Tuesday, July 11, 2023

It is the 11th of July, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

It is not uncommon in church history and on this program to see our timeline and family tree traced back through Europe and Rome and the Early Church Fