich and is an advocate of the poor" (Tert. adv. Marc. 4,15). Christ himself living in poverty declares "the poor as always being just and condemns the rich from the outset". There are many more critical remarks on richness. They have their reason in the scandalous attitude of the rich in the Christian congregations which the fathers of the Church are trying to change. Again and again they call for a social conduct: "Do not turn down a needy one but do use everything together with your brother and do not say that it is your own" (Did. 4,8). In the same way Tertullian: "All is common among us all - except women" (Tert. apol. 39,10 f), and Clement of Alexandria: "Therefore all things are common property and the rich should not take more for themselves than the others...For God has given us the right to use what is there, but only as far as it is necessary, and it is his will that the use is for all together. But it is wrong if an individual lives in affluence and many are in need" (Clem. alex. paed. 2,119,2-2,120,5). In his writing "Quis dives salvetur" Clement at the one hand is trying to legitimize theologically the since a long time in the congregations practised compromise between the demand of Jesus for a life in poverty and the desire to enjoy the goods of the earth. In doing so, however, he reduces the demands of Jesus concerning property to the level of the inner attitude. Vol. XX 2006;

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What matters is to liberate the heart from greed and richness. "He who has thrown away the worldly wealth can, however, be rich in passions...It is necessary to put aside the harmful, not what is useful, in case one is capable to use it in the right way" (Clem. alex. q.d.s. 15,2.4). According to Clement all depends on the right use of the things. Therefore property may perfectly well be regarded as God's gift, if it is not used egoistically as an end in itself (Clem. alex. q.d.s. 16,3, 31,6). So for Clement property is nothing but a tool, which may be used in a good or bad way, but which by itself is value-free. By softening Jesus' fundamental criticism of richness and bending it into a mere spiritual interpretation he definitively contributes to the later development of a church which likes to side with the mighty and rich. H e does this although h e is only concerned about an unworldly but moderate and at the same time generous use of the worldly goods which does not captivate the inner of man but at the same time comprises a strong c o m m o n obligation. As counterpart of Clement of Alexandria in the western church appears bishop Cyprian of Carthage who in his writing "De opere et eleemosynis " is putting up the principle: "quod cumque enim Dei est in nostra usurpatione c o m m u n e est" (Cypr. eleem. 25). The social obligation of property for him is unlimited. Neither the worry about the family nor about their later inheritance are sufficient reasons against the sociai obligation, indeed, the egoistic property- keeping to oneself is a crime f o r Cyprian because in this way the children are taught to love property more than Christ (Cypr. ciecm. 19). Later Augustine is arguing in the same way. He is viewing the form of the common property being legitimized by the divine law because the earth belongs to God and it nourishes both the poor and the rich, whereas the private property is only based on (imperial) human law. Therefore he who uses it in a bad way loses any right of property (Aug, io. ev. tr. 6,25). One can say that the patristic teaching on property is unanimously at the same time as well communistic as social- reforming. This, however, concerns the teaching but the social conditions were different. In fact we hear about a social behaviour of Christians during the first centuries but the difference between the rich and the poor within the congregations went on. The poor The Harp;

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stayed poor and the rich for the most part stayed rich. It was only the beginning monasticism of Egypt and first of all Pachomius which put the radical criticism of the gospels concerning the "unjust M a m m o n " into action. But as Antonius and Pachomius were only interested in the asceticism and option for the poor in regard to the anachoretes and coenobites according the example of Jesus, the archbishop of Caesarea/Cappadocia, Basile, the father of the monks o f the East tried to reform the social l i f e within the Christian congregations. H e established monasteries close to the towns

to

apply their social life to the level of the congregation. In order to realize a social justice within the classes he tried to redistribute the private possessions by means of inheritance. Following Lk 19,8 in case of inheritance half of it should pass to the poor. Strictly speaking this concept leads to a kind of church tax, a social tax for the battle on poverty, in which there is the cryptic idea of God being the real owner of all goods. As supporting measures Basil fostered the public welfare work in every conceivable way. According to him the communities of the monks should be models for a church which was to be renewed all the time. That they lived up to this can be seen in the history of the following centuries when the church got involved in the clutches of affluence and worldliness whereas the orders remained as a steady thorn of admonition.

III. The Understanding of Property during the Middle Ages The conditions of property during the Middle A g e s in Europe were extremely complex, depending on place and time. Therefore it is almost impossible to make general statements and only some basic structures can be shown. In the Germanic pre-Christian law the individual was not able to do with land as he wanted. It was in fact inalienable as basis of the kinship's group for reasons of general fiduciary commitment. The Teutonic world understood by " o w n " basically the use which f l o w e d from the article of property passed on through bequeathing. A fundamental change occurred only when the German emperor introduced the Roman law into the German law and when at the same time during the 12th century the money economy arose. T h e

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transference of the Roman law to the whole territory of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation furthermore served the purpose to legitimize the existing conditions legally and at the same time to s y s t e m a t i z e the m a n y f o r m s of property. T h u s the R o m a n differentiation between the "dominum directum" and the "dominum utile" was transferred to the realm of the medieval feudal system. The understanding of property of the feudal Middle Ages can best be described as an interaction of extensive rights and duties; property as such was only of functional nature. The c h u r c h had no p r o b l e m s with the m e d i e v a l f e u d a l understanding of property because the popes did not think of abolishing the lamentable combination of world and church. They only wanted to reverse the system of rule. Especially succinct is the claim of the pope to rule the church and the state in the "Dictatus Papae" of Gregor VII. Secular and ecclesiastical offices were combined. Besides the income from church livings and benefices the church increased her fortune by duties of all kind. This also includes the tithe as well as receipts from many ecclesiastical services. Furthermore big estates became the church's property as gifts. There were men like Arnold of Brescia and Joachim of Fiore who tried to lead the secularized church back to apostolic poverty within the people in which first of all the Waldenses. the Cathari and the Albigenses must be named. This grouping being suspected of heresy was bloodily persecuted. It was only the poverty movement of Francis of Assisi which was able to start a process within the church which was continued in the poverty dispute and which finally led to serious reforms after the council of Trient. The situation in the free cities was quite different. There we find an individualistic understanding of property which opened the way for the early capitalistic economy. Thomas of Aquin is completely influenced by this urban thinking. First of all it is typical lor Thomas to state lhat God is the superior owner of all goods of this world. Thus the earthly property conditions are heavily relativated. Man has only " a natural control over the things in regard to the power to use them for himself". By nature man has ¡only the right of property, as he is simply holding the goods in trust. This ihen is not property

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but possession according to Roman law. Actually it is allowed if some - precisely the rich - anticipate something of the goods which from the beginning were meant for all, however, it then is the duty of the wealthy to give something of them to the others, otherwise man is sinning (S.th. II/II,q..66,2). "Therefore, the affluence, which some have because of the natural law, is owed to the poor...But if there is an urgent and obvious need in such a way that this need must be met with the means at hand, for instance if there is mortal danger ahead and no other possibility to help, then it is allowed to remedy one's own need from someone else's goods whether the article is taken openly or secretly" (S.th. II/II, q.66,7). Whereas therefore everybody is entitled to the use of the earthen goods the way of the practice of the power over an article is not covered through the natural law. Here it is after all a question of suitability on which concrete order of property a nation is deciding. For Thomas the ideal situation would be a collective running, and such a communion of goods he also assumed for the paradisiacal situation of man before the Fall (S. th. I, q. 98 ad.3). But because of the entanglement of today's man in original sin with his tendency towards egoism and self-assertion, the model of a pri vate order of property would be the more useful one. Following Aristotle Thomas declares that the private propexty makes the economy more effective, because if somebody is regarding a good as his own he then would take more care over it as in the case of a common ownership. If a good is owned by many, everybody due to workshy would leave to the general public the things concerning all (S.th. II/II, q. 66,2). It should always be taken into consideration, however, that such a private law is a "ius gentium" and therefore in contrast to the "ius communis" does not constitute an absolute and unalterable natural law. This concept of property of Thomas later became the foundation of the catholic social teaching. IV. Conclusion As we have seen the problem of how to deal with property runs through the church from the beginning. There have been many Vol. XX 20061

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proposals, opinions and even laws to come to grips with it in a real Christian way but even the most perfect study will not help us along if we do not include the gospel. Only the gospel can show us a way out of the dilemma. It is the report on the dispute of the disciples concerning ranks among them (Mk 10, 35 ff, par.) which shows us that the significance of a person is depending on his willingness to serve: the greater he wants to be the more he must serve the others, i.e. to embrace the cause of the public good. And yet a more of property at the time means a more of responsibility with regard to fellow men. The strength for such an action will be won from the basis of the Christian faith: faith, hope & love. Christian faith does not just mean to believe in something but to believe in somebody, and this is of vital significance. Therefore faith concerns the whole person. Faith in one God of compassion must cause compassion; otherwise faith is neither basic nor true. The hope for a messianic kingdom in which the spirit of the Lord will judge the helpless in a just way and in which the poor of the land will get their right (Isa 11,1 -6), a kingdom in which righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist, and a bruised reed will not be broken, comprises in the end the hope for change because the "Kingdom of God" must take effect on earth and not only in the next world. Therefore he who wants to cement the unjust earthly conditions can have no hope for a life of abundance. Love is the greatest of all: love is claiming man totally, and because it does not leave aside any dimension of life it comprises the material realm also. In love thanks-offering is happening as a mutual grateful giving and taking. The word "thanks-offering" means in; the full sense of it also a giving away of one's own possessions and: the sharing with the others. The thanks-offering of the eucharistic bread as a symbol of the community of love means also a sharing of the earthly bread. The living Christian faith is capable of doing justice to the right of different property as well as to the desire of the poor for a share in prosperity. A living f a i t h , hope and love are the principles which lead the common good to its fulfillment. Such a behaviour, which overcomes the social differences on the basis of faith, hope and

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love, is by far over and above any law and obligation according to a legal understanding. Whereas the social obligation of property applies to a claim or obligation which can be put through by force, the principles of faith, hope and love, however, are based on a voluntary nature. In so far they are in agreement as the obligation is fulfilled voluntarily and in so far in completion as the deed of love exceeds the frame of a mere fulfillment of one's duty. Bibliography Augustine, In Johannis evangelium tractatus (Io.ev. tr.) Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus (paed.) Quis dives salvetur (q.d.s.) Cyprian of Carthage, Tractatus de opere et eleemosynis (eleem.) Didache (Did.) Gregor VII., Dictatus papae Pastor Hermae (Herm.) Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem (adv.Marc.) Tertullian, Apologeticum (apol.) Pastor Hermae (PH) Thomas, Summa theologiae (S.th.) The NIV Study Bible, Grand Rapids 1985 Muench, Ingo von, Grundgesetzkommentar, Bd. 1, München 1985

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Holy Mar Subhalmaran on: "The eighth gift, which is the pure and perfect fast of those who belong to Our Lord, and like that which those of old time undertook and Our Lord perfected by conquest of His adversary" (continuedfrom page... 208) "At the end, then, Our Lord fulfilled in his own person this gift of the virtue of fasting, because, through the foreknowledge from the beginning of him who received him, the perfection of everything was ensured. After he was baptised by John, he began the public work of our salvation. But first he went into the wilderness, in order to struggle with the harsh tyrant of retention for the captives of our race from the beginning in bondage. He went as a solitary to the desert, then, in order to be prepared and completely ready for the struggle, and in order that his triumph might be hidden from everyone. Also, because those who were typical examples of fasting on a mountain or in the wilderness perfected this gift, removing themselves from civilised territory to the silent wilderness, so that the excellence of their endeavour should not be marred by human praise. He began to fight with this public weapon of his great fast, that is with the abstinence from all nourishment of the body. He fasted, then, for a complete forty days. He did not add, lest he make it a matter of boasting, and it be contrary to the earlier and valiant persons who strove; and he did not reduce it, lest they call him less than the warriors. The one to be conquered, who came from his own desire, was as watchful of him and as sharp-eyed around him as a destroying hawk over the fully-formed young of a dove, gazing at it, if it might and a place to approach it to kill it or maim it. The whole time of his struggle he never went away from his side to another place, although none of his deceit and stratagem was persuasive in Our Lord's eyes. He was wise to all his wiles, and knew his will and his expectation and his desire. So then, on the last day, the completion of his fast, at the same time as Adam was on the point of being overcome by the lures of Eve's desire for fruit, our Lord showed on his radiant face a sign of sadness that was weakness from hunger, so that he might make it certainly known that he was a man". (continued in page...262) The Harp

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THE SYRIAN ORIGIN OF THE DIVINE CONDESCENSION AS THE KEY T O B I B L I C A L INTERPRETATION Introduction Recent revival of interests in patristic exegesis seems to have given rise to a number of studies on John Chrysostom's, which led to shed light on a variety of aspects hitherto unknown or disregarded. Among them, researchers increasingly suggested the possibility of considerable influence of Syriac Christianity on Chrysostom. 1 It has, however, never been sufficiently demonstrated. 2 Was Chrysostom the master of Greek really influenced by indigenous Syrians? If so, exactly at what point? This study endeavours to reply to these questions. 1

E.g. Martin lllert, Johannes Chrysostomus und das antiochenischsyrische Mònchtum. Studienzu Theologie, Rhetorik und Kirchenpolitik im antiochenischen Schrifttum des Johannes Chrysostomus, Zurich: Pano, 2000; and most recently, Hagit Amirav, Rhetoric and Tradition: John Chrysostom on Noah and the Flood, Lovanii: Peeters, 2003.

2

Neither is this a new idea. It was indeed over sixty years ago that R. Lecont, in ch. 3 of his unpublished doctoral thesis, succinctly concluded that Chrysostom was, in his exegetical method, more influenced by the Syrians than by the Greeks (René Leconte, Saint Jean Chrysostome, exégète syrien, d'après les homélies sur saint

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As regards his biblical exegesis, one of the best ways to mark him is, as is widely acknowledged, to refer to his distinguished notion of sunkatabasis (condescension). It meant that God considered the weakness of the original hearers, so that he did not speak of things as they were, but only in accordance with the hearers' ability. This thought was so highly developed in his h e r m e n e u t i c s that he is r i g h t l y c a l l e d " D o c t e u r de la condescendance biblique". 3 So far, however, the issue of its source has been left unresolved. In 1933, F. Fabbi regarded Chrysostom as its father. 4 In 1979, criticising this, R. Brändle suggested the possibility of Diodore of Tarsus as its Begründer,5 H. Amirav now stands substantially by herself in her assertion that the notion cannot be attributed to Chrysostom alone, but is a common heritage of his School. 6 This intriguing observation is, however, yet to be proven. In any case, no scholars have dared to pass across the boundary of the Antiochene Exegetical School to go further back. The present study is, to the best of my knowledge, the first to investigate the possibility that Syriac Christianity influenced Chrysostom at one of the most significant notions in his hermeneutics. Matthieu, (diss.), Paris: L'Institut Catholique de Paris, n. d. [1942], 104). Keen as his insight was, it was attended with no serious efforts to convince us. 3

Bertrand de Margerie, Introduction à l'histoire de l'exégèse, I, Les Pères grecs et orientaux, Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1980, 214-239. In this excellent but concise description of the history of exegesis, de Margerie posited it right at the centre of Chrysostom's hermeneutics; thereby he successfully acquired the key perspective to command its whole. The notion is "la clef de voûte du système exégétique de Chrysostome" (J. -M. Leroux, "Relativité et transcendancé du texte biblique d'aprè Jean Chrysostome", in: La Bible et les Pères. Paris, 1971, [67-79], 77f,).

4

Fabio Fabbi, "La*scondiscendenza»tdivina nell'ispirazione biblica secondo S. Giovanni Crisostomo", Biblica 14 (1933) [330-347], 346.

5

Rudolf Brändle : , Matth, 25,31-46 im Werk des Chrysöstombs, Tübingen: J. C. Bi. Mohr, 1979, 311.

6

Amirav, Rhetoric and Tradition, 36f.

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1. Divine condescension in Greek Fathers Here we cannot but confine ourselves to the main line of its uses in Greek Fathers. The Greek term sunkatabasis was derived from a verb sunkatabainein, which originally meant "to go down with/ together". The Greeks had already known another meaning "to go down to the inferior in order to help"; this led to the significant sense "to accommodate" or "to adapt". It is not before the Christian era, however, that the last sense came to flourish in its application to God. First, this usage was often found among the Alexandrians. Origen made use of the term as to various divine acts, but principally, the incarnation. He also mentioned it in terms of divine revelation.7 The most Christian use of the term culminated in, as is expected, another prominent figure, Athanasius. He concentrated in its use as the incarnation. Following his predecessor Origen, he fully developed the notion in terms of the incarnation into the theological profundity. Next, among all the main Greek writers in antiquity who offered the examples of the term and its derivatives, no one surpasses John Chrysostom. According to Brändle, they amount to approximately 420 times in Chrysostom out of 500 times in all but those later than his time. 8 The figures suffice to testify how much he was engaged on the uses of the concept. What strikes us more is how distinguished they are from those of the other writers. What composes them most is the noun sunkatabasis, not the verb sunkatabainein-, they occasionally have the adverb and the adjective, and even its comparatives. Chrysostom prefers 7

He should have been aware of the utility of the concept for biblical interpretation as such, but lost the chance to further develop it. It seems that he was so satisfied with the allegorical method as the key to decipher biblical texts that he felt no pressing need for its substitute.

8

Rudolf Brändle, "sunkatabasis als hermeneutisches und ethisches Prinzip", in: Georg Schöllgen/Clemens Schölten (ed.), STIMULI. Exegese und ihre Hermeneutik in Antike und Christentum. Festschrift für Ernst Dassmann, ( J a h r b u c h für Antike und C h r i s t e n t u m , Ergänzungsband 23), Münster Westfalen: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1996, 2 9 7 - 307. This means that they account for, indeed, more than 80 percent of the total. Vol. XX 2006

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to note, "God used the condescension"; sometimes the subject would be even "scripture". In his exegesis, among others, one finds it firmly established as a technical term in order to solve scriptural difficulties, whereas he occasionally applied it to practical matters; 9 he has even provided us with the definition. 10 To schematically illustrate Chrysostom's main usage of our term in comparison with the others', in short, it is not simply the divine condescension (Origen), nor the condescension of the divine Word (Athanasius), but that of the divine words (scripture) (he sunkatabasis ton rhematon).u For Chrysostom, God, out of his immense philanthropy, willed to let himself known to humanity; and it was only through his condescension that humanity could know him. Consequently all the words in scripture are necessarily condescending, therefore unfitting to God as such. Nevertheless Chrysostom, even among the improper words, further distinguishes some from the others: a number of poor expressions in the Old Testament. For instance, those in the creation narrative in Genesis are even more improper to God than the others. Yet what troubled him most was, as did the A l e x a n d r i a n s , a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c texts. W h e r e a s , f o r the Alexandrians, these would be capital opportunities to make the most of the allegorical method, for Chrysostom's part, the notion of condescension, instead, was exploited to refute anthropomorphism. To illustrate them by an example, God seems to have demanded offerings, which was not fitting to him. 12 To be sure, this is the problem generally shared by the Fathers, but, according to K. Duchatelez. it is Chryrsostom alone who attempted, to solve it by 9

E.g. the need for preachers to condescend to the level of ordinary people (cf. my paper in Japanese with an English summary (p. iii): Shinichi Muto, "Shukyo seikatsu kara seikatsu shukyo e: Yon seiki shiria-kirisutokyo no tenkan" (From Religious Life to Religion for Life: A Turning in Fourth-Century Christian Syria), Shukyo Kenkyu: Journal of Religious Studies 337 (2003) [53-74], 66f.

10 De incomprehension

dei natura 3 (SC 28, 200).

11 Homiliae 67 in Genesim 3, 3 (PG 53, 35); Id. 14, 2 (PG 53, 113). Cf. Id. 15, 2 (PG 53, 121) (sunkatabasin tes theias Graphes). 12 Expositiones in Psalmos 49, 4 (PG 55, 247).

IBIIif

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13

means of the condescension. The lowliness of expressions often found was attributed by Chrysostom to that of the recipients: the Jews. It is emphasised that God observed their so feeble state of understanding that he condescended even lower for their sake. Bearing this in mind, therefore, the readers in the Christian era should properly construe the improper passages in the Old Testament. Turning to the New Testament, for Chrysostom, it is true that lower expressions are diminished but never vanish. In the case of Christ,14 lower expressions are found in the Gospels, such as his prayer in Gethsemane. Chrysostom states: "Christ did not do these because of the meanness of his essence, but because of the condescension".15 In the case of the apostles, seeming discrepancies persist, especially in the Pauline Epistles. Chrysostom was ready to apply the notion to solving all these problems. For, as a member of the Antiochene Exegetical School, he could not easily appeal to the allegorical method for this purpose. In interpretation of both the Old and the New Testament, he found the key invaluable instead of the allegorical method. On the one hand, as we have seen, Chrysostom's doctrine of condescension exhibited so mature and distinguished features. On the other hand, as is often described, Chrysostom was not an original creator in the modem sense. Is this a rare case where he was standing virtually alone? Did Chrysostom the Antiochene devise the key all by himself, following such vague hints provided by the Alexandrian predecessors? As long as we confine ourselves to the Greek sources, we could not answer these questions. But if we take a survey of those in the whole church, we will be aware that he was not all alone. 13 K. Duchatelez, "La « c o n d e s c e n d e n c e » divine et I'histoire du salut", Nouveiie Revue Theoiogique 6 (1973) (593-621), 613. 14 To be sure, for Chrysostom also, the uses of our terms in connection with the incarnation were not lost sight of. But they were not used to directly denote this; rather they frequently occurred with the incarnation as the consequences that resulted from this. 15 De incomprehension Vol. XX 2006!

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2. Divine condescension in Syriac Fathers Stepping into the Syriac-speaking realm, we can soon find that study on this notion has been desperately neglected.16 Judging by our definition of the concept "condescension", no less than five Syriac terms should be within our scope: o i ^ (to bend down), (to go down) (to abase), (to lie down), and even ^ ^ (to lessen).17 It is contexts that determine the definite meaning of each. Thus, once the linguistic barrier is broken down, somewhat surprisingly, a rich mine would present itself: Ephrem of Nisibis.18 Let us follow his thought, classifying the divine condescension into four types. First, according to Ephrem, God had already condescended to humanity at the creation. Since God let himself known through all creation as his symbols, Ephrem regards nature, along with scripture, as a useful source for knowledge about God. Second, the Father, out of his love, condescended to humanity through his dmütá (figures/images/visions). It is true that God allowed himself to be seen as a human figure such as an elder in Dan. 7: 13; nevertheless he did not show himself as he was, but was condcsccnding to human eyes. The variety of his figures is emphasised to such an 16 It was, among its specialists, only Duchatelez who mentioned its occurrence there. Whereas he ranged over an extensive literature concerning the Greek words, he referred to the equivalent in Syriac only once, and that in Philoxenus of Mabbug, who lived as late as the fifth century (Duchatelez, "La « c o n d e s c e n d a n c e » divine", 61 of.). Given the impenetrable linguistic barrier between them, however, this is understandable. 17 The firstof which, especially in its ethpeel c u ^ v ^ is of most importance. Although their derivatives should be dealt with as well, in early Syriac literature, those other than verbs scarcely occur with this meaning. 18 Among Syriac Fathers, this study concentrates on Ephrem, the best representative of the whole Syriac church. In fact, the notion plays a central rolé in his thought as a whole, as was shown in Sebastian Brock's renowned monograph, The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 19922, which is, in my opinion, the best among those ever written on Ephrem. Although the related texts aré shattered over his vast extant works, Hymns against heresies 30 and:32 concentrate on our theme. The Harp

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extent that Ephrem remarks that the Father put on every figure "in accordance with time and deed".19 This was due to his concern to enable everyone to understand him in proportion to one's capacity of comprehension.20 This was also the cause of the diversity between the Old and the New Testament. For, according to Ephrem, the Father showed his immature figure to the Jews as "infants", whereas he bestowed his mature figure to the church as "adults".21 To take an example, Ephrem also engaged himself, just as Chrysostom did, with the problem of offerings that God seemed to demand in the Old Testament. Here Ephrem, like Chrysostom, cared about anthropomorphism and utilised the notion of condescension against this.22 Third, the F a t h e r c o n d e s c e n d e d by speaking h u m a n languages. 23 In Ephrem's own words, "He could not speak with us humankind, unless he had put on the names of our things". 24 This notion is closely associated with the renowned Namenstheologie, the apex of Syriac thought. Thereby Ephrem moves on to the condescension of scripture. Scripture showed meanings through these names. Although all the words in scripture are necessarily condescending, Ephrem states, one must distinguish the two different types: one "complete and precise", and the other "assumed and transient". 25 For example, he sings: He (God) taught one who was perfect, like Elijah, that his heritage is, behold, in the heaven. 19 Hymni de fide 26, 8 (CSCO 154, 90). 20 One of the most favourite phrases that Ephrem employs is, indeed, "in accordance with everyone". God adapted degrees of his condescending to each person. 21 Hymni contra haereses 32, 11-12 (CSCO 169, 129). 22 Hymni contra haereses 32, 3 (CSCO 169, 127). We must now revise Duchatelez's remark aforementioned (n. 13), thus: the notion of the condescension was adopted to solve this problem by no Fathers but Chrysostom and Ephrem. 23 This condescension is exhaustive to the extent that "He put on all voices in order to persuade us" (Hymni de fide 11,9 (CSCO 154, 54)). 24 Hymni de fide 31, 2 (CSCO 154, 105f.). 25 Hymni de fide 44, 2 (CSCO 154, 141).

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He stimulated one who was simple by heritage of the land of milk and honey, as towards a child. He became all with all. And, whereas he is loftier than all, he condescended (Nkrta) to give life to all. So if you hear his stimulating voice, know that he is persuading children of his promise. 26

Fourth, according to Ephrem, the divine condescension culminated in the incarnation of the Son. This is the most thorough of all these condescensions, because divinity and humanity were really integrated for the first as well as last time.27 Yet, in this case also, one is required to discern two kinds of expressions about Christ: the lowliness of biblical words corresponds to his humanity, and their loftiness to his divinity.28 Ephrem's teaching of condescension was firmly sustained by his theological, albeit unsystematic, system at large. 29 It was, therefore, all natural to see that this would lead him to apply the notion as the key to resolving scriptural difficulties. On the one hand, Ephrem (c. 306-373) did use it in the manner Chrysostom (c. 349407) would use about a generation later.30 On the other hand, although 26 Hymni contra haereses 38, 14-15 (CSCO 169, 156). 27 For this was never done through figures (images/visions) like the Father's case, but through a real human body. The aim of all the condescensions was the salvation of humanity. 28 Hymni de fide 53, 11 (CSCO 154, 167). 29 Suffice it to see how developed Ephrem's teaching of divine condescension was. Here he held wider scope than Chrysostom. Herein integrated iare all the major characteristics of his thought: symbol theology, Namenstheologie, the doctrine of the Trinity, that of reveíation, Christology, soteriology, ánd the issue of human free will. 30 In any case, as has been now ascertained, we have at least one figure, Ephrem, who used our notion as the key to biblical interpretation prior to Chrysostom, albeit in the manner not as established and technically refined as Chrysostom did. The Harp

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space does not allow us to treat Aphrahat the Persian Sage (d. after 345), it is evident that Ephrem stands in line with Aphrahat in the hermeneutics in general, as well as the notion of divine condescension in particular. 31 3. Connections between Greek and Syriac Fathers For all their distinctness, one of the most striking traits in common between Chrysostom and Ephrem lies in the fact that this notion is the axis for both. 32 Now, is this shared emphasis on our theme a mere coincidence? If not, what would be the link between them? It seems worth examining the would-be-links. 33 It is only reasonable to begin with Diodore of Tarsus (d. before 394), as was already suggested by Brandle. For he was Chrysostom's teacher of exegesis, 31 This is quite natural, given that their notion in common is deeply grounded in their shared heritage, such as symbol theology and Namenstheologie, which are, in turn, founded on the Semitic and biblical thought. Yet Aphrahat's thought is not so highly developed as Ephrem's, due to his disposition less speculative than even Ephrem. See my two papers in Japanese and one in English, where I have already shown this: Shinichi Muto, "Perushia no kenja Afurahato no kaishakugaku" (The Hermeneutics of Aphrahat the Persian Sage), Kirisutokyogaku Kenkyu: Journal of Christian Studies 17 (1997) 7787; Id., "Afurahato ni okeru kami no kako to ningen no josho: Kaishakugaku-teki kanten kara" (Divine Descent and Human Ascent in Aphrahat: Seen from the Hermeneutical Point of View), Kirisutokyogaku Kenkyu: Journal of Christian Studies 19 (1999) 3957; Id., "Early Syriac Hermeneutics", The Harp 11-12 (1998-1999) 4365; and more succinctly, see Peter Bruns, "Einleitung", in: id. (tr.), Aphrahat, Unterweisungen, I, Freiburg: Herder, 1991, (35-73), 57. 32 Among Chrysostom's predecessors, no one but Ephrem of Nisibis extensively used the notion, involving that as the key to biblical interpretation. The similarity between the two on this matter was only briefly indicated by Hughes O. Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, II: The Patristic Age, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, 263, albeit without consideration for the reason. 33 This task as a transmitter could be accomplished only through bilinguals of Greek and Syriac, who had enough knowledge of Syriac thought, and at the same time was well trained in Greek education to transmit it to Chrysostom who could not speak Syriac. Vol. XX 2006i

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hence the predecessor par excellence. Regrettably, however, due to the paucity of his extant works, he cannot offer enough textual proofs to convince us.35 Seemingly a deadlock is reached over our problem. If Chrysostom's teacher is not available here, then how about Diodore's? As too much remains obscure of Diodore, the study on Eusebius of Emesa (d. c. 359), who is said to be his teacher, seems much more promising.36 It has been already made clear that he so predominantly influenced the later Antiochenes that he is qualified as the founder of their Exegetical School.37 At one place in his sermon, Eusebius was engaged with scriptural expressions on the Holy Spirit, remarking: These may be sufficiently spoken about the Holy Spirit in accordance with our ability, but not in accordance with the dignity or the nature of the Spirit.38 34 He was a younger contemporary of Ephrem; and what is more, he understood Syriac along with Greek. It follows that he has every reason tö be qualified as the link. 35 He used our term at only one place, albeit twice, which tells us little about our notion as such (Commentarii in epistulam ad Romanos 8 (ed. Staab 91, 20)). This is edited in: Karl Staab (ed.), Pauluskommentare aus der griechischen Kirche, Münster: Aschendorff, 19842 (1933). 36 In fact, growing attention is paid to Eusebius' exegesis among recent studies on the Antiochenes'. E.g. Amirav, Rhetoric and Tradition. 37 R. B. ter Haar Romenv, A Syrian in Greek Dress: The Use of Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac Biblical Texts in Eusebius of Emesa's Commentary on Genesis, Lovanii: Peeters, 1997. 38 Sermones5. 22 (ed. Buytert 1,143). Here can be seen the significant aspect of the doctrine of scriptural condescension: scripture does not speak of the divine things as they are, but only in accordance with human weakness to understand them. The editions of his sermons used in this paper are: É. M. Buytert (ed.), Eusèbe d'Émèse, Discours conservés en latin. Textes en partie inédites, I, La collection de Troyes, Louvain: Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense, 1953; id. (ed.),: Eusèbe d'Émèse, Discours conservés en latin. Textes en partie inédites. II:, La collection de Sirmond, Louvain: Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense, 1957. The Harp

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This leads the readers to an instruction as to how to deal with these condescending passages. In Eusebius' own words: "Therefore, when scripture speaks something for us, let us not apply our weakness to strong God". 39 Then comes up such a decisive text: Then rhetors also either do not speak to children or do speak in the manner they can hear; likewise divine scripture may either speak to humans humanly or silence may be honoured. Therefore we must not bring down the natures by the word for the reason of these by which scripture, condescending (condescendens), speaks to us.4° Although this text is preserved only in Latin translation, it is certain that Eusebius used here sunkatabainein in original Greek.41 So, in terms of both terminology and content, it is clear that Eusebius was here speaking of our notion. It is also clear by now that he also shared at least the basic doctrine of scriptural condescension with Ephrem and Chrysostom. In the meantime, a native of Edessa where Ephrem died, Eusebius was "a Syrian in Greek dress", as R. B. ter Haar Romeny called him.42 He was very much Greek in his sophisticated hermeneutics acquired from Greekpaideia', but at the same time, very much Syrian, at least, at our particular point, as is often the case with his biblical exegeses. Here it is evident that Chrysostom was dependent, if not directly, on Eusebius, as is often the case with his individual exegeses.43 So we assert that Chrysostom is "traditional" in the good sense of the word,44 and that 39 Sermones 20,15 (ed. Buytert2, 89). In this text, facing with a scriptural difficulty that the Satan talked equally with God, Eusebius seems to appeal to the notion of scriptural condescension to overcome it. 40 Sermones 24, 18 (ed. Buytert 2, 144). 41 For this Latin term was a coinage devised in the fourth century merely to translate this very Greek term. Duchatelez, "La « c o n d e s c e n d a n c e » divine", 619, n. 111. 42 Ter Haar Romeny, A Syrian in Greek Dress. 43 Cf. Amirav, Rhetoric and Tradition. 44 This is just as the recent study by Amirav demonstrated over his exegesis on Noah and the flood (Amirav, Rhetoric and Tradition). Besides, it is now natural to suppose that Diodore should have known the notion through his teacher Eusebius. In any case, even among the Antiochenes, Chrysostom is not the one who first devised it. Vol XX 200G

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Eusebius of Emesa is "the missing link" between Syriac Fathers at large and the later Antiochenes. For, chronologically, Ephrem could not be influenced by the later Antiochene Exegetical School. Neither is it likely that Eusebius was directly influenced by Ephrem his contemporary, or vice versa, since the former wrote exclusively in Greek while the latter could not understand it. We should rather attribute their treasure to the common Syriac milieu that existed around them.46 As rhetorically inclined exegetes, the Antiochenes interwove the Syriac teaching of divine condescension with pagan Greek rhetorical techniques to refine its terminologies until it became the most efficient tool for exegesis.47 45

Conclusion Limited in space,48 enough has been demonstrated that one of the most Chrysostomian thoughts, the notion of divine condescension as the key to interpretation, did not originate from himself or from his School. Rather, in all probability, the Syriac-originated notion was transmitted to John Chrysostom via bilinguals of Syriac and Greek 45 Henning J. Lehmann, Per Piscatores: Studies in the Armenian Version of a Collection of Homilies by Eusebius of Emesa and Severian of Gabala, Arhus, 1975, 9. 46 Early Syriac thought was inherited and developed by both the Syriacspeaking and the Greek-speaking successors in fourth-century Syria. One of the reasons for their shared need of the use of our notion may be their adversaries in common: on the one hand, the Marcionites, who were still extensively active in both East and West Syria; on the other hand, of course, the Jews. 47 Chrysostom's own contribution to Greek Christianity would lie mainly in his impeccable mastery of the Syriac-inherited notion of divine condescension to adapt it for a handy weapon, manageable enough to defend scripture. 48 The detailed discussion on our theme, especially for distinctness between Ephrem and Chrysostom, can be seen at my monograph in Japanese with an English summary: Shinichi Muto, Seisho kaishaku toshite no Shiika to shuji: Shiria kyofu Efuraimu to girishia kyofu Kuryusosutomosu (Poetry and Rhetoric as Biblical Interpretation: Ephrem the Syrian and;Chrysostom the Greek), Tokyo: Kyobunkwan, 2004. The Harp:

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49

such as Eusebius of Emesa. Chrysostom was influenced by Syriac Christianity through his predecessors in the Antiochene Exegetical School at the notion. He surely dismissed the honour to be the inventor of the teaching, but he would have been happy to be regarded as one of the most skillful developers and, as it were, the consummator.

Dr. Shinichi Muto 37 Suwai-cho-kami Omihachiman-shi SHIGA 523-0863, Japan.

49 For bilingualism in our area in general, see David G. K. Taylor, "Bilingualism and Diglossia in Late Antique Syria and Mesopotamia", in: J. N. Adams/Mark Janse/Simon Swain (ed.), Bilingualism in Ancient Society: Language Contact and the Written Word, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, 298-331. *

This paper is based on my presentation at inaugural conference of Western Pacific Rim Patristic Society, held at the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, Japan on September 25, 2004. I am sirlceiely grateful to Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil, who is indeed condescending, of course, in the good sense of the word. Vol. XX 2006;

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Holy Mar Subhalmaran on: "The eighth gift, which is the pure and perfect fast of those who belong to Our Lord, and like that which those of old time undertook and Our Lord perfected by conquest of His adversary" (continuedfrom page... 248) "So then the chief of the murderers leapt out from the hiding place which he had found, in which he had hoped that he had found a place to launch his murderous arrows. And with that very same passion he approached our Lord to perturb him.. What did he say to Our Lord? 'In this rugged desert, deprived of human company and the protection that comes from hope, a difficult length of time, forty days, has passed by you. You have been harassed and vexed by many things, especially by hunger, as your face testifies by its despondency and pallor. If truly God reckons you to be his son, as he proclaimed you to be at the Jordan, and terrified us all by his voice. He did not announce this about any other man, it was only about you. Now that you are oppressed by hunger, and there is nothing in this wilderness on the mountain that is suitable for your use, command that these stones be bread right in front of you. Then your father can find out, and you too, if you are his son: both by your changing the natures of things, and also by satisfying your hunger". (continued in page... 274)

The Harp

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Thomas Mannooramparampil

THE THEOLOGY OF EPISCOPACY According to the East Syrian Rite of the Consecration of Bishops.

The East Syrian rite consists of the following parts: A). Preliminaries: (1). Divine Office and vigil. (2). Observance regarding the day of the syamida (3). Reading the Papal bull (4). Solemn entry. B). Pre-consecratory Part: (1). Our Father. (2). Opening prayer. (3). Ps. 89:1-29,30-37 or Ps. 132:1-18. (4). Prayer. (5). Imposition of incense and onitha. (6). Prayer (7). First qanona.-Ps. 118: 65-72. (8). Prayer. (9). Second qanona-Ps 99:5-9. (10). Prayer. (11). Third anon-Ps. 21:4-14. Vol. XX 2006

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(12). Prayer. (13). Fourth Ps-Ps. 122:1-4 or Ps 57:1-18. (14). Reading from the Gospel: for one (Mt. 16:13-18; Jo. 21:1517; Mt.16: 19; for many (LklO: 1-2; Mk. 16:15-16; Mt.10: 16-17; Mt.10: 8; Mt.18:19-20; Lk.10: 19-20,23-24; Jo.2022-23; 20:21; Mt. 28:19-20). C). Consecratory Part: (1). The prayer "grace of our Lord... (2). First imposition of hands (3). Instruction of the deacon (4). Second imposition of hand. D). Post Consecratory Part: (1). Prostration (2). Investiture (3). Consignation and declaration of consecration. (4). Kiss of peace. (5). Seating on the throne and (6). Salutation. Episcopacy is a great mystery and only under the shade of this mystery we can understand it. We shall analyze the texts of the consecration of bishops and try to bring into synthesis the concept of Episcopacy expressed in them. Trinitarian Aspect. One of the main characteristics is its Trinitarian aspect. The election and consecration of bishops are attributed to the persons of the Holy Trinity individually. (i). Bishop in relation to the Father. The prayer before the second qanona affirms that bishop is elected by God the Father: " May the divine virtue which overshadowed and dwelt on Moses ... overshadow and dwell on Thy servant whom Thou hast chosen...and choose as Mathias was The Harp

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chosen". The necessity of such an election is pointed in the Holy Scripture (Heb.5: 4; Acts 1:24: Jo 17:11). The prayer before the first qanona indicates that it is God the Father who consecrates the bishop: "Behold, O Lord, with the brooding of Thy Spirit spread the light of Thy countenance upon this Thy servant...that he may be a shepherd to His flock". The text requests God to show benevolence in making him a shepherd .To be a shepherd of God's flock is a gratuitous gift granted by God. Nobody can receive it without a special illumination from God, because it is to receive God's power over His flock. (ii). Bishop is the representative of God the Father. The above cited text prays God to illumine him by His own brightness, to cloth him with His garment and to endow him with his own power so that he may be able to take the place of God who is the true pastor of the faithful. (Zen 34:15). This text makes him His representative in two ways: 1) by clothing him with His own garment. Giving one's garment means the transmission of his power (4 King 2:8-14,Ester 6:7-8;Gen.4i: 42) Mantle is a symbol of a particular office endowed with power and authority. To give one's mantle signifies the transmission of one's power to another. Here garment of God's glory is given to the bishop. He is clothed with His glory, power and authority. 2) By giving him the sword of the Word of His power. The same truth is affirmed when the prayer before the second Ps calls the bishop His vicar. Several texts present him as a pastor (prayer before second Ps and prayer before the third Ps). The figure of a pastor is also indicati ve of the understanding of bishop's relation to the Father. The prayer before the first Ps presents as the end of all powers bestowed on bishop the power to feed the sheep of God. (iii). Bishop in relation to Christ. As far as the election of the bishop is concerned Vat. Syr. codex 45 is clear. Since it is the most ancient text at our disposal its testimony has greater value to understand the ancient tradition. Christ chooses the bishop: "O Christ, the heavenly pastor, who gave himself up for the sheep.. .set apart and elect this Thy servant that he may become pastor." O Christ, the perfector of priests and the giver of all gifts, choose Thy Vol XX 2006

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servant as a selection ". "Establish him, whom Thy right hand has set apart and Thy divinity has chosen, high priest in the Church. (.P. 11)." O Christ, heavenly pastor, who gave Himself up for the sheep, set apart and elect this Thy servant that he may become pastor .. ,(pl7). Episcopal stamina is nothing but the donation of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was sent to the Apostles by Christ and is now sent by the same Christ to the bishop in the syamida. This is clear from the qanona of Ps 99 says:" Christ Lord, king of kings, who anoints priests and bishops anoint Thy servant, O Son of the Highest, with the holiest of oils and make him hold, o living pastor, the pastoral rod and stick that he may feed Thy fold with an unspotted mind and a pure heart". So it is Christ who anoints pastors and bishops. It is Christ who consecrates bishop .It is by spiritual unction -overshadowing of the Holy Spirit that one is made bishop. The qanona of the antiphonal Psalm 21 asks the Sort of God to answer the petitions of the bishopelect through the descent of the Holy Spirit. Hence one is made bishop by Christ and he is conscious of the descent of he Holy Spirit on him. The Onitha sings: "The priesthood of the house of Aaron ministered to the mystery, figure and shadow of the law; the apostleship of the house of Simon has received the substance, perfection and the truth of the incarnation." The text affirms two things: 1). The priesthood of Aaron was a figurative priesthood. 2). The law of Simon received the true priesthood, the truth of incarnation. Christ became priest at the very moment of his incarnation. The same priesthood is continued by the bishop through Episcopal consecration. The light of God's countenance and His brightness mentioned in the prayer before the first qanona is nothing but Christ. Bishop represents Christ. Severa! prayers show that Christ is the true pastor and one is constituted pastor through his syamida .If bishop is a pastor it can be by participation in Christ's pastorship. It can be by representing Christ taking the place of Christ for the Church. Bishop renders Christ visible this people. (iv). Bishop in relation to the Holy Spirit. One is consecrated bishop by the Holy Spirit. The prayer before the onitha which calls Holy Spirit the source of all spiritual gifts illffllf

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requests " to pour forth the gifts of Thy apostolic priesthood into the heart of Thy pious servant, to crown the head of Thy adorer with the honourable crown of the high priesthood of Christ." Donation of the Holy Spirit I s the essence of the Episcopal consecration. The prayer after the onitha: "LO Lord, with the brooding of Thy Spirit spread the light of Thy countenance upon this Thy servant who stands before Thee that he may be a shepherd to Thy flock" shows that it is the Holy Spirit who constitutes one in the episcopacy. Successors of the Apostles The relation of bishop to the Apostles is intimately connected with his relationship to Christ and to the Church. By syamida he gains the same relation to Christ and to the Church, which existed between the Apostles, Christ, and the Church. Bishops are to Christ and to the Church what the Apostles were to Christ and to the Church. The pontifical says that the Apostles received the substance, perfection and the truth of the Incarnation as the chosen instruments o f Christ to convert the whole world (second stanza of the onitha), as those who were sent to preach t he Gospel and to baptize all nations (third stanza of the onitha and the prayer after the onitha). As those who are endowed with power of dominion over the heights and depths (qanona of Ps.118) and those who have received the power o God's own majesty (qanona of ps 21). Bishops receive the same Spirit, which the Apostles received so that they may continue the same mission entrusted to the Apostles by Christ. They succeed the Apostles as pastors, high priest and teachers. The prayer after the onitha says: "May the divine ... which descended on the Apostles in the f o r m of fiery tongues ... overshadow and dwell on Thy servant whom thou hast chosen that.. He may be raised up in the order of the high priesthood of the Church. ." The high priesthood here requested for the bishop is the same Holy Spirit that was conferred upon the Apostles by the descent of the Holy Spirit. One of the principal aims of the Episcopal syamida is to make one pastor of God's fold. The reading for the syamida Jo.21: 15-17 affirms clearly that bishops are the successors of the Apostles as pastors of God's fold. Vol. XX 2006

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T h e Apostolic succession is due to the apostolic tradition imparted by the imposition o f hand. T h e prayer for the first imposition o f hand s a y s : " O good G o d and all merciful king, who are rich in mercy, and w h o s e pity is overflowing, T h o u O Lord, in T h y unspeakable m e r c y hast made m e a mediator o f T h y divine gifts in T h y holy church to give in thy name the talents o f the ministry o f the Spirit to the ministers o f T h y holy mysteries. And behold according to the apostolic tradition handed over to us by the stamina o f the ecclesiastical ministration, O L o r d we present to T h e e this T h y servant that he m a y a bishop elect in T h y holy Church . . . "

Collegia! Nature of the Episcopacy T h e f u n d a m e n t a l p r i n c i p l e o f a p o s t o l i c s u c c e s s i o n is t h e transmission o f the Holy Spirit by the imposition o f hands. J e s u s called the Apostles one by one and formed them as a body .To this body he sent His Spirit and entrusted this mission.

T h e collegial

nature o f the episcopacy is found in the expressions o f the pontifical such as the twelve, the house o f Peter, c o m p a n y o f the A p o s t l e s etc. T h e pontifical sees in the election o f Mathias ihc full expression o f the collegiality o f the Apostles and o f bishops. T h e election o f Mathias was a collegial act. Episcopacy is an order into which one is integrated by the syamida. S o E p i s c o p a l syamida is a col !egial act. T h i s fact is symbolized in the rite o f consecration in which at least three bishops are needed. A l s o for the installation o f Metropolitan three bishops are needed [1 ]| 1]. S i x Metropolitans are needed for the installation o f Patriarch [2]\2].

E a c h bishop possesses the whole episcopacy.

T h i s is evident when the prayers; request for the whole Holy Spirit on each bishop in order that he m a y be a high priest. E p i s c o p a c y is by nature collegial. T h e prayer b e f o r e the s e c o n d q a n o n a " T h e divine virtue w h i c h o v e r s h a d o w e d and dwelt pn M o s e s . . . . ascended on the Apostles in the f o r m o f fiery tongues. In the order o f the high priesthood." indicates that e p i s c o p a c y is an order and a bishop is made a m e m b e r o f t his order. E a c h bishop is a m e m b e r o f this c o l l e g e and possesses the w h o l e episcopacy. Although bishops are the successors o f the Apostles they do not inherit the special privileges o f the A p o s t l e s . T h e A p o s t l e s The Harp

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possessed two kinds of powers: (i). An extraordinary and intransmissible power, (ii). An ordinary and transmissible powers. Bishops are the successors of the Apostles in so far as they inherit the ordinary and transmissible powers of the Apostles. Relation to the Church.

Since the bishops represent Christ and succeed the Apostles, they are to the Church what Christ and the Apostles were to her. In the syamida of bishops the relationship of the bishop to the Church is given under three aspects: (i). He is the high priest of the Church: The prayer after the onitha requests the Holy Spirit to pour forth the Apostolic priesthood on the ordinandi to crown his head with the glorious crown of the high priesthood of the Church. The aim of making one the high priest of the Church is to enlighten the souls of the faithful with his doctrine and to banish the power of darkness from his flock. One is made the high priest of the Church by making him participant in the high priesthood of Christ. [3][3] (ii). He is the shepherd of the Church: The prayer after the second qanona invokes the Holy Spirit upon the bishop elect in order to make him a shepherd to feed his sheep justly and feed his foldrightly.The prayer after the third qanona joins the high priesthood to the shepherdhood. : "Pour out, O Lord, the power of Thy grace upon this servant, and set on his head the beautiful and glorious crown of the high priesthood, and put into his hands the shepherd's staff that he may guide, feed and govern the flocks of Thy pasture..." It is Christ, the living pastor who anoints one as shepherd to feed his flock. (iii). He is the head of the Church: The same prayer after the second qanona says: "that he may stand diligently at the head of Thy people in the Church ". Christ exercises his headship through the Episcopal college. The grace that makes Christ head of the Church is fully in each bishop. Therefore the bishop can be called the head of the universal Church. The mystery of the universal Church is brought to the particular Church. Thus the particular Church has its existence as the true Church through the bishop. Yet the prayer after the first qanona limits tlv field of his activity to aportion of the Church. Vol. XX 2006

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Power and mission of the bishop The pontifical groups the powers and mission of bishops under two headings: as king and as high priest. (1). As king: He is sent to rule the Church of God. He is the shepherd of God's fold (prayer before the first qanona). The prayer before the third qanona says: " May Thy grace, our Lord and God, which dwelt upon the holy Apostles as fire.. Overshadow, dwell and remain o this Thy servant that he may feed Thy sheep justly and govern Thy fold rightly and stand diligently at the head of Thy people in Thy Church". This prayer shows that he is the head of the Church, and guides and governs his (lock. The qanona of the third antiphonal psalm indicates that he should be channel of divine grace: "Son of God, who shed Thy riches on the twelve.. .answer the desires of his petitions through the descent of the Spirit upon his head and provide Thy fold through him with help for all its grades and bless (through him) its priests and Levites." (2). As high priest: Bishops are the stewards of the mysteries of God. [Doxology of the onitha and the possessor of mysteries and dispenser of gifts (the prayer before the second qanona)]. Mysteries indicate Word and sacraments, which are the means of salvation. (i). Mission and power of the Word: The prayer after Psalm 131 says: "Thee we pray and beseech, to pour forth the gifts of Thy Apostolic priesthood into the heart of Thy pious servant, to crown the head of Thy adorer with the honorable crown of the high priesthood of the Church that, by the rays of the light of his doctrine, he may enlighten the souls of his children and destroy the power of darkness from his flock." The rays of doctrine by which the bishop enlightens the souls of his children and destroys the power of darkness lor his flock, mentioned in the first qanona affirms that the Apostles were enabled to be preachers by the overshadowi ng of the Spirit in the form of tongues of fire. The siime effect is produced in the bishops. They are made the teachers of true doctrine. [4][4] The prayer before the second qanona affirms that the Apostles were chosen to be preachers by the overshadowing of the Spirit in the form of fire. The second stanza of the onitha says:

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" They received the gift of the Spirit, went forth making disciples and baptizing the nations and the people by the virtue of the gift of tongues. The first stanza of the onitha d'basalique on the eve of Episcopal syamida prays: " The holy Spirit who was sent by God ...to the company of Apostles, that they might be, afterwards, messengers and preachers of the kingdom of heaven; heralds and doctors of the Holy Spirit". If the Spirit overshadows in the same way in the Episcopal syamida, the same effect is produced. Therefore in the Episcopal syamida bishop is empowered to preach and to teach the Word of God. (ii). Mission and power over the sacraments. Sacraments come under the mysteries. The Pontifical speaks of the sacraments in general and in particular of the Eucharist and the power of binding and loosing. The prayer of the imposition of hands enumerates the important powers and mission of a bishop: "Vouchsafe, O God, Father of truth, the holy and glorious one, that he may shepherd Thy fold with righteousness of heart while his tongue preaches the word of Truth; be a light to those who sit in darkness, an instructor of those who lack knowledge and a teacher of children and youths. Clothe him, O Lord, with power from on high that he may bind and loose both in heaven and on earth, that he may heal the sick by the laying on of his hand, work miracles in Thy holy name unto the honour of Thy glorious Divinity, make priests, deacons, sub deacons and deaconesses through the power of Thy gift for the ministry of Thy holy Church, gather together ad bring up Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture, perfect the souls of those whom he has received charge in all fear of God and purity." The mission and power entrusted according to this prayer are: (a). To shepherd the fold of God. Bishop is above all a pastor. He has to shepherd the fold with righteousness of heart. (b). To teach. Bishop's mission to feed God's flock is done mainly by preaching. This text speaks of his duty to teaching inside and outside his fold. Three groups of people need special attention in the teaching mission: those who lack knowledge, children and youth. Vol. XX 2006

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(c). To bind and loose. This power alludes to all the powers necessary for the good of the Church. The power to remit sins comes under this power to bind and to loose. The qanona of the first antiphonal psalm says: " O God, who committest to Thy Apostles power of dominion over the heights and depths, give the power of Thy grace to this Thy worshippers". This power of dominion refers to the keys of the kingdom (Mt.16: 19) and the power given to the Apostles to forgive sins (Jo 20:22-23). This power conferred on the Apostles is the foundation of the bishop's power to remit sins. (d). To heal the sick and work miracles: The text refers to Mt 10:8; 16:18; Lk 9:2; Mk 6:3. (e). To ordain ministers of the Church: According to our text bishops are empowered to ordain presbyters, deacons, sub deacons and deaconesses .No mention is made regarding the bishops' power to ordain bishop. Theologically speaking, there in no reason to deny this power to a bishop. (f). To keep unity of God's fold and to perfect them: Bishop is endowed with power from above to gather together the people around him and give them growth and perfection. Episcopacy is the principle of the unity of the Church. (g). To be the superintendent of the house of God: All the powers given to bishops are for the service of the Church. Grace of the Episcopal Syamida

The graces of the Episcopal syamida are those graces and gifts which make the ordinand a representative of God the Father and of Christ and the successor of the Apostles with the actual graces for the execution of the mission bequeathed from Christ through the Apostles. These graces make the ordinand a true high pries!, a pastor and a true head of the Church after the mind of Christ. The graces requested in the prayer after t he unthaw and after the second qanona are those which make the ordinand a pastor in the Church .The vocation of the Apostles was to bear witness to Christ. Bishops are given the same power and the same virtue to succeed the Apostles The Harp

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in bearing witness to Christ (No 28,34,39). The following graces are special graces of the Episcopal syamida. 1. Enlightenment for the perfect and sure knowledge of truth: The Apostles and their successors were sent to teach all nations. This presupposes a sure knowledge of those things, which they have to teach. The unthaw dada reads: "O ye holy Apostles, you are the lamps of the true light for the world; for, light of your doctrine has illumined and shown the way of life to the world and, by your truth, you have led those who were abiding in darkness to the light which illuminates the mind.". Onitha d'basalique of the day sings: "The Holy Apostles preached the one perfect religion in the Holy Spirit; they extirpated and destroyed the thorns and have sown the deed of their doctrine. Through the 1 ight of their doctrine, they have extinguished and dissipated the darkness of error, which was prevailing in the world. They preached throughout the world the trae faith in the adorable name of the Father." It is necessary that he be illumined by the doctrine with which he has to illuminate others. 2. Grace of courage: This grace of courage to bear witness to Christ and to His doctrine was given to the Apostles by the Holy Spirit. Since the bishops are commissioned with the same mission as the Apostles and receive the same grace of Pentecost in the syamida, the grace of courage is one of the significant graces of the Episcopal syamida. 3. Grace of Words: It is grace to bear witness to Christ and to His doctrine. It enables the bishop to resist the adversaries of Christ. The Apostles received the gift of the Holy Spirit in the form of fiery tongues. This is mainly a gift of words to communicate the teaching of Christ. The Gospel imposed on the back of the ordained signifies the tongues of fire that appeared over the Apostles. The rite of the consecration of bishop in the East Syrian Church is theologically very profound. It throws light on various aspects of episcopacy and elucidates the centrality of bishop in the life of the Church.

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Holy Mar Subhalmaran on: "The eighth gift, which is the pure and perfect fast of those who belong to Our Lord, and like that which those of old time undertook and Our Lord perfected by conquest of His adversary" (continuedfrom page... 262) "He spoke these things as if to a man who was a prophet and a righteous man, and not as to the only begotten Son, and of the same nature as the Father. For this mystery of the Unity was hidden even from the angels, who are his servants and his messengers with the word. And it was right, too, that he spoke to our Lord as to an ordinary man, for it was as such that Our Lord showed himself. He reminded him also of the mighty acts of Moses7 when he was in Egypt, and the manna that he brought down, and the quails that he brought up, and the water that he made flow from the dry rock. Elijah, too, multiplied the meal in the jar and the oil in the flask8. Again Elisha turned water into oil 9 , and in another place he made the bitter into sweet 10 , and so on. He made his propositions with these examples and deceptive compliments. Our Lord looked at him, and made mock of the deceits. When he had finished all his tricks about this matter, our Lord raised a talon like a large eagle, and took a stone from the wallet of the Spirit, and struck the shameless hawk on the strong part of his wings and broke them 'For it is written by my Father in the scripture, thatindndoes not live by bread [alone]'. What is it that is by its nature bread which can give life? It is the commandment which God, who sustains through bread, gave us; the same who can give life to all without bread. To whoever keeps it he gives life by every word from his lifegiving mouth. By the very weapon with which Sa tan defeated Adam did Our Lord defeat him and lay him low, and by payment of his debt made conquest for us all". (continued in page... 294)

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T W O SYR I A C W R I T E R S F R O M T H E REIGN OF A N A S T A S I U S: Philoxenus of Mabbug and Joshua the Stylite1 The reign of the Roman emperor Anastasius I (491-518) is widely regarded as an important turning-point in the history of the later Roman empire, marking the final phase of many facets of late antique culture and anticipating the emergence of some of those more characteristic of the mediaeval world. In the area of church history it is characterised first of all by the fact that it extended over most of the thirty-six years of the Acacian schism, during which time the churches of Rome and Constantinople were not in communion one with another. The religious unity of the empire was of great importance to the emperor, and Anastasius' efforts in this regard were primarily concerned with the eastern patriarchates of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, with Rome left to go its own way. In the perspective of the history of the church his reign is usually described as 'tolerant', and in his time the best miaphysite 2 theology was produced. This had a profound long term impact, and not merely for the history of Christian doctrine. The vigour of the miaphysite movement during this period in the patriarchate of Antioch led to the formation of a Syrian miaphysite church which linked up again with 1

Revised version of a paper first given at the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, in May, 2002.

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that of Egypt in its opposition to the Council of Chalcedon. Although on one level the death of Anastasius precipitated the defeat of this miaphysite church as a pro-Chalcedonian policy was re-introduced by Justin and Justinian, at a deeper level the gains made by the miaphysites in the population as a whole during Anastasius' reign could not subsequently be overturned by his successors. From Anastasius' time onwards Syria and Egypt remained predominantly miaphysite in sympathy, whatever regime was imposed by the emperor. In the long run this disaffection played some part (although how much is still disputed) in the ease with which these areas fell to the Arab armies a century later during the reign of Heraclius. 3 The events and personalities of the Diocese of the Orient thus play an important part i n the history of Anastasius' reign. The names of two theologians figure prominently in the theological controversies of the time: Severus. Patriarch of Antioch from 512 to 518, who wrote in Greek but whose homilies and letters are only preserved in Syriac translation, and Philoxenus, bishop of Hierapolis/Mabbug from 485 to 519, who was of Persian origin and wrote only in Syriac. Syriac literature did not begin out of nothing in tins period. There were important Syriac authors prior to it, most notably of course Ephraim, the 'Syriac Homer', and in all probability the translation of Greek theologians into Syriac had already begun when, for example, Philoxenus was a student at Edessa sometime after 450. 4 But undoubtedly the development of a vigorous and independent-minded miaphysite church in Roman Syria and M e s o p o t a m i a gave a tremendous impetus to the employment of Syriac as a literary language in competition to Greek at this time. The reign of Anastasius (and to 3

On ecclesiastical politics in the reign of Anastasius, cf. P. Charanis, Church and State in the Later Roman Empire: The Religious Policy of Anastasius the First (Madison, 1939); C. Capizzi, L'imperatore Anastasio I (491-518), Orientalia Christiana Analecta 184 (Rome, 1969); W. H. C. Frend, The Rise of the Monophysite Movement (Cambridge, 1972); J. Meyendorfî, imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: The Church 450-680, Church History 2 (Crestwood, 1989). A new monograph on the reign of Anastasius is being prepared by F. K. Nicks.

4

Cf. A. de Halleux, Philoxène de Mabbog: Sa vie, ses écrits, sa théologie (Louvain, 1963), pp. 25-30. The Harp

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a certain extent that of his predecessor Zeno) is the period, therefore, in which Syriac prose literature appears on the scene as a vital 'player' in the intellectual life of the Roman Empire. A number of contemporary Syriac documents provide valuable information directly relati ng to events and personalities of the reign of Anastasius. The works, and especially the letters, of the two figures just mentioned contain from time to time not only valuable autobiographical information, but also remarks on the aims of the writers and their colleagues and comments about their adversaries. Another outstanding Syriac writer of the era, Jacob of Sarug, also left behind a vast correspondence of interest to both historians and theologians. In this paper f should like to show the value of Syriac literature for the understanding of this period by looking at Philoxenus' public aims as expressed in one of his letters and setting that beside a contemporary work of Syriac historiography-in fact the earliest extant work of Syriac historiography-, the so-called 'Chronicle of Joshua the Sty lite'. Let me first return briefly to the religious policy of Anastasius, to set the background against which these works are to be read. The basis for the religious 'peace' which prevailed during his reign was the formula called the Henoticon. This had been devised under Zeno by the patriarch of Constantinople Acacius, mainly for the purpose of reconciling the Syrian and Egyptian miaphysites. It skirted over the issue of one nature or two in Christ, but it approved the Twelve Anathemas of Cyril, declared that one of the Trinity was incarnate, condemned both Nestorius and Eutyches, and condemned any heresy whether advanced at Chalcedon or anywhere else. While this did not go far enough for the extreme miaphysites (because it did not explicitly condemn Chalcedon or proclaim one nature), it went much too far for Rome in its potentially critical attitude to Chalcedon. It was, however, very much to the liking of the moderately promiaphysite patriarchs of Alexandria; and Antioch, and therefore provided the 'infrastructure' for the development of the miaphysite movement through to the end of the reign of Anastasius. 5 5

The text of the Henoticon appears in Greek in Evagrius, H. E. Ill, 14 (ed. J. Bidez and L. Parmentier [London, 1898], pp. 111-114) and in Vol XX?006

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However, all was by no means entirely peaceful in the patriarchate of Antioch during these years. Philoxenus had been appointed bishop of Mabbug/Hierapolis in 485, and under the patriarchate of his soul-mate Peter the Fuller the miaphysite cause advanced steadily. The period of Flavian of Antioch (498-512) was, however, anything but peaceful. Flavian embodied what has come to be called 'neo-Chalcedonianism': he accepted the definition of Chalcedon alongside the one nature formula of Cyril, but also adhered to the Henoticon. Against that Philoxenus and his partisans demanded the anathematization of Chalcedon, which Flavian refused to give. This bitter controversy raged in the Orient right through to the deposition of Flavian in 512.6 One of Philoxenus' letters gives us a clear picture of his programme. In a letter to the monks of Palestine written in 509, he indicates that he aims to achieve four things. First he wants Flavian to condemn Nestorius and his masters and partisans; among these he includes Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret and the Orientals of the Council of Ephesus. Next he wants the ratification by Flavian of Cyril's anti-Nestorian anathemas. This is followed by the demand for the approval of the Henoticon and the rejection of the Chalcedonian addition to the faith of the first three Councils; and finally he requires of him the approval of the miaphysite formula and the rejection of dyophysitism. The importance of the Henoticon to Philoxenus emerges here quite clearly. He believes it provides the justification for all else, including the condemnation of dyophysite doctrine.7 Syriac in Pseudo-Zachariah, H. E. V. 8 (ed. E. W. Brooks, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 83 [Paris-Louvain, 1919], pp. 227-231) and in Pseudo-Dionysius, ed. J. -B. Chabot, Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysianum vulgo dictum I, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 91 (Paris-Louvain, 1927), pp. 230-234. For English translations and discussion of its influence under Zeno, cf. M. Whitby, The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus, Translated Texts for Historians'33 (Liverpool, 2000), pp. 147-149; F. J. Hamilton and E. W. Brooks, The Syriac Chronicle known as that of Zachafiah of Mitylene (London, 1899), ;pp. 121-123; and Frend, The Rise of the Monophysite Movement, pp. 360-362 and 143-183. 6

Cf. de Halieux, Philoxène, pp. 39-75.

7

Edition and translation of the text in A. de Halieux, 'Nouveaux textes inédits de Philoxène de Mabbog', Le Muséon 75 (1962), pp. 33-44, the passage in question pp. 36-37/42-43. Cf. idem, Philoxène, pp. 50-52.

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This struggle provides us with a nice example of the interplay of ecclesiastical and wider issues, and the difficulty of interpreting the actions of personalities involved in battles both theological and 'material'. The assault of Philoxenus on Flavian extended over the period of the Persian War. The growing sympathy of Anastasius for the miaphysites during this time has been attributed to the desire of the Emperor to utilise Syrian miaphysitism and its refugees from Persian or occupied lands against Persian nationalism, as much as to his desire for unity among the churches of the east. Certainly as regards the latter, Flavian played into Philoxenus' hands, and this is what lies behind Philoxenus' remark concerning the 'Chalcedonian addition'. John Niciotes, patriarch of Alexandria, had openly condemned Chalcedon at his accession (505), and as a result Flavian had broke off communion with him. In Philoxenus' eyes it was therefore Flavian who had departed from the Henoticon by re-instating the scandal of division. 8 One can clearly see from this letter how the miaphysite cause could gain ground during the reign of Anastasius when it shrewdly exploited the Henoticon and aligned itself with the 'ecumenical' policy of the emperor. When one speaks of the 'Anastasian War', however, reference is normally being made to the military conflict between Rome and Persia fought out in Mesopotamia and Osrhoene, rather than the ecclesiastical battle between Flavian and Philoxenus. The most detailed account of that military conflict is the Syriac text generally known as the 'Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite'." Theological controversy is not very much to the fore in this work, but the intensity and duration of the doctrinal conflict is unlikely to have left the author unaffected, and there are hints every now and then that it was indeed 8

Cf. ibid., pp. 57-59.

9

Syriac text in W. Wright, The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite (Cambridge, 1882), and in Pseudo-Dionysius, ed. Chabot (cf. above, n. 5), 235317. German translation and commentary in A. Luther, Die syrische Chronik des Josua Stylites, Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte 49 (Berlin, 1997); English translation and commentary in F. R. Trombley and J. W. Watt, The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, Translated Texts for Historians 32 (Liverpool, 2000). The section numbers quoted in the following are those of Wright, which are retained in both these translations.

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important to him and may have coloured his outlook, and in particular his attitude to Anastasius himself. Both Flavian and Philoxenus (Xenaias) are mentioned in the text, and although the work is normally thought of as an instructive document in the sphere of 'secular' history, right at its very opening the reader finds himself in a decidedly religious environment. The work is addressed to a certain Sergius, 'most excellent of men, priest and abbot', and is said to be a response to this abbot's request for a memorial of the times of distress occasioned by locusts, famine, plague, and war, all this to be recorded for the sake of the brothers currently in his monastery and all 'lovers of learning' who will enter it in the future. By reading of the sins recently committed and the punishments inflicted on account of them, they are to be enabled to guard against these sins and escape these punishments. 10 The work therefoie starts off sounding like a very moralistic treatise, and indeed appears to treat the war as simply one element in a set of punishments Inflicted on 'us' on account of 'our sins'. As one reads on, however, it becomes clear that the author is not only a religious polemicist, but is also a classicising historian familiar with the pattern of a classical history and with the rhetorical techniques of Greek literature. The prologue is a l ine example of the motif of a 'request', allowing the author to protest his lack of fitness for the task and to claim that he is only undertaking it because he has been bidden to do so by a superior person. It is thus quite uncertain whether Sergius, let alone the request, was 'real' or purely literary. Intertwined with his 'religious explanation' of the war, however, we can also discern a 'political' motive. Noting that 'according to the saying of the wise man Solomon war is produced by provocation', 11 he goes on to allege that Sergius wishes in learn from him the provocative causes of the suffering and war. A prologue followed by an account of the causes of a war, preceding Lhc narrative of the war itself, is the classical pattern of a political history. This work is thus a good example of the emergence of a Syriac literary tradition in this period modelled on and competing wiih the Greek. In using it we should 10 Josh. Styl. §§ 1-3. On the prologué in general, see Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, pp. xii-xv, and E. Riad, Studies in the Syriac Preface. Studia Semítica Upsaliensia 11. (Uppsala, 1988), pp. 74-100. 11 Proverbs 20, 18 and 24, 6 (Peshitta). The Harp I

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thus not assume that as a simple-minded Syriac chronicler the author merely put one thing down after another in chronological order, but should reckon with the possibility that like a sophisticated Greekhistorian he could mould his material to suit his purpose. 12 What then does he want to say about the causes of the war? That is revealed at the end of the prologue: Even though this war was stirred up by God against us on account of our sins, nevertheless the cause arose on account of political circumstances 13 which I wish to relate for you, in order that you should be clearly acquainted with this matter, so as not to be deceived with some silly people into blaming him who is in government, the faithful emperor Anastasias, lie is not the origin of the war. On the contrary, the fact is that it was provoked long ago, as you will be able to see from what I am now about to write for you. 14 The author thus makes use of the alleged request of Sergius and of the classical pattern of a narrative of the causes of the war to absolve Anastasius of all blame for it. Some 'silly people' do indeed lay the blame for it on the emperor. If it is necessary in reading Procopius' history of Justinian's wars to take account of his desire to glorify Justinian's generals by denigrating those of Anastasius, it is also necessary in reading 'Joshua' to take account of the fact that he is writing to defend Anastasius against the accusation that he was responsible for the war. The name of the author is unknown. 'Joshua' is probably the name of the scribe or the compiler-author of the unique manuscript of the eighth century chronicle known as the Chronicle of Zuqnin (or the Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius) in which the text known as 12 Cf. J. W. Watt. 'Greek Historiography and the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite', in G. J. Reinink and A. C. Klugkist (eds.), After Bardaisan. Studies on Continuity and Change in Syriac Christianity in Honour of Professor Han J. W. Drijvers, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta (Louvain, 1999), pp. 317-328. 13 He uses a pair of Syriac words here, literally 'evident/public affairs', which I take to be equivalent to the Greek pragmata. 14 Josh. Styi. § 6. Vol. XX 2006

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'Joshua' or 'Pseudo-Joshua' is incorporated and preserved. More important than his name, however, is the fact that he came from or lived in Edessa.15 Joshua therefore gives us the perspective of an Edessan on the events with which he deals, although it may of course be an individual one. Edessa was the provincial capital of Osrhoene, and for Syriac writers the cultural fount of the Syriac language. It was also a centre of Greek culture for those living in the east, whether under Roman or Sasanian rule, and naturally also became in due course a theological centre; The School of the Persians had been particularly famous as a theological centre, and there the Antiochene theology had been vigorously promoted and the works of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mdpsuestia closely studied and translated into Syriac. Philoxenus of Mabbug and Jacob of Sarug had both been students there around the middle of the fifth century, when the city was deeply involved in the theological conflicts of the time. Its celebrated bishop Rabbula (d. 436), a strong partisan of Cyril, had turned against 'the Orientals', but he was succeeded by the Antiochene supporter Hibas, who was himself later deposed by the partisans of the late Rabbula. The School itself appears to have been predominantly Antiochene in sympathy, and Philoxenus himself was of that persuasion when he first went there, but during his student days he was converted to the Alexandrian camp. In 489 the School was suppressed by order of Zeno and transferred to Nisibis. Cyrus was bishop of Edessa at thai time, but Philoxenus, by then bishop .of Mabbug, may have pushed the authorities towards this decision, speaking as an old student of the School who 'knew' the place to be a bastion of 'Nestorianism'. 16 In addition to being a centre of theological controversy, Edessa was also a 'blessed city'. That is, it had been blessed by none other than Christ himself, or so the Edessenes believed. They traced the origin of Christianity there back to the legendary correspondence 15 On the author and his Edessan origin, cf. Trombley and Watt, PseudoJoshua, pp. xxi-xxvii. Luther, Josua Stylites, pp. 10-19 takes Joshua Styiites (of Zuqnin) to be the^name of the author, while also emphasising the importance of his Edessan perspective. 16 Cf. de Haileux, Philoxene, pp. 24-30, 49,

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between Jesus and the then king Abgar, and treasured the supposed saying of Jesus that their city is blessed and no enemy would reign over it. An Edessene such as 'Joshua' at the beginning of the sixth century was therefore heir to a multitude of traditions about his city: as a centre of Syriac but also Greek culture, as the seat of the earliest Christian monarch with a blessing bestowed by Christ, and as a site of vigorous struggles over Christian doctrine. 17 A mixture of local Edessan and wider political perspectives can be discerned in Joshua's work. Indeed, the work is an amalgam in more ways than one. It really has two subjects, the famine and plague in Edessa and the surrounding region from 495 to 502, and the Persian war of 502 to 506, even though Joshua combines them together (in the prologue addressed to the real or fictional Sergius) under the theme of 'the punishments inflicted in our times on account of our sins'. In the main body of the work he weaves them into each other by inserting his account of the plague in Edessa between his account of the events leading up to the war and the outbreak of the war itself. Edessa is therefore the centrepiece of the section on famine and plague, while the other part is not 'about Edessa', but 'about the war'. When writing about Edessa Joshua frequently speaks of 'we' and 'us1, but never in the first person when writing of events elsewhere. However, the war of course also came to Edessa, and in describing the Persian siege of the city he again speaks of 'we'. The two parts are therefore not only linked by the theme of 'punishment' and 'distress', but also by the fact that the writer appears to be an eye-witness of events in Edessa. If these aspects help to give some unity to the work, on the other side there is a striking disunity in the utilisation, apparently quite deliberately, of two different literary genres, the 'chronicle' and the 'history'. The account of the famine and plague is a chronicle, the account of the war and its causes a history. Even though the narrative of the war is split by five year headings (A.G. 814-818 = 502-506 A. D.), the account is a continuous narrative, admittedly with a few chronological indications, but a continuous narrative which can be read through without the 17 Cf. J. B. Segal, Edessa, the 'Blessed City' (Oxford, 1970), pp. 62-109; S. K. Ross, Roman Edessa (London, 2001), pp. 117-138. Vol. XX 2006i

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year headings, offering a coherent and fundamentally 'secular' and largely non-miraculous exposition of events from Kawad's invasion to the peace treaty. The preceding section on the causes of the war is similarly continuous and secular, and in this case devoid of year headings and with minimal chronological indications. The intervening section on the miseries in Edessa of famine and plague is in the scheme of a chronicle, with the events recorded year by year under a lemma, sometimes with no obvious connection from one to the other.18 It is easy to understand why the different subject matter of the two parts would lead him to adopt two different literary genres. One of his subjects is local, and casting his account into the genre of a local chronicle is a natural way to deal with it, while the other is 'international' and military, the perfect subject for a classicising history. But there is perhaps also more to it than that. From the prologue we know that Joshua wishes to explain and instruct as well as record, and that in fact he has two kinds of explanation for the events he is going to recount, religious and secular. The terrible events of these years have come upon 'us' on account of sir., but the war was also caused by political circumstances, not those to do with Anastasius himself, but those that arose long ago. The form of the chronicle, where events just happen or, in Christian chronicles, are directly brought about 'from above' by God, is therefore appropriate to record the famine and plague in Edessa, which presumably no one is blaming on the emperor; indeed, the emperor, according to Joshua, indirectly brought them to an end by banning the dancers who performed at the 'sinful' festival responsible for them. The form of the history, however, is more suitable to record the war and its causes, as that is the genre which shows the organic development of one thing out of another. Joshua wished to trace the historical causes of the war to events long ago and rebul the notion that the blame for it should be laid on Anastasius. 19 18 The account of events leading up to the war comprises §§ 7-24, the famine and plague §§ 25-46a, and the war itself §§ 46b-100. Cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, pp. xii-xxi. 19 Cf. Watt, 'Greek Historiography and the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite', pp. 319-325. The Harp

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What, according to Joshua, were the political and thus historical causes of the war? They were various, and some of them have merited the serious consideration of modern scholars trying to explain the reason for the war, some not. Joshua tells of a number of things: the Persian refusal to return Nisibis to the Romans 120 years after its ceding in 363; an agreement between Romans and Persians to provide financial or military assistance to one another in event of war with a third party; the battles of Peroz against the Huns, ending in his death; the revolt of Illus and Leontius against Zeno in the time of Peroz; the failure and unpopularity of Balash, the successor of Peroz; the succession of Kawad, further revolts against him, the Isaurian revolt against Anastasius, and further demands of Kawad for money from Anastaius, which he refused; and finally the attempts in Persia to overthrow Kawad on account of his support of the sect of Zardushtakan, his restoration with the help of the Huns, and his buying off the revolts of Armenians and others by enlisting them in his projected war against the Romans. Perhaps Joshua's account of the causes can be condensed into the following: Nisibis: money lor Persian wars against the Huns; and the real or perceived weakness of each sovereign, in the ease of Kawad it being the unpopularity of the monarch with just about everyone in his kingdom together with the emptiness of his treasury and his dependence upon the Huns, while on the Roman side the 'faithful Anastasius' nevertheless had to contend with the aftermath of the revolt by Illus and Leontius and further revolts by the Isaurians. In the case of Nisibis Joshua's claim is nowhere else attested, but presumably it was believed in his environment, and the transfer of Nisibis always remained a sore spot among both Roman and Persian Syrians.20 On the second point, it may be the case that some sort of arrangement did exist, at least from the time of Peroz: how formal or binding that arrangement may have been is still a matter of controversy. Joshua was emphatic that money paid over to the Persians at various times was not paid as tribute, and this may be why he believed or wanted to believe that a formal treaty did exist from long ago, and therefore did not reflect badly on all the 'believing emperors' subsequent to Julian (from whose 20 Josh. Styl. § 7 Cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, Josua Stylites, p. 99-101, Vol. XX 2006

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time he appears to date this treaty).

O n the other hand, i f such a

treaty did exist, it does not put Anastasius in a g o o d moral light in refusing to c o m e up with the money. It is hard to evaluate, therefore, whether he is formalising a w e l l k n o w n informal arrangement, or whether he b e l i e v e d that such a f o r m a l treaty was really in force. 2 1 His third point, at least as regards the Persians, namely the desire o f K a w a d to maintain his hold on his fractious k i n g d o m and replenish his empty treasury, remains the f a v o u r e d modern explanation f o r the outbreak o f the war. 22

A further implication o f Joshua's account,

h o w e v e r , seems to be that a p e r c e i v e d disunity and rebelliousness in the R o m a n empire on the part o f the Persians was also a factor in K a w a d ' s decision to invade. 2 3

A n overture o f friendship towards

them by Illus and Leontius at the time o f their revolt is mentioned in Joshua (and n o w h e r e else), and plausibly leads one to suppose that at least Joshua thought the P e r s i a n s m a y h a v e seen therein a weakness f r o m which they could profit. 2 4 W h a t then o f the religious causes, and the sins f o r w h i c h the Edessenes w e r e being punished, first by f a m i n e and plague and subsequently by war? N e a r the outset o f the 'local chronicle' sec tion o f the work, the author asserts that the public and private sins o f the Edessenes w e r e numerous, but there is one 'public sin' w h i c h he mentions repeatedly throughout this part, and that is a festival in M a y which involved nocturnal lights and processions, dancing, placing candles along the river, and events in the theatre. Despite various warnings f r o m G o d , the Edessenes persisted in this ' w i c k e d pagan festival' which allegedly involved Greek my ths and riotous behaviour, and which lasted variously three or seven days in his account. 25 But in M a y 502, 'when the day on which that e v i l festival o f the G r e e k

21 Josh. Styl. § 8. Cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, pp. 8-9; Luther, Josua Stylites, pp. 101-108; G. Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, 502-532, ARCA 37 (Leeds, 1998), pp. 15-1:8. 2 2 Josh. Styl. §§ 9-11, 18-24; cf. Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, pp. 45-52, 76-78. 2 3 Josh. Styl. §§ 12-17, 20, 23. 24 Josh. Styl. § 15; cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, 25 Josh. Styl. §§ 27, 30, 33. The Harp

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myths was celebrated', 'an order came from the emperor Anastasius that the dancers should dance no more in any of the cities of his imperial domain'. Joshua asserts that looking at the outcome of these events, no one can criticise him for having said that the punishments of hunger and plague came upon 'us' because of the evil which the citizens committed at this festival: 'For consider this: less than thirty days after its abolition, wheat which had been selling at 4 modii per denarius was sold at 12, and barley which had been selling at 6, now sold at 22'.26 In other words, the effective abolition of the festival by Anastasius brought an end to the famine, according to Joshua. Now we know that in 501 during the festival of the Brytae in Constantinople there was such a riot that Anastasius abolished the festival and prohibited pantomine dancing. On the face of it, therefore, it seems quite possible that this riotous festival in Edessa which so enraged Joshua was an Edessan counterpart to the Brytae, particularly as both involved dancing, some sort of spectacle at the theatre, and water. The Antiochene Maiuma is the most frequently censored riotous and lewd festival known to us from the late antique period, and a number of features of the Maiuma-notably nocturnal lights, theatrical displays, and water-turn up in Joshua's account of the Edessan festival. Most importantly, the Maiuma and Joshua's festival were both held in May. It is possible that Joshua's festival was a traditional local Mesopotamian one, but the great Mesopotamia!! spring festivals, notably the Babylonian akitu and, according to the Syriac Acts of Sharbel the great (pre-Christian) festival in Edessa in honour of Bel and Nebo, occurred in April. Joshua's festival could therefore be the Maiuma. The Suda actually links the Brytae and the Maiuma, but scholars have mostly dismissed this, thinking there is not that much in common. However, if one puts all three together, namely the Brytae, the Maiuma and Joshua's festival, then the case for the Suda's linkage looks a great deal stronger. It may be that the Maiuma and the Brytae were indeed in essence the same festival, with local variations, and it is the form of this festival as it was celebrated in Edessa which so enraged Joshua. 27 26 Josh. Styl. § 46. ^ 27 The evidence for this hypothesis is set out in detail in G. Greatrex and J. W. Watt, 'One, Two or Three Feasts? The Brytae, the Maiuma and Vol. XX 2006:

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Far from being a cause of the Edessenes' troubles, Anastasius was therefore their saviour in Joshua's eyes, in compulsorily saving them from their sins at the festival. This granted them a breathing space before the next set of punishments from God, this time struck by means of the 'Assyrian rod of anger'.28 If the sins responsible for famine and plague were now no more, what then were the sins responsible on the religious level for the sufferings of the war? The author is considerably more coy about them. 'Because', he says, 'even the rulers were involved in them, I do not intend to specify these sins, lest I give an opportunity to those who love to criticise to say against us that I am speaking against the rulers.' However, he gives us a clue. 'In order not to leave the matter completely hidden, because I promised earlier on to show you [the real or fictitious Sergius] from whence the war was stirred up against us, and in order not to say anything further against the arrogant, I shall simply put down a word of a prophet, from which you will understand what I mean.' Joshua's original readers may have got the point, but it is far from clear today. The word of the prophet is Isaiah 45, 10: 'Alas for him who says to his father, "What are you begetting?" or to his mother, "What are you bearing?"' 29 One way of approaching this mystery might be to look again at the Edessan background. If Joshua was greatly upset by the nonChristian festival in May, that would suggest that there was still considerable friction in Edessa between those who adhered to preChristian pagan customs-even though they may have become Christians-and those who wanted to make the city more obviously Christian. In the religious sphere, what other friction was around? Most obviously, the disputes between rival church parties over Christology, to which I referred earlier. The patriarch of Antioch at the May Festival at Edessa', Oriens Christianus 83 (1999), pp. 1-21. Luther, Josua Stylites, pp. 152-153 supports the connection of Joshua's Edessan feast with the Brytae, but contests the association with the Maiuma. Ross, Roman Edessa, p. 100 mentions the possibility of the Maiuma, but appears rather to favour the view that the festival represents the remnant of an astral cult. 28 Josh. Styl. § 5. 29 Josh, Styl. § 46. The Harp

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the time was Flavian, whom Joshua designates 'the holy, pious, divinely-adorned, valiant and glorious Mar Flavian'.30 Joshua never mentions the disputes over Christology, but in connection with the May festival Philoxenus makes an appearance in Joshua's text. According to Joshua, during its celebration in 498 Philoxenus, an 'alumnus' of the School of Edessa, was for some unknown reason back in the city, and although, according to Joshua, 'more than any others he is supposed to take on himself the labour of teaching, he did not speak with them about this matter for more than a day'.31 This sounds like damning with faint praise, and stands in slark contrast to the warm description of Flavian. Why was Joshua so unenthusiastic about Philoxenus, and in particular was it because of Philoxenus' campaign against Flavian? Philoxenus' 'war' against Flavian extended in essence over the entire period of the latter's patriarchate (498512), though it only became critical from 508 onwards.32 Joshua seems to have been written very soon after the end of the Persian war in 506,33 so it may be that his cold attitude to Philoxenus was not motivated by the latter's attacks on Flavian. Nevertheless, from an earlier date Philoxenus' strident campaigning against Chaicedon and dyophysite Christoiogy would have been well known, not least in Edessa, where he might still have been remembered as a renegade pupil of the School of the Persians and, if he indeed had some part in its closure, have been viewed with some suspicion and distrust by those whose prime concern was peace and unity. The suggestion has therefore been made that the mysterious sins which Joshua declines to identify by name were those of ecclesiastical infighting, and the 'arrogant rulers' whom he does not wish to offend are church leaders and abbots who engage in this violent controversy.34 This is an interesting attempt to penetrate a very obscure text, and could 30 Josh. Styl. § 83. 31 Josh. Styl. § 30. 32 Cf. de Halleux, Philoxene, pp. 55-64. 33 Cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, pp. xxviii-xxix. 34 Cf. A. N. Palmer, 'Who wrote the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite?', in R. Schulz and M. Gorg (eds.), Lingua Restituta Orientalis. Festschrift fur Julius Assfaig, Agypten und Altes Testament 20 (Wiesbaden, 1990), pp. 272-284, esp. pp. 279-281, 283. Vol. XX 200ti

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well be on the mark. Against it stands the reasonable supposition that if these controversies had been of such great concern to Joshua, they would have been mentioned more frequently, and I therefore incline to the view that what disturbed him was probably something more akin to the festival, i.e. something which he interpreted as pagan even if it was practised by Christians. In the passage of Isaiah which Joshua cites, the text goes on to speak of the Holy One of Israel denouncing Bel and Nebo and telling the Israelites to ask of him a sign concerning his children. Joshua then goes on to speak of a sign that appeared in the night sky. Possibly, therefore, he was upset by the practice of astrology, which he interpreted as continuing reverence for Bel and Nebo, and found this practice to be especially common among the 'rulers'. 35 The fact remains, however, that he greatly admired Anastasius and Flavian, but not Philoxenus. When the war finally reaches the gates of Edessa, however, it is not the sins of the city but its blessing by Christ which comes to the fore. The promise to Abgar that the city would r e m a i n unconquered is cited several times in the text of Joshua, but it is at the Persian siege of Edessa that on the 17th (of September 503) we saw Christ's words and promises lo Abgar being fulfilled in practice'. 36 The account of the siege of Edessa, with the defensive preparations, the tortuous but ultimately failed negotiations between the Roman commander Areobindus and the Persians, and the fighting outside the city walls are presumably an eye-witness account of what happened, Joshua is also wel! informed about Arab affairs, and asserts that one of the tribal chiefs of Al-Hira warned Nu'man not to go against Edessa on account of the promise of Christ to Abgar of its invincibility. At this Nu'man's head wound is said to have swelled up when he blasphemed and after two days he died. 37 His successor 35 Cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, pp. xix-xx. The 'rulers' were probably the cuñales or decuriones, the 'city councillors'. Palmer, 'Who wrote Joshua the Stylite', p. 277 and n. 23 takes them to be ' a b b o t s ' , in a c c o r d with his t h e o r y that the c r i t i c i s m refers to ecclesiastical controversy. 36 Josh. Styl. § 60; cf. §§ 5, 36, 58. 37 Josh. Styl. § 58; cf. Luther, Josua Stylites, p. 193, and Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, p. 72. The Harp

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w a s A b u Ya'fur, to w h o m P h i l o x e n u s m a y h a v e written d u r i n g the war. 3 8

J o s h u a ' s a c c o u n t of the w a r has f e w m i r a c l e s , a p a r t f r o m

w h a t h e o b v i o u s l y s a w to b e entirely c o m p r e h e n s i b l e c o n s e q u e n c e s of the p r o m i s e to A b g a r (i.e. the s a f e t y of E d e s s a a n d the d e a t h of N u ' m a n ) . T h e b i g e x c e p t i o n is p e r h a p s t h e ' m i r a c u l o u s egg' laid by a goose on which were inscribed the words 'The R o m a n s will conquer', but h e is clearly d i f f i d e n t a b o u t reporting this and c l a i m s to 'put d o w n the v e r y w o r d s of the letter w h i c h c a m e to us, lest it a p p e a r that I a m s a y i n g s o m e t h i n g o n m y o w n a c c o u n t or that I have b e e n p e r s u a d e d to g i v e c r e d e n c e to a f a l s e report'."'

Whatever

else, this report a p p e a r s to s u p p o r t the c o n t e n t i o n thai he w a s keen to e m p l o y local s o u r c e s (in this case, as h e says, 'a letter f r o m the p e o p l e of the c h u r c h of Z e u g m a ' ) a n d h a d a c c e s s to t h e m . T h i s is also c o n f i r m e d b y his s t a t e m e n t that a f t e r the f a l l of A m i d the cities east of the E u p h r a t e s w e r e in t u r m o i l and p e o p l e were p r e p a r e d to f l e e w e s t w a r d s , but 'the r e s p e c t e d J a c o b , the p e r i o d e u t c s ... w r o t e letters of e x h o r t a t i o n to all thé cities e n c o u r a g i n g t h e m to trust in d i v i n e s a l v a t i o n a n d n o t to f l e e ' . 4 0

W e c a n in all p r o b a b i l i t y

c o r r o b o r a t e this assertion, b e c a u s e a m o n g the extant letters of J a c o b of S a r u g t h e r e is o n e w h i c h s e e m s likely to b e that to w h i c h J o s h u a refers. U n f o r t u n a t e l y its b e g i n n i n g is lost, but the extant text begins w i t h a r e f e r e n c e to the p r o m i s e to A b g a r a n d the w h o l e letter a r g u e s against flight f r o m E d e s s a , such b e i n g interpreted by J a c o b as a sign of a lack of f a i t h in that p r o m i s e . T h e p r e s u p p o s i t i o n is clearly the threat of an e n e m y g a i n i n g control of E d e s s a , a n d it t h u s looks to h a v e b e e n written to s t r e n g t h e n the r e s o l v e of the E d e s s e n e s . and m a y b e others also, at the t i m e of the Persian i n v a s i o n . J a c o b m a k e s c l e a r that m a n y w e r e i n d e e d t e m p t e d to f l e e a n d p r e s e n t s their justification for d o i n g so as based on J e r e m i a h 1 8 , 7 - 1 0 : 'If i suddenly d e c l a r e c o n c e r n i n g a p e o p l e a n d a k i n g d o m that I will c a u s e to build and plant and it p r e f e r s evil first and does not listen to m y word, 1 will turn f r o m it the g o o d w h i c h I h a d p r o m i s e d to d o to it'. S o now, they g o on, w e are a f r a i d lest it s h o u l d h a p p e n to us like this, a n d that 38 Cf. de Halleux, Phiioxène, pp. 203-208. 39 Josh. Styl. §§ 67-68. 40 Josh. Styl. § 54.

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because of our sins the promise of Christ to Abgar should be dissolved. Jacob argues, however, that the prophet's word is designed to make men flee from their sins, not flee from place to place, and that the promise to Abgar is secure, like the promise to Noah. According to Jacob God promised to Noah that he would not again chastise humanity by flood, and that promise is secure, but he did not promise that he would not chastise man in some other way. Similarly, the Edessenes may be punished, but not by the fall of the city to an enemy. This is written to a beloved Dignitary 'in order that you may scorn those who flee and encourage those who remain'.41 Joshua, it would appear, was not the only one in Edessa and the region to interpret the war as a punishment for sin; if he heard or read Jacob's letter while sitting in Edessa awaiting the Persian assault, it may well have been a contributory factor to his decision subsequently to write about the war. Might Joshua even have known both Jacob and Philoxenus if both had been students together at the School of the Persians?42 At any rate, Jacob appears to have been a moderate and tolerant miaphysite, like Joshua, and of a more peaceable nature than Philoxenus. Peace with the Persians came in 506, but not peace between miaphysites and Chalcedonians. Joshua's work ends on a mighty rhetorical climax with Celer (the magister officiorum) being sent on his way by the citizens of Edessa with songs fitting for him and the emperor who had sent him. after which the author turns again to 'Sergius' in a brief epilogue anticipating a great change in the world and looking forward to a time of great blessing. Between the two there is an interpolated sentence: 'Even if this emperor seemed to act differently at the end of his life, let no one make difficulty over his praises, but let him remember what was done by Solomon in the closing period of his life'.43 This was clearly written after Anastasius' death, whereas everything points to 'Joshua' having been written 41 Jacob of Sarug, ep. 20, ed. G. Olinder, lacobi Sarugensis epistulae quotquot supersunt, Corpus Scripto rum Christianorum Orientalium 110 (Paris-Louvain, 1937), pp. 129-135. 42 Cf. de Halleux, Philoxène, p. 30. 43 Josh. Styl. §§ 100-101. The Harp

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during his reign. It looks very much as if an interpolator with a viewpoint close to that of Joshua is here defending Anastasius' strong turn to the miaphysites in 512. 44 In 512 Philoxenus and his supporters finally got their way: Flavian was deposed and replaced by Severus. 45 Like the aged Solomon led astray by his foreign wives (1 Kings 11, 4), Anastasius succumbed to the determined anti-Chalcedonians. Like the wars with the Persians, the ecclesiastical battles went on for another century until the loss of the eastern provinces to the Arabs in the time of Heraclius.

4 4 Cf. Trombley and Watt, Pseudo-Joshua, 4 5 Cf. de Halleux, Philoxene, Vol. XX 2006

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Holy M a r Subhalmaran on: "The eighth gift, which is the pure and perfect fast of those w h o belong to Our Lord, and like that which those of old time undertook and Our Lord perfected by conquest of His adversary" (continuedfrom page... 274) "Then Our Lord went from the place of the first contest to another place, following the earnest desire of that impudent creature, as a man wanders about in his own room. He however had got there before him, and prepared a contest harsher than the first. This was the love of worldly goods. And he took him to the top of a mountain, and showed him all the splendid things of the world, and their magnificence. 'Do you see all these things which belong to this magnificent world given to me? To you will I give it all, if you bow your neck and worship me'. For the rebel was allowed at that time to construct in this way delusions and deceptive images, and to show them in splendour after the fashion of his desire. He also collected great forces of demons, companions of his revolt and his will. From them and by them, and even out of air, he used to construct and demonstrate every kind of fantasy, in order to complete his deception. He was seen, as it were in a counterfeit glory, as king of kings and god over all. What then did Our Lord give him in reply to all these things? 'It is written that you are to worship the Lord your God, and him only you are to serve. How then can I worship you?' So then he was thrown into confusion and put to silence. The limbs of his devices, with which he used to circle around in order to deceive all, gave way. So Our Lord left him in shame, and went off from there to an inhabited place". (continued in page... 332)

TheHarp^

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Dietmar W. Winkler

VATICAN II AND

E C U M E N I S M AFTER

FORTY YEARS:

WHENCE HAVE W E COME WHERE ARE W E GOING? The Second Vatican Council - opened under Pope John XXIII (1958-63) in 1962 and closed by Pope Paul VI (1963-78) in 1965-is without doubt the most remarkable event in the history of the Catholic Church in the 20th century. Furthermore it had an enormous influence outside the institutional bounds of the Roman Catholic Church. The Council marked a turning point of church renewal such that Austrian Cardinal Franz Konig (1905-2004), a leading figure at the Second Vatican Council, identified "four trail-blazing, creative and lasting stimuli'" that had set Vatican II in motion. In an article published in December 2002, Konig named, first, the impressive universality of the Church as more than 2,500 Fathers of the Council became an image of the Church's multi-cultural and global character. The Catholic Church laid aside its "European attire," which also awakened it to liturgical renewal. Second, the Council's support of ecumenism became an important commitment. The third

1

Cardinal Franz König, "It must be the Holy Spirit", in: The Tablet, 21 December 2002.

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breakthrough was the emphasis on the lay apostolate as the Council insisted that all of the baptized are members of the People of God and that all share responsibility for the life, mission and ministries of the Church. Finally, König's fourth point, the Council brought a revolutionary approach in the relationship between the Church and the non-Christian religions, especially Judaism. In fact, in the eyes of Cardinal König the Nostra Aetate, the briefest of all the Council's declarations, is probably the most important. From the beginning, it was the emphasis of Pope John XXIII to bring the Church up to date, expressed in the Italian word aggiomamento, which became central to the Council's work. He wanted to open the windows of the Church, not only that those inside might see out and those outside see in, but to let in fresh and new air. To understand correctly what happened at Vatican II and to appreciate the developments and advances of the last forty years, we have to look into the time before Vatican II. 1. On the w a y to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) The announcement by Pope John XIII in the week of prayer for Christian unity (1959) did not find the Catholic Church unprepared. This can easily be demonstrated in the fields of systematic theology, liturgy and biblical studies. a. Theology: Re-reading its biblical, patristic, and historical sources the developments of Catholic Theology of the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century showed enormous progress and vitality. Let me just name some German, English and French theologians like Johann Adam Möhler (+ 1838), John Henry Newman (+ 1890), Karl Rahner SJ (+ 1984), Hans Urs von Balthasar (+ 1988), Henri de Lubac SJ (+ 1991), and Yves Congar OP (+ 1995). b. Liturgy. In the same time the liturgical movement, which has its roots in France and Lhe Benedictine tradition, focused on liturgical renewal. The movement was nourished in the 20lh century by the thought of German and Austrian liturgiologists. Famous are the works of Odo Casel OSB (+ 1948), Romano Guardini (+ 1968), Pius Parsch (+ 1954), and Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ (+ 1975). Virgil Michel The Harp

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OSB (+ 1938) of St. John's in Collegeville, Minnesota, is given credit for bringing the liturgical movement to the United States in 1925. c. Biblical Studies'. The 18th century and first part of the 19th century was a period of virtual stagnation in Catholic biblical studies, and the entire field was dominated almost completely by non-Catholic Scripture scholarship. However, the 20th century saw an amazing rise and improvement of Catholic biblical studies, in exegetical methods, biblical theology and translations. At that time Catholic scholars had gained a lot from Protestant scholarship. But there developed a Bible movement that had encompassed both biblical scholars and the faithful of the Catholic Church since the First World War. Often allied to the previous mentioned liturgical movement, in his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu (1943) Pope Pius XII (1939-58) declared himself an advocate of a historical and scientific study of the Bible. Furthermore, the "Una Sancta" movement, founded by the German ecumenical and peace visionary Catholic priest Max Josef Metzger (executed in Brandenburg-Görden in 1944)V became increasingly widespread.3 It developed before, during and especially after the Second World War. Through such, the ecumenical movement had an input to the Catholic Church which hardly can be underestimated. While Vatican II was announced a decade after the inaugural assembly of the World Council of Churches in A m s t e r d a m (1948), 4 there were deep patters of theological exchange and dispute that fostered both developments. The first half of the 20th century saw a defensive move on the part of the official Catholic Church to the ecumenical movement that had developed among Protestant and Orthodox Christians. In the 1920s the Vatican declined to cooperate with the Life and Work 2

Cf. Ralf Putz, Das Christkönigs-Institut, Meitingen, und sein Gründer Dr. Max Josef Metzger (1887- 1944):\Fürden Frieden der Welt und die Einheit der Kirche. Hamburg 1998.

3

Cf. among others: Leonard Swidler, The Ecumenical Pittsburgh 1965.

4

Cf. Willem A. Ökumenischen Ökumenischen George Tarvard,

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movement. Theologically more serious was the Encyclical of Pope Pius XI (1922-39) Mortalium Animos (1928), a reaction to the first World Conference of Faith and Order (Lausanne 1927),6 in which the Pope identified Faith and Order as an indifferent panChristian movement where the truth would suffer by fraternal agreements on certain points of the Christian doctrine (Mortalium Animos 2). At that time the Roman Catholic Church did not have to define the nature of the Church, as her character was assumed rather than debated. It had been its self-understanding that the Roman Catholic Church alone is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ and confessed in the ancient creeds. Among Christians outside the Roman Catholic Church there was a great bitterness and a reaction of disappointment.7 In 1948. just before the foundation of the World Council of Churches, the Holy See issued the Monitum Cum Compertum drawing attention to the Canon Law8 which prohibits "mixed meetings" without previous permission. Thus it became clear that official permission to attend the Assembly of the WCC in Amsterdam was not accorded by the Holy See to any Roman Catholic. The doctrine of strict identity of the Church with the Roman Catholic Church found its continuation with the encyclicals of the following Pope Pius XII (1939-58), Mystici corporis (1949) and Humaivi generis (1950). However, there began to develop an important nuance. We have to recall that it is generally thought in the 5

Cf. Nils Karlström, "Movements for International Friendship and Life and Work, 1910-1925", in: Ruth Rouse-Stephen Charles Neill (eds.), A History of the Ecumenical Movement 1517-1948. 2nd ed. Philadelphia 1967, 539f.

6

Cf. Tissington Tatlow, "The World Conference on Faith and Order", in: ibid. 405-444.

7

Cf. Oliver Stratford Tomkins, "The Roman Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Movement 1910-1948", in: ibid. 677-693; Heinrich Petri, "Die römisch-katholische Kirche und die Ökumene", in: Hans Jörg Urban - Harald Wagner (eds.), Handbuch der Ökumenik. Vol. 2. Paderborn 1986, 95-168.

8

Cf. CIC 1917 can 1325 § 3. Since 1983 the Catholic Church has a new Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC), which was developed on the basis of Vatican II.

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Western Church since the 4 century that baptism - even "heretical baptism" - with water in the Triune Name and with a true intention makes the baptized, in a certain sense, a member of the Church. 9 This becames again evident in the encyclicals of Pope Pius XII who recognized that the recipient of such a baptism does not come under the condemnation of the "extra ecclesiam nulla salus" (outside the Church no salvation) - the famous phrase taken from Cyprian of Carthage 10 . In his encyclical Sempiternus rex (1951) to mark the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Chalcedon (451), Pius XII addressed the non-Chalcedonian Churches, writing that "all those who are signed with the sacred character of baptism [...1 cannot remain disunited and dispersed" (Sempiternus rex 41). There is no doubt that Pius XII still identifies the Church of Jesus Christ with the Roman Catholic Church, but at the same time he paved the way for Vatican II. Although no official Catholic representatives attended the Amsterdam Conference of 1948, Catholic observers with the approval of the Holy See were present at the meetings of the WCC in Edinburgh (1937) and Lund (1952). In the same year, 1952, an international circle of Catholic theologians was set up to handle questions of ecumenical nature and to inform the World Council of Churches what the Catholic doctrine in reference to these vital questions is . In the fall of 1958, Msgr. Jan Willebrands of the Netherlands became the first Catholic theologian to leach at the Ecumenical Institute of the WCC at Bossey." It was the same Msgr. Willebrands who, with three other Catholic priests, attended the meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1960 as observers. Taking these movements of the official Catholic Church into consideration as well as the aforementioned Catholic theological, 9

Cf. The 4lh century controversy between the Churches; of North Africa (Cyprian of Carthage, + 258) and Rome (Pope Stephen, + 257), the decision of the Council of Aries (314), Augustin (+ 430) and the Donatists etc.

10 Cyprian, Epistula 73, 21: "salus extra ecciesiam non est." 11 Its worth to read Jan Willebrands, Mandatum Ökumene. Paderborn 1989. Vol. XX 2006

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liturgical, and biblical developments it becomes clear that the atmosphere and the context was well prepared for the decisive step, Vatican II. In that sense we have a fundamental continuity from the pre- to the post-Vatican II era. There was a need for reform and the tools for reform were ready to get used. The decision of Pope John XXIII to summon a Council made it possible that the Catholic Church could make use of this already existing context for its renewal. 2. The Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) at Vatican II From the beginning, the reunion of the separated brethren was closely connected to the inner renewal of the Catholic Church which was the announced aim of the Council. John XXIII had been a papal diplomat for a number of years in Turkey and Bulgaria. For several decades he had the personal experience of divided Christianity. 12 He had close contacts with Orthodox Churches and it was at the pope's insistence that non-Catholic observers were officially invited to the Council. Ten commissions had been formed to prepare draft decrees to be debated at the Council. In 1960, two and a half years before Vatican II opened. Pope John established the Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity and authorized it to take part in the preparatory work of the Council, so that the drafted documents would take into account the truly ecumenical spirit. The Pope appointed as its first president, the German Jesuit Cardinal Augustin Bea, the former rector of the prestigious .Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He was assisted by Msgr. Jan Willcbrands. Pope John XXIII and Cardinal Bea can be seen as the two key catalysts for ecumenical renewal at Vatican 11. Bea's role at the Council cannot be rated highly enough as he and his secretariat look over the responsibility for inviting and looking after the non-Catholic observers, who played an increasingly influential role at Vatican II.13 12 Cf. Werner Becker, "Decree on Ecumenism: History of the Decree", in: Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II. Vol 2. Ed. Herbert Vorgrimler. Freiburg-Montreal 1968, 2ff. 13 Cf. Stjepan Schmidt, Augustin Bea: The Cardinal of Unity. Hyde Park, NY 1992; Gudrun Griesmayr, Die eine Kirche und die eine Welt: Die The Harp!

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Although Pope John's intention to find a Catholic way to true ecumenism was clear, the process from the first drafts of the document in 1961 to the promulgation of the final text in 1964 was difficult. 14 All the bishops had been educated and trained in the traditional Catholic system; at the beginning of the Council many bishops were not able to think ecumenically. However, even the death of Pope John XXIII and the election of a new Pope, Paul VI, in 1963 could not stop the lively and exceedingly fruitful debate. Paul VI continued the reforms of his predecessor and reconvened the Second Vatican Council. At the end of the third session of Vatican II (November 1964) the Catholic Church had officially broken new ground and "made the intentions of the ecumenical movement its own, whereas only a few years ago in many countries it seemed to be the affair of only a few pioneers." 15 In the final vote on November 21, 1964, there were 2137 votes for the decree {placet) and only 11 against it (non placet).16 3. The Theology of the Decree on Ecumenism The Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio (UR) refers already in its very first paragraph to the ecumenical movement in a positive way (UR 1). It encourages Catholics to join in prayer with their separated brethren (UR 7), to rediscover the richness of the traditions, to acquire a more adequate understanding of the respective doctrines of the separated Churches, their history, their spiritual and liturgical life, their religious psychology and general background (UR 9), to teach theology from an ecumenical point of view (UR 10) and to dialogue (UR 11). The Council regards spiritual ecumenism as the heart of ecumenism: "There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without a change of heart" (UR 7). ökumenische Vision Kardinal Augustin Beas. Bern-Berlin et al. 1997; Augustin Bea, Der Ökumenismus im Konzil. Vienna 1969; Idem., Ecumeniom in focus. 1969; Idem., Die Einheit der Christen: Probleme und Prinzipien, Hindernisse und Mittel, Verwirklichung und Aussichten. 2. Aufl. Freiburg 1963. 14

Cf. Becker, Decree on Ecumenism 4-56.

15

Ibid. 56.

16

Ibid.

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But let me focus on some of the important theological breakthroughs of the Decree. With the Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, and the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church Lumen Gentium (LG), the Catholic Church overcame its narrow postTridentine Counter-Reformation understanding of the Church. The background was a return to the biblical, patristic and early-medieval tradition, which opened the way to this renewed understanding. a. "subsistit in" The main doctrinal basis of the decree is the teaching on the Church in the Constitution Lumen Gentium. The two documents stand in a unique relationship to each other. While ii is clear "thai the Decree on Ecumenism should be interpreted by means of the doctrine of the Constitution on the Church, the reverse is also true: the doctrine of the Constitution on the Church must be read in the light of this decree." 1 " In the Constitution of the Church Lumen Gentium: The Council could embrace the ecumenical movement, because it did not interpret the Church as a static entity any more, nor as a perfect, independent society that controls the spirituality and liturgy of its members. The Council sees the Church as the sacrament of union with God, and as a sign of the unity of the whole human race (LG 1). The Church as a whole is a movement, the wandering People of God (LG 917). In other words: the Church is a dynamic entity on the pilgrimage between the biblical '"already": and the eschatological "'not yet". This leads to an ecclesiological clarification of the Second Vatican Council: While the Catholic Church had strictly identified herself with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, the decree on Ecumenism presupposes a concept of the Church that is nuanced differently from this traditional identification. At Vatican II the Church is presented as a mystery which is in her essence a divine reality. Therefore the Church is greater than her actual historical manifestation and institutional form. The Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium solemnly acknowledges thai the Holy Spirit is truly active in churches and communities separated from 17 Johannes Feiner, "Commentary on the Decree", in: Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, 57. The Harp:

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303 VATICAN HAND ECUMENISM AFTER FORTY YEARS.. itself. The crucial paragraph is Lumen Gentium 8. There it does not say that the Church of Jesus Christ "is" (est) the Catholic Church, but that the Church of Jesus Christ "subsists in" (subsistit in) the Catholic Church: "[...] This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity." (LG 8)

In the course of the Council the subsistit in took the place of the previous est. Further it did not only say that there are individual Christians found outside the Catholic Church, but also "elements of the church" (elementa ecclesiae). This concept now means, that the Catholic Church still sees herself as the concrete historical form of the Church of Jesus Christ, but at the same time she turns away from ecclesiastical triumphalism, and establishes a relationship of dialogue with other churches and ecclesial communities. 18 b. imperfect communion The fundamental ecclesiological idea of Vatican II is the one of "communion" (communio). While the expression "elements of the Church" gives a quantitative impression, as though one could count these together and when completed, we have the whole Church. The ecclesiology of communion and the Decree on Ecumenism does not see the separated churches as quantitatively determined, but each as an integral whole. The Council acknowledges that all who have the sacrament of faith and have been baptized are members of the Body of Christ. They all have the right to be called Christian. Thus, the Catholic Church recognizes sacramentality outside its very bounds: "... For men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this communion is imperfect."(UR 3) 18 Cf. Cardinal Walter Kasper, "The Ecumenism Decree - read anew after 40 years". Paper given at the Conference of the Pontifical Council for P r o m o t i n g C h r i s t i a n U n i t y on the 40 th a n n i v e r s a r y of the promulgation of the Conciliar Decree Unitatis Redintegratio. R o c c a di Papa, Italy, November 2004.

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It is the work of ecumenism to re-discover our unity. The Decree on Ecumenism states that the Church is "both signified and made a reality" (UR 2) by the sacrament of the Eucharist. This reflects the Constitution on the Church which clearly states that every local Church celebrating the Eucharist is church in the full sense, although it is not the whole Church. The Catholic Church takes the already existing partial communion or unity with other Churches or ecclesial communities as its starting point on the way to full communion. This concept does not allow any absorption or fusion but the realization of all the gifts which local or denominational churches can contribute to the one communio. c. hierarchy of truths Methodologically the Decree distinguishes between the deposit of faith itself and its formulation (UR 6). The truth cannot be changed, but the doctrine can be the same in substance and meaning under different formulations. This makes possible a re-interpretation of dogmatic formulations in accordance with their intention rather than their formulations. A specifically helpful idea for theological dialogue is expressed in UR 11: "Moreover, in ecumenical dialogue, Catholic theologians [...,] when comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists a "hierarchy" of truths, since they van- in their relation to the fundamental Christian faith." This is not a concept that identifies "secondary" or "tertiary" features of Catholic doctrine and practice19, such as the popular veneration of saints, indulgences, or in some places excesses in Catholic Marian devotions. Rather, the "hierarchy of truth" goes back to a patristic principle only to include into the creed those truth or articles of faith which were most important. The awareness of such a hierarchy has been always present in the Church, since some doctrines play a decisive role in the understanding of the faith, such as the doctrines of the trinity and the incarnation. However, the hierarchy cannot be arbitrarily determined. The Decree clearly says that this hierarchy depends on a relationship to 19 Cf. Feiner, Commentary on the Decree 118. The Harp

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305 VATICAN II AND ECUMENISM AFTER FORTY YEARS.. the foundation of Christian faith. The criterion is the closeness to the mystery of Christ and not the degree to which it is theologically binding or the solemnity of its promulgation. The Decree is not neglecting truths of faith. It clearly states that the faith as a whole should be kept in mind and that attention should be paid to the centre of the Christian faith, while all other truths should be evaluated in the light of the fundamental truths of faith. This is, by the way, an excellent example of the theological methodology of the Council.

d. Churches and Ecclesial Communions Confident in its own ecclesiality the Roman Catholic Church speaks about "separated" Churches, moreover the Council makes a distinction between Churches and Ecclesial Communities separated from the Roman Catholic Church (UR 13-24). This is the result of a theological and historical reflection on the ecclesiology of communion. A distinction is made between the Church division of the East and the West, and the division within the West as a result of the Reformation of the 16lh century. These divisions are identified as different in their nature. Special consideration is given to the Eastern Christian Churches both the Oriental-Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine tradition. The different forms of liturgy, theology and spirituality are seen as an enrichment. The Decree does not deny the various theological and non-theological factors involved in the divisions, but it does not hesitate to call the Orthodox Churches as Churches in the full sense. The Decree declares the full validity and saving power of the celebration of the Eucharist in the Eastern Churches: "The Eastern Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments and above all, by apostolic succession, the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are linked with us in closest intimacy. Therefore some worship in common (communicatio in sacris), given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not only possible but to be encouraged." (UR 15) What a sentence! And after forty years we are far away from a communicatio in sacris. However, this paragraph makes clear Vol. XX 20061

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w h y the C a t h o l i c C h u r c h r e g a r d s the E a s t e r n C h u r c h e s as "Churches": it is the Episcopal structure in apostolic succession and the sacramental-eucharistic structure. That is why the Orthodox Churches are described as "sister churches" (UR 14) as an essential quality of ecclesiological nature. 20 For restoration of full communion the decree suggests the consideration of the character of the relations between the Churches before the separation (UR 14), the recognition of legitimate differences (UR 15), and the acceptance that differences are complementary rather than conflicting (UR 17). The divisions in the West, that started towards the end of the Middle Ages, are of a different nature. The Decree refers to the complex theological and historical situation of the Church divisions in the West. These Churches and Ecclesial Communities ''van/ considerably not only with us, but also among themselves..." (UR 19). However, the Decree states that we are linked together "as a result of the long centuries in which all Christendom lived together in ecclesial communion" (UR 19) as well as by faith in Christ, the reverence of the Sacred Scripture and by the Sacrament of Baptism (UR 21-22). Clear and at the same time sensitive the Decree formulates: "[...] we believe they have not retained the proper reality of the eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Orders, nevertheless when they commemorate His death and resurrection in the Lord's Supper, they profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and look fonv;ird to His coming in glory Therefore the teaching concerning the Lord's Supper, the other sacraments, worship, the ministry of the Church, must be the subject of the dialogue" (UR 22). The Decree on Ecumenism sees a real difference in the concept of the Church. From the Catholic point of view this is best expressed in the sense of Eucharistic ecclesiologyr 1 As the Catholic Church interprets apostolic succession as an Episcopal succession rather than a presbyterial succession, it identifies a lack of Eucharistic reality and. thus calls the Protestant Churches "ecclesial communities". 20 A m o n g o t h e r s cf. E m m a n u e l L a n n e , " S c h w e s t e r k i r c h e n Ekklesiologische Aspekte des Tomos Agapis", in: Auf dem Weg zur Einheit des Glaubens. Ed. Pro Oriente.,Innsbruck-Vienna 1976, 54-82. 21 Among the many works written on the ecclesiology of Vatican II one could mention: Hans Jorg Urban, "Katholische Ekklesiologie nach

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The Decree on Ecumenism was the basis for a new beginning. It influenced the Catholic Church itself and profoundly changed the ecumenical situation in the course of the last forty years. In his important encyclical Ut Unum Sint (1995), Pope John Paul II (19782005) states clearly that at "the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church committed herself irrevocably to following the path of the ecumenical venture" (UUS 3). The Ecumenical Directory, published in two parts (1967 and 1970), was to direct, coordinate and develop the ecumenical effort of the Catholic Church. (A new edition was published in 1993.) Besides the Directory, numerous other documents that have a bearing on ecumenism have been published by competent authorities. A new Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church (1983) and a Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1990) included ecumenical matters as well as The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), which includes the ecumenical dimension as part of the basic teaching for all the faithful of the Church. The Catholic ecumenical engagement after Vatican II happened on various levels: local, regional, global as well as in unofficial and official dialogues, both bilateral and multilateral. While it is impossible to mention all the results, activities, cooperations, ecumenical initiatives, etc., let me refer to a few important consequences of the Decree on Ecumenism: The Catholic Church is a full member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. Thus it is in theological dialogue with all the 340 member Churches and collaborates closely with the WCC as such by means of a Joint Working Group.22 The still most important document of this dialogue 'Mysterium Ecclesiae': Ein abgeschlossener Lernprozeß?" in: Ökumenische Rundschau 23 (1974) 62-75; Jean M.R. Tillard, Le Concile Vatican II: Son Eglise, son peuple de Dieu et corps du Christ. Paris 1984; Josef Ratzinger, Das neue Volk Gottes: Entwürfe zur Ekklesiologie. Düsseldorf 1977; Idem., „Die Ekklesiologie des Zweiten Vatikanums", in: Communio 1 (1986) 41-52; Walter Kasper, Theology and Church. New York 1989 etc. 22 Cf. Catherine Clifford, The Joint Working Group between the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church: Historical and Vol. XX 2006

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process, the Lima text on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry was predominantly positively evaluated by the Catholic Church.23 The Catholic Church has become a member of many regional or local Councils of Churches. Topics and results are determined by the various contexts. For example: In Austria this collaboration resulted not only in an excellent inter-church atmosphere, but also in significant social-political work. In the Middle East Council of Churches the common concern of the emigration of Christians and the dialogue with Islam are major issues, while the Massachusetts Council of Churches is constantly attentive to public policy issues, currently integrates Eastern Christian Churches and reaches out to African-American Churches. 24 An intense dialogue of love with exchange of visits and common prayer changed the atmosphere after Vatican II. The Catholic Church started a whole series of official international bilateral dialogues, among them with: The Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Malankara Churches, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the World Methodist Council, the Baptist World Alliance, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), some Pentecostal groups, the Assyrian Church of the East and most recently with the whole Ecclesiological Perspectives. Fribourg 1987; Thomas F. Stransky, "A Basis beyond the Basis: Roman Catholic/World Council of Churches Collaboration", in: The Ecumenical Review 28 (1985) 213-222; Basil Meeking, "Die Beziehungen zwischen der römisch-katholischen Kirche und dem Ökumenischen Rat der Kirchen: Die Erfahrung von 20 Jahren", in: Ökumenische Rundschau 27 (1978) 314-324; Konrad Raiser, „Mehr als Zusammenarbeit? Aspekte der A r b e i l der Gemeinsamen Arbeitsgruppe zwischen der römiscbTkathölischen Kirche und dem Ökumenischen Rat der Kirchen 1927-1982", in: Ökumenische Rundschau 32 (1983) 269-290; Willem A, Visser't Hooft, „Der Ökumenische Rat der Kirchen und die römisch-katholische Kirche", in: Ökumenische Rundschau 35 (1986) 6-17. 23 Cf. Churches respond to BEM. Official responses to the "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry" text. Vols. 1-6. Geneva 1986-90. 24 Cf. Elizabeth C. Nordbeck, "That they may be one." Celebrating a Century of Ecumenical Witness. Boston 2002. The Harp

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group of Oriental Orthodox Churches.25 All these dialogues produced substantial theological documents. 26 Some of these dialogues are accompanied or prepared by dialogues on an unofficial level, where theologians of the various traditions work on specific theological topics as with the Austrian Foundation P R O ORIENTE, founded in 1964 by Cardinal König for dialogue with Eastern Christianity.27 Theological milestones have been set with Christological declarations between the Catholic Church and various Oriental Orthodox Churches 28 and the Assyrian Church of the East 29 , and with the Agreement on the Doctrine of Justification with the Lutheran World Federation. 30 Theological progress has been made with the Orthodox Church on the mystery of the Church, the Eucharist and the sacramental structure of the Church; with the Anglican 25 Cf. Dietmar W. Winkler, "Ökumenischer Neubeginn: Der Dialog zwischen der katholischen Kirche und den orientalisch-orthodoxen Kirchen", in: Catholica 58 (2004) 22-39. 26 Cf. Growth in agreement I: reports and agreed statements of ecumenical conversations on a world level. Ed. Harding Meyer - Lukas Vischer. New York-Geneva 1984; Growth in Agreement II: reports and agreed statements of ecumenical conversations on a world level, 1982-1998. Ed Jeffrey Gros - Harding Meyer - William G. Rusch. Geneva - Grand Rapids 2000. 27 Cf. Philipp Harnoncourt, "Die Stiftung Pro Oriente", in: Dietmar W. Winkler - Klaus Augustin, Die Ostkirchen. Ein Leitfaden. Graz 1997, 171-174. Pro Oriente publications are available in German, English, French, Greek, Russian, Roumanian, Arabic, and Malayalam. 28 For an analyzes of all these dialogues cf. Dietmar W. Winkler, Koptische Kirche und Reichskirche: Altes Schisma und neuer Dialog. Innsbruck 1997 (Innsbrucker theologische Studien 48). 29 For an analyzes of this dialogue cf. Dietmar W. Winkler, Ostsyrisches Christentum: Studien zu Christologie, Ekklesiologie und zu den Ökumenischen Dialogen der Assyrischen Kirche des Ostens. Hamburg 2003 (Studien zur Orientalischen Kirchengeschichte 26). 30 Cf. Karl Lehmann, Einig im Verständnis der Rechtfertigungsbotschaft? Bonn 1998; There is an amount of articles to be found in the Journals where scholars from different denominations reflect on that agreement. Vol XX 2006

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Communion on the Eucharist and on the understanding of the Virgin Mary, of ministry and ordination, and of the Church as communion; with the Reformed Churches on Mission etc.31 Last but not least, Ecumenism and ecumenical theology became an integral part in Catholic theological education.32 Today ecumenical collaboration between Schools of Theology as well as in the various scholarly disciplines is taken for granted. There can be no doubt that the Decree on Ecumenism has made history and opened new ways for the restoration of Christian unity. If we compare the situation in the centuries before the Council with the last forty years and the situation today, the enormous progress becomes more than evident. However, there is significant room for improvement. In a first phase after Vatican II, a period of enthusiasm and progress can be diagnosed, especially in my field, the dialogue with Eastern Christianity. The meeting of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople in Jerusalem in January 1964 was extraordinary, which led to a remarkable event: On December 7, 1965 in Rome and Istanbul they simultaneously proclaimed the lifting of the mutual excommunications of 1054, declaring them "'erased from the memory" of the church. 33 What then started was the socalled Tomos Agapis. ihe dialogue of Love, between Rome and Constantinople. 31 This led to the establishment of an international theological commission by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Dirnitrios I of Constantinople in ! 979. At thé same time Pro Orihnï k in Vienna started a series of Consultations with the Oriental Orthodox Churches that led to substantial theological statements, which were later 31 Cf. the two volumes Growth in Aggreement (1984 and 2000). 3 2 A s one example of official documents cf. Dietmar W. Winkler, "Relevanz d e s Studiums der Ostkirchen innerhalb der römisch-katholischen Ausbildung. Z u einer Instruktion der Sacra Corigregatio pro Institutione Catholica"; in: Ökumenisches Forum 1 Di (1987) 315-324.. 3 3 Cf. Gngorios Larentzakis, "Die Orthodoxe Kirche im Ökumenischen Dialog mit den anderen Kirchen", in: Winklèr-Augustin,; Die Ostkirchen 153-159.

34 Cf. Tomos Agapis: Dokumentation zum Dialog der Liebe zwischen dem Hl. Stuhl und dem Ökumenischen Patriarchat von 1958 bis 1976. Ed. Pro Oriente. Innsbruck-Wien 1978 (Pro Oriente Vol. 3). §l|ilfi

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integrated in officiai joint communiqués of Patriarchs and Popes. 35 When one studies these times, one can feel the energy of the Council, the positive attitude and vision on the way towards unity. In the 1980s the verve of the 1970s slowed down and a period of ecumenical conference routine began. Still, substantial theological agreements were reached, e.g. three excellent theological documents were produced with the Orthodox Church.36 The multilateral dialogue of Faith and Order in the World Council of Churches gave birth to the Lima document. 37 But the dialogues also became redundant. As the first generation of Ecumenists started leaving the scene, the next generation sometimes discussed the same topics, already discussed and sometimes even solved in the earlier decade. Documents even disappear, like the resultant document of the Faith and Order process "Confessing the One Faith", which failed to get before the Churches in the manner of the Lima document. 38 The 1990s saw considerable setbacks in theological dialogues with the Eastern Christian Churches. The events following the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe pushed questions to the forefront which led to the breakdown of the dialogue with the Eastern Orthodox. The Orthodox felt threatened by what they saw as a 35 Cf. Winkler, Kopiische Kirche und Reichskirche, esp. part C. 36 Cf. Grigorios Larentzakis. Die Orthodoxe Kirche: Ihr Leben und Ihr Glaube. Graz 2000. 37 Cf. Taufe, Eucharistie und Amt. Konvergenzerklärung der Kommission für Glaube und Kirchenverfassung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen mit einem Vorwort von William H. Lazareth und Nikos Nissiotis. Paderborn 1982. 38 Cf. Den einen Glauben bekennen. Auf dem Weg zu einem gemeinsamen Ausdruck des apostolischen Glaubens auf der Grundlage des Glaubensbekenntnisses von Nizäa-Konstantinopel (381). Studiendokument der Kommission für Glaube und Kirchenverfassung. Geneva 1988; Hans-Georg Link (ed.), The Roots of Our Common Faith. Faith in the Scriptures and in the Early Church. Geneva 1984; Jean M.R. Tillard, "Den apostolischen Glauben gemeinsam bekennen", in: Günther Gassmann (ed.), Glauben und Kirchenverfassung 1985-1989. Frankfurt 1990 (Beiheft zur Ökumenischen Rundschau 61). Vol XX 2006

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resurgence of uniatism and Catholic proselytism. Oriental Orthodox Churches started to question the Christological agreements of the 1970s again, because the Roman Catholic Church started a dialogue with the Assyrian Church of the East, which is regarded as heretical by the Coptic Orthodox Church.40 However, the ecumenical process between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches came to the historic agreement on the Justification, which was signed in Augsburg (Germany), on October 31, 1999. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of openness and love, of mutual respect and faithfulness to the tradition of the churches, trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit seemed to leave the ecumenical scene and the Churches focused again on themselves. At the same time the ecumenical movement as such appeared to flounder around any commonly perceived goal. We currently stand in a period of transition, of change in ecumenical attitudes and visions. 5. Ecumenical Stumbling Blocks and Perspectives The main problem before us is the question of Identity. The Churches came close together in the course of the 20th century. Theological dialogues revealed that we have more in common than that which separates us. However, the Churches fear to lose their identity which was often shaped by opposition to the other, or, more positively by underlining their unique charisma. The Churches are in a dilemma: Did we unjustly condemn each other? What shall we do, when we realize that councils and theologians previously condemned are orthodox in their teaching?41 3 9 Cf, R o n a l d G . R o b e r s o n , " C a t h o l i c - O r t h o d o x R e l a t i o n s in P o s t C o m m u n i s t E u r o p e : G h o s t s f r o m the P a s t a n d C h a l l e n g e s for the Future", In: Idem., The Eastern Christian Churches. A brief survey. 6 th rey. ed. R o m e 1999, A p p e n d i x I. 4 0 Cf. Winkler, Ostsyrisches Christentum, esp. part C; Idem., " B e t w e e n Progress a n d S e t b a c k : T h e E c u m e n i c a l D i a l o g u e s with the A s s y r i a n C h u r c h of the East", in: Syriac Dialogue 4. Ed. Pro Oriente. V i e n n a 2001, 138-151. 4 1 C f . D i e t m a r W . W i n k l e r , " T h e D i s c u s s i o n of A n a t h e m a in t h e E c u m e n i c a l D i a l o g u e s a m o n g the Oriental a n d O r t h o d o x C h u r c h e s " , in: Ephrem's Theological Journal 4 (2000) 2 8 - 4 8 . The Harp!

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There is a segment in the Catholic Church that never gave up the ecclesiological idea that the "other Churches" have to come back into the fold of the Roman Catholic Church. Here also is the fear of losing a specific Catholic identity. This represents the inability to think in theological and historical categories. As a result ecumenism, the liturgical reform, interreligious dialogue and the lay apostolate are seen by some as in error. While not the official teaching of the Church, some documents published from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith used language which seemed to point back to before Vatican H. The intention of a document like Dominus Jesus (2000) could have been expressed with more understanding and sensitivity. While theologians participating in ecumenical dialogues have to demonstrate endurance and patience it sometimes appears as if youth are losing their patience because of the ecumenical slow-down. In a misunderstood progressive understanding of faith, the deposit of older traditions is felt to be outdated. This results sometimes in an unfortunate relativism and indifferentism that does not value the spiritual and theological richness of the various Christian traditions. Whether for reasons of ecumenical disinterest or denominational stubbornness, substantial ecumenical joint documents are not well received and Churches fail at the end to implement these results. There is a tendency to reduce ecumenism to a mere and wrongly understood "spiritual Ecumenism" in the sense that the unity of the Church is left to the work of the Holy Spirit. In that sense the one Church will be a reality in the eschaton. If we would make a list collecting all the problems that are currently on the agenda of various theological dialogues, it would include: Trinity and the procession of the Holy Spirit, Christology, baptism, apostolic succession, episcopal or presbyterial succession, sacraments, primacy, councils, conciliarity, synodality, ministry of the successor of Peter, saints, anathemas against saints of the other Church, salvation of non-believers, ministry, proselytism, umatismetc. Discussing such issues in seriatim, as is done in current bilateral dialogues, makes it appear that we will never come to an end of debate. Consensus Ecumenism has come to its end or has reached its limits. We are entering a new phase of ecumenism, where every Vol. XX 2006

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Church has to become clear about its own goals on the way towards unity. Certainly Protestant Churches would make a strong claim for an autonomous ecclesial status, maybe a parallelism of communions. The Catholic and Orthodox Church see such a model as inadequate and focus on a visible unity: unity in faith, sacraments and ministry. But the question is, how is this visible unity to look? A return to a model of Late Antiquity, mainly emphasized by the Eastern Churches, is inadequate. All such models have the Roman Imperial Church as their context. They do not take into consideration those Churches which spread outside its bounds. They do not take into consideration the later developments of Christianity in the South: Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. However, the approach to go back to the sources (resourcement) to step forward can only be the right one to re-discover our unity. The goal of ecumenism has certainly to do with our understanding of the Church and how we envisage its future status. That this is a disputed topic not only in ecumenical dialogues but even in the Catholic Church itself is evident.42 The upcoming question is how to develop a model of church union - faithful to the tradition of the Church that reconciles the ecclesiological tension between universal responsibility and local autonomy, between collegiality and primacy. There are different approaches to this challenge in the respective Church traditions. In the dialogues with the Eastern Churches, it has been observed that all the present structures are the result of historical processes and reflect responses to various demands facing particular churches in particular contexts. The Church is always a concrete local and historical reality, although some Churches (Patriarchates) have, according to their tradition, universal responsibility. These various concepts of the Church are expressed in models of Eucharistic, Trinitarian and Commusiion-Ecclesiologies.43 42 Cf. for example Walter Cardinal Kasper, "On the Church" in: America, April 23-30, 2001; Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, "The Local and the Universal Church: A response to Walter Kasper", in: America, November 19, 2001. 43 Cf. a m o n g o t h e r s G r i g o r i o s L a r e n t z a k i s , "Trinitarisches Kirchenverstandnis", in: Wilhelm Breuning (ed.), Trinitat. Aktuelie Perspektiven der Theoiogie. Freiburg 1984, 73-96; Josef Ratzinger, The Harp

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The generous perspective of the Decree on Ecumenism could certainly help for the future. Why - for example - do we not use the concept of the hierarchy of truth and come to an agreement? If we reach a basic agreement in faith, government, and doctrine there would be enough room for various ecclesial traditions with a particular style of theology, worship, leadership, spirituality and discipline. 44 Currently a creative interpretation of the documents of Vatican II seems to be difficult. There is needed a fresh view on the relationship between the Universal Church and local Churches. John Paul II himself gave an important impulse for discussion with his encyclical letter Ut Unum Sint. However, his pontificate had a tendency to over-centralization. At the funeral of Cardinal Franz Konig in Vienna, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger said he was prepared to think about where less centralism and more decentralisation could be applied in the Church adding that it was important both to maintain unity and to allow local Churches to develop their charisms. 45 And already in 1976, in a remarkable lecture in Graz (Austria), he noted that Rome does not need to ask for more Primacy than was exercised in the first millennium. 4 6 It is certainly exciting to observe, how the ecumenical vision of the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith as Pope Benedict XVI will lead the Catholic Church to concrete steps forward on the way toward unity. Nevertheless, a vision of ecumenism for the 21st century is still needed. There is no cheap ecumenism. Hard work, common efforts, mutual understanding, acceptance of the richness and pluralism of Eucharistie Mitte der Kirche. München 1978; Paul McPartlan, "Eucharistie Ecciesiology", in: One in Christ 22 (1986) 314-331; Johannes Willebrands, "Die Communio-Ekklesiologie des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils", in: Idem., Mandatum Unitatis 341-356. 44 It seems that invaluable impulses such as Heinrich Fries - Karl Rahner, Unity of the churches: An actual possibility. Philadelphia 1985 are completely forgotten. . 45 Cf. "Ratzinger regrets Church centralism at König funeral", in: The Tablet, 3 April 2004, 29f. 46 Cf. Joseph Ratzinger, "Prognosen für die Zukunft des Ökumenismus", in: Pro Oriente (ed.), Ökumene, Konzil, Unfehlbarkeit. Innsbruck 1979 (Pro Oriente 4), 209. Vol. XX 2006

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the Church of Jesus Christ are still lying before us. The process of reception of Vatican II is continuing. As already can be demonstrated with the first Ecumenical Councils - such as Nicea I (325) or Chalcedon (451) - this process can take several generations I am pleased to dedicate this paper to Fr. Dr. Jacob Thekeparampil, an ecumenical visionary, who has set milestones for interchurch relations and scholarly studies in the Indian context.

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A SHORT A N A L Y S I S OF THE DEFINITION OF CHALCEDON A N D SOME REFLECTIONS The christological Definition of the Council of Chalcedon (proclaimed at October 22th, 451) is a basic document in the development to formulate the ecclesial faith in Jesus Christ 1 . This holds true even for those who - sometimes vigorously - opposed this Definition and wrote against it, as for instance for Timothy Aelurus of Alexandria in the fifth century with his refutation (preserved in 1 The ground breaking study was A. de Halleux, La définition christoiogique à Chalcédoine, in: RTL 7 (1976) 3-23. 155-170; also in: idem, Patrologie et Oecuménisme = BEThL 93 (Leuven 1990) 445-480. In the German version A. Grillmeier, Jesus der Christus im Glauben der Kirche, Band 1 : Von der Apostolischen Zeit bis zum Konzil von Chalcedon (451), Freiburg, Basel, Wien 1979 (third edition in 1990, actualized version in 2004), 755-759, Grillmeier gave a summary of the results of de Halleux in his analysis of the structure and the sources of the Definition of Chalcedon. Unfortunately, this kind of analysis is not yet available in the English version of A. Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition vol. I (1965, second edition in 1975), written before de Halleux. Therefore, it might be helpful to present here a short analysis of my own, based on de Halleux. - For the council and its ecumenical outcome see A. Grillmeier, T. Hainthaler, Art. Chalcedon, in: Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement ed. N. Lossky, J. M. Boni no, J. Pobee, T. Stransky, G. Wainwright, P. Webb (Geneva 1991, 2 2002) 141-143. Vol. XX 2006

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Armenian, also partly in Syriac translation) . Timothy gave the whole text and commented it; a Syriac translation of his work is preserved in B.M. add. 12156, a manuscript of the 6th century, written before 562-. This Syriac version of the Definition is given at the end in the appendix 4 . The history before this Council is, in fact, addressed at in the text of the prooemium of the Definition itself. An attentive reading leads one to a minimum of observations in structure and sources. I. Prooemium The Council's understanding of its own role can be drawn from the Prooemium: all christological teaching is based, in the view of the Council, first of all, in the kerygmci, that is in the Holy Scripture („the proclamation of the beginning"), and then next, in the maintenance and preservation of the faith of Nicea (325), as written in its creed. Then follows the council of Constantinople (381), because a clarification was nccessary in order to defend the doctrine of Nicea 2

For the history immediately after Chalcedon (451 to 518) see A. Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition 2/1 Reception and Contradiction, trans!, by P. Allen and J. Cawte (London; Oxford 1987). For Timothy Aelurus' text (Contra eos qui dicurit diias; haturas, CPG 5475) see the edition of F. Nau, PO 13, 218-236 (= fol. 39v-42va). Timothy's refutation of ¡the Tome of Leos was published in its Syriac version by R. Y. Ebied, L.R. Wickham, Timothy Aelurus: Against the Definition of the Council of Chalcedon, in: G. Uaga et ai. (ed.) After Chalcedon = OLA 18 ('1985) 11:5-166; for an analysis of Timothy's christology see A Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Traditipn, Vol. il/4: The Church of Alexandria with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451, in collaboration with T. Hainthaler, transi, by O. G. Deàn; Jr. (London, Louisville 1996) 7-35.

3

According to; W. Wright, Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum; vol. il (London 1872) 648; cf. Nau, PO 13, p. 165.

4

The Syriac version follows exactly the Greek text. /. Ortiz de Urbina, Das Symbol von Chalkedon. Sein Text, sein Werden, seine dogmatische Bedeutung, in: A. Grillmeier/ H. Bacht (ed.), Das Konzil von Chalkedon, vol. I (Würzburg 1954) 389-4:18, presented (ibid. 389390) the text of the Definition in 27 verses (or stichoi). Without any problems, this division can be taken for the Syriac version (see appendix).

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regarding the Holy Spirit against heretic teaching. In other words: Nicea was not lacking anything, but there was need of clarification in a special point. A descendent hierarchy 5 is emerging: first of all the Gospel, then follows the symbol of Nicea („decrees") and the symbol of Constantinople („ratifies"). The Prooemium then declares the reception („accepted") of two letters of Cyril, the one to Nestorius (430) and the other to the Orientals, that is the Antiochians (433) (i.e. the Second Letter to Nestorius and the so-called Laetentur-Letter of the Union of 433). To these documents „is added" the Tome of Leo, written by Pope Leo I meant to be read at the second synod of Ephesus (449). After making clear positively the basic documents for the christological teaching, the synod declares negatively its stand against statements to be condemned: a duality of sons, theopaschitism, confusion of two natures in Christ, a heavenly body, Eutychianism. It is clear that the basis for the fathers of the Council in Chalcedon is the preaching of Jesus and the apostles, the proclamation of the whole scripture. The other documents, which are mentioned, follow a hierarchy. II. The Structure of the Definition We find a clear framework: the Fathers (1, 27), one and the same Son (2, 23) - Lord Jesus Christ (3, 24) (in a chiastic order). The framework refers to the tradition (at the end enlarged and with gradation, coming to a climax: the prophets from of old, Jesus Christ himself and the Symbol of the Fathers) and to the unity in Christ. But the unity and identity of Christ is emphasized also elsewhere: the same (5.6.8.10.14). The expression .one and the same' can be found three times in the whole text, at the beginning (2), at the end (23) and in the middle (16). This gives a clear division of the document into two parts: 2-15 and 16-22, followed by the final words (23-27). The first part is written in a language known from creeds (kerygmatic), 5

A. de Halleux, art. cit. (n. 1) 163 resp. 473: „la hiérarchie descendante de la documentation chalcédonienne". vol.XX?006l

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while in the second part technical terminology prevails. The second part is framed by an inclusion: two (17, 22). At the end, in the final wording 23-24 all titles of Christ, mentioned before, are gathered. This list increases the solemnity and underlines the conclusion. Grammatically it is one single sentence („we ... teach the confession") with the object: „one and the same" (2.16.23), „the same" (5.6.8.10.14), and the adjectives: „perfect" (5.6), „God", „man" (used as adjectives) (7), „consubstantial" (9.10), „like (us)" (11); participles: „begotten" (12), „made known" (17), „parted or divided" (22). An observation can be made as to the content: There is à move from unity to duality (2.3 - 5.6,7.9.10,12-15), 16 -17. But in vv. 1921 there is a move from duality (difference) to unity (19, 20 - 21). These marked characteristics in the structure led André de Halleux (1976) to the hypothesis of one single author (and not merely a redactor of the text), which he presumed to be the Metropolitan Basil of Seleucia 6 . Before dc Halleux's hypothesis, normally the Definition was seen as a mosaic of formulations of diverse origin. The structure found so far is the following. Structure as to the

content

1. The one Christ . perfect in divinity and humanity . truly God and truly man (with rational soul and body) . consubstantial with the Father and with us, in all like us sin excepted . double birth (-> Theotokos) 6 A. de Halleux, art. cit. 157. Also G. Martzelos in his study:réuecrr| KOCÎ TTTIYÉÇ TOÜ "Opou TIÎÇ XOTXKRTÔÔUOCÇ (Thessalonique 1986); see idem, Der Vater der dyophysitischen Formel von Chalkedon: Leo von Rom oder Basileios von Seleukeia?, Orthodoxes Forum 6 (1992) 21-39, discovered Basil as author. There is, however, a disagreement between de Halleux and Martzelos regarding other points, cf. the response of A. de Halleux, A propos d'une lecture cyrillrenne de la définition christologique de Chalcédoine, Revue Théol. Louv. 25 (1994) 445-471. The Harp

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2. The one Christ , made known in two natures (without division ...) . remaining difference of the natures and their properties in concurring to one person (or hypostasis) . no division into two persons. Nevertheless, there is some disarrangement in the unity of the composition: a) by the four adverbs: they are (as de Halleux formulated) „so bad placed", that it is not clear whether they are grammatically related to „made known" or to „in two natures" or to „one and the same"; b) by v. 19-21: all of a sudden there is a Genitivus absolutus, related to a feminine noun - otherwise always accusatives, related to a masculine noun; the move is from duality to unity (else vice versa). These peculiarities let presume (according to de Halleux) a later addition, and that is the one which, as it is known, the imperial commissioners requested in the 5th session (Actio) in a dramatical situation. This may lead now to an analysis of the sources. III. Analysis of the sources With the study of the sources the prehistory of the Council is brought to the fore. A lot of research work has been done in this respect. Reference has to be made to the names Marcel Richard (1945), Ignacio Ortiz de Urbina (1951), R. V. Sellers (1953), André de Halleux (1976) and others 7 . A lot of parallels has been found. But what can be said about the sources? Without doubt, to these we have to count - besides Nicea, the synod to which the council is obliged in a special way and whose symbol was cited - in chronological order: Cyril's 2nd letter to 7

M. Richard, L'introduction du mot «hypostase» dans la théologie de l'incarnation, MSR 2 (1945) 5-32,243-270; also in idem, Opera Minora nr. 42; I. Ortiz de Urbina, art. cit. (n. 1); R. V. Sellers, The Council of Chalcedon. A Historical and doctrinal Survey (London 1953).

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Nestorius, the Formula of Union of 433, the Tome of Leo. It could be shown: a) For the first part of the Definition v. 12-15 and 9-10 coincide, except for slight deviations, with the Formula of Union. v. 5-6 is very close to the explanation given by Cyril in § 8 of his Laetentur-Letter (of 433) (in the Formula of Union of the Antiochians are found the concrete nouns „God" and „man". When Cyril cited this text he changed without comment the warding into the abstract nouns „divinity" and „humanity". This reading is incorporated into the Definition of Chalcedon). v. 11 (amixedcitalionofHebr2,17;4,15)canbefoundinBasil of Seleucia (according to de Halleux). For the first part of the Definition it can be affirmed with M. Richard: the Formula, of Union of the Antiochians is interpreted according to Cyril's Laetentur-Letter. b) For the second part of the Definition v. 19 coincides nearly literally with Cyril's (2nd) Letter to Nestorius. v. 20-21 (the first four terms) follow with slight changes the wording of v. 54-55 of Leo's Tome. v. 17, „made known in two natures", is found in Basil (this is in conformity with the Cyrillian idea, that the natures, after the union, are to be distinguished only in thought, en theoria mone). v. 21, „the one hypostasis", can be found in the Profession of Flavian (made during the home synod in Constantinople against Eutyches in 448), but can be derivated also from Cyril (cf. union according to the hypostasis, hypostatic union). v. 18: Three of the four adverbs were mentioned by the imperial commissioners in exactly the same order immediately before the meeting of the special commission who worked out the final wording of the Definition. These adverbs can be found in Cyril as well as in The Harp

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the Antiochian tradition, they are common to Rome, Alexandria and Antiochi T h e first three o f the four adverbs were mentioned by the imperial commissioners: Act. V, nr. 2 6 (ACO II 1, 2, p. 125): (two natures in Christ united)

& C T U \ 7 U T O C KOCÌ

ócTpérrrwc KOCÌ ócStaipértoq;

nr. 28: (two natures united) ócrpéirrtóg KOCÌ ócjiEpiorwg KOCÌ

ÓCCTUYXUTCOC;

(in Christ). In Actio IV the bishops of Illyricum, who doubted the orthodoxy of Leo's Tome, declared (ACO II 1,2, p. 102,39): (things in conformity with the divinity and with the humanity are called) ócTpETrrtoq

KOCÌ

A A U Y X U T C O G KOCÌ

ócÒKxipércoc.

F o r i n s t a n c e , B a s i l requests to speak after the union o f (xxcopiorou*;

KOCÌ ( X C T U Y X U T O U Q

natures (ACO II 1,1, p. 9 3 , 3 0 - 3 1 ) .

Considering these findings, André de Halleux offers the following hypothesis8. If the additions (the four adverbs and v. 19-21) are taken out from the passage vv. 16-24, one gets a profession, well formulated in a chiasm, which could attributed to Basil of Seleucia as it is in his spirit: one and the same Christ Son Lord Only-begotten made known in two natures not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, Only-begotten, God Logos, Lord Jesus Christ. André de Halleux presumed that during the last session the additions have been inserted into this profession 9 . With this explanation, the share of Cyril in the Definition becomes even stronger, for Basil is a Cyrillian. Further, the citation o f L e o ' s Tome was inserted, according to de Halleux, with some „Cyrillianisation"'" in the wording. The addition of the one hypostasis (21) is, for de Halleux, also Cyrillian and not taken from the Profession o f Flavian". 8

A. de Halleux, art. cit. 157-160 resp. 467-470.

9

Ibid. 160 resp. 470.

10 Ibid. 163 resp. 473. 11 Ibid. 164 resp. 474; in fact, a correction of the analysis of Marcel Richard (cf. ibid., 12 resp. 454). Vol. XX 2006

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Altogether, it could be found that the prehistory of the Council of 451 is reflected in the text of the Definition. 325

Nicea

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Union 433: Formula of Union - Cyril's Letter to John of Antioch (Laetentur-Letter)

448

Eutyches problem Profession of Flavian

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IV. Some remarks on the result of the analysis (of the sources) 1. First of all, the council aims at the crisis which came through the victory of Eutychianism at the so-called robber synod of Ephesus 449; the council met the challenge of Eutychianism. The „solution" of the problem was found in the spirit of Cyril. The „newcomer" in the christological documents at hand, the Tome of Leo, was proven as being in conformity with Cyril (the letters of Cyril). This is obvious in the course of the Council: in a severe struggle the orthodoxy of Leo's Tome was recognized. Therefore de Halleux observed a „descendent hierarchy" of the sources Nicea, Constantinople, 2nd letter of Cyril to Nestorius, Formula of Union according to the Laetentur-Letter, Tome of Leo, in the following sense: (he respective preceding documents act as a test (touchstone) for the orthodoxy of the succeeding. Consequently, the Western christology of Leo had a significantly smaller impact in the Definition as it was supposed in the research till the fifties of the 20tii century - and as it could be presumed, taken into consideration all the struggles and the strong opposition after the Council. Uptil now some Oriental Orthodox call the Definition of Chalcedon „Nestorian". 2. What was achieved in Chalcedon? Although it was not expressed very distinctively and clearly, the Definition pointed the The Harp

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way: the unity in Christ has to be searched for in the one person or the „one hypostasis", the duality is situated in the natures. A distinction has to be made between a natural unity and a substantial unity in the subject, in the person. According to Grillmeier, this kind of union is so deep and fundamental that it cannot be surpassed (therefore all the objections of a more unitarian christology are met, if this union is understood in all its implications; no amendment or improvement is necessary). The Apolinarian „sources of errors" are definitely excluded. 3. The Definition carried on to make a distinction of the two concepts hypostasis (prosopon) and nature also in Christology. In the Trinity, the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa) taught this distinction with the formula: one essence (ousia, ituta) and three hypostases. Chalcedon made a step in the history of christological terminology, and the AntiChalcedonian did not follow this step (according to Grillmeier). It has to be admitted that the Fathers of the Council might not have been fully aware of this step, especially not of all the consequences. But the process of reception deepened this way that the Council has shown for the christological reflection. Further clarification in the 6th century sharpened the concept of hypostasis. In the Latin West, Boethius found a new definition of persona, when he dealt with the christological controversies. Chalcedon did not state explicitly that the „one hypostasis" is the hypostasis of the Logos; but, of course, the text of the Definition does not contradict this statement at all. The theologians of the 6th century had to clarify this point (and so they came to the concept of enhypostasia, or in Latin insubsistentia). 4. In Chalcedon's solution of the christological problem, the Cyril of the Twelve Anathema is left aside, and also Nestorius is excluded. Therein remains a source of conflicts, which will be effective in the later struggles. 5. The Definition of Chalcedon is not a complete creed; the focus is only on the clarification of how to understand Christ, the incarnate God Logos. The presupposition of the whole text is the Vol. XX 200b

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Symbol of Nicea-Constantinople. It was explicitly read before the Definition - and the acts of Chalcedon are the first testimony for this symbol! The Definition of Chalcedon is - unlike the NicaenoConstantinopolitanum - no baptismal creed12. 6. Back to Timothy Aelurus, it seems, that he did not analyze the text. The aim of his polemic against the text is, as expressed in the headline of the passage published by Nau, to show that the Council of Chalcedon has done everything „to accept and to preach in all churches of God the impure doctrines of Nestorius". The polemic against Chalcedon focussed on the „two natures" in Christ, a line which prevailed in the struggles after the council. The text in itself was not studied very much as can be seen in the post-chalcedonian literature. Attempts to clarify concepts in an open dialogue between Chalcedonians and Severians have been made, for instance with the conversation („collatio") in Constantinople in 532 under emperor Justinian I, but failed13. 7. The reception of the Definition, although it was a difficult process, nevertheless reveals that the whole Church of the West and large parts of the Church in the East found in this text the basic formulation of their faith in Christ. In 516/517 the venerable archimandrite and monastic leader Theodosius in Jerusalem exclaimed: „If someone does not accept the four Councils even as the four Gospels, let him be anathema" 1 4 . This slogan was disseminated in the days of Gregory the Great and afterwards. 8. In the ecumenical rapprochement, to me, it is important to overcome the anathemas and accusations of the past, but also to be aware of the valuable legacy of the fathers. Griiimeier saw a possibility for peace, „if both traditions, the mia physis language and the twonatures formula, were accepted as valid, without each declaring that the other was heretical. But this would have to happen on the basis 12 The bishops later had to realize this, see the Codex Ehcyclius, cf. A. Griiimeier, Christ in Christian Tradition 2/1 (1987) 195-235. 13 See the analysis of A. Griiimeier, Christ in Christian Tradition 2/2 (1995) 232-248. „Instead of question and answer, there were only attack and accusation" (ibid. 248). 14 See A. Griiimeier, Christ in Christian Tradition 2/1 (1987), p. 336 with n. 49. The Harp

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of an unambiguous recognition of the true incarnation of God in Christ, of the one Son of G o d in true divinity and genuine humanity. E a c h tradition could serve as a check on the other. ... Such a solution, however, presupposes an intrinsic comprehension, matured in the course of dialogue, of the f u n d a m e n t a l conceptions and the formulas of both sides." 1 5 20 years later, p r o b l e m s in the ecumenical dialogue are not solved, taken into consideration the strong repercussion of the Oriental Orthodox against the Assyrian Church of the East"'. A similar dialogue is needed in this case. APPENDIX

Prooemium: „... T h e r e f o r e this sacred and great and universal synod, n o w in session, in its desire to exclude all their tricks against the truth, and teaching what has been unshakeable in the proclamation f r o m the beginning, decrees that the creed of the 318 holy fathers (of Nicea) is, a b o v e all else, to r e m a i n inviolate. A n d b e c a u s e of those w h o 15 A. Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition 2/1, 334-335, with n. 48 and the citation of the declaration of the Joint Commission of the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church in the meeting in Vienna, 26-29 August 1976: „When the Orthodox confess that our Lord's divinity and humanity are united in one nature, then they understand by .nature' not purely a simple nature, but rather one single composed nature, in which divinity and humanity are united without division and without confusion. And when the Catholics confess Jesus Christ as one in two natures, they do not divide the divinity from the humanity, not even for a single instant; they strive rather to exclude the mingling, confusion, falsification or change of the one by the other... This is our faith in the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord J e s u s Christ and in the salvific plan (oikonomia) of our redemption. In this faith we all concur." Grillmeier commented (ibid.): „we can accord historical significance to such a document." Is this document of 1976 still present in the memories? 16 See the Agreed Statement on Christology issued by the Anglican Oriental Orthodox International Commission on November 10, 2002, at Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia. The Anglican delegation agreed to take into account the Oriental Orthodox concerns about the Christology of the A s s y r i a n C h u r c h of the East in any further christological w o r k or discussions with the Assyrians. Such kind of conditions s e e m to be rather unusual. Vol. XX 20061

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Hainthaler

oppose the Holy Spirit, it ratifies the teaching about the being of the Holy Spirit handed down by the 150 holy fathers who met some time later in the imperial city; - the teaching they made known to all, not introducing anything left out by their predecessors, but clarifying their ideas about the Holy Spirit by the use of scriptural testimonies against those who were trying to do away with his sovereignty. And because of those who are attempting to corrupt the mystery of the economy and are shamelessly and foolishly asserting that he who was born of the holy virgin Mary was a mere man, it has accepted the synodical letters of the blessed Cyril, pastor of the church in Alexandria, to Nestorius and to the Orientals, as being well-suited to refuting Nestorius's mad folly and to providing an interpretation for those who in their religious zeal might desire understanding of the saving creed. To these it has suitably added, against false believers and for the establishment of orthodox doctrines, the letter of the primate of greatest and older Rome, the most blessed and most holy Archbishop Leo, written to the sainted Archbishop Flavian to put down E u t y c h e s ' s evil-mindedness, because it is in agreement with great P e t e r ' s confession and represents a support we have in common. It is opposed to those who attempt to tear apart the mystery of the economy into a duality of sons; and it expels from the assembly of the priests those who dare to say that the divinity of the Only-begotten is passible; and it stands opposed to those who imagine a mixture or confusion between the two natures of Christ; and it expels those who have the mad idea that the servant-form he took from us is of a heavenly or some other kind of being; and it anathematises those who concoct two natures of the Lord before the union but imagine a single one after the union." 17

17 Greek: ACO II 1, 2, p. 128,24-129,22. English translation following N. P. Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils I (London 1990) "8586, with some corrections.

A short analysis of the Definition of Chalcedon...

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The Definition of Chalcedon (22th October 451) 1 Following, then, the holy fathers, 2 to confess one and the same Son, 3 our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 we all with one voice teach, 5 the same perfect in divinity 6 and the same perfect in humanity, 7 truly God and truly man, 8 the same [consisting] of a rational soul and a body, 9 consubstantial (homoousios) with the Father as to the divinity, 10 and the same consubstantial (homoousios) with us as to the humanity 11 in all things like us, sin only excepted, 12 begotten before the ages from the Father as to the divinity, 13 in the last days 14 the same, for us and for our salvation 15 from Mary the virgin, the God-bearer (theotokos), as to the humanity, 16 one and the same Christ, Son, Lord (kyrios), Only-begotten, 17 made known in two natures 18 without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; 19 at no point was the difference between the natures taken away by reason of the union, 20 but rather the property of both natures is preserved, 21 and comes together to one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis 22 not parted or divided into two persons, 23 but one a n d the same Son, Only-begotten, 24 God, Logos, Lord Jesus Christ, 25 just as the prophets from of old [have spoken] about him 26 and as Jesus Christus himself instructed us, 27 and as the Symbol of the Fathers handed us down to us. 18 18 Cf, A. Griilmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition I, 544; cf. N. P. Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, '86-87.

Theresia

330 1

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2

eva Kai TOV avibv

3

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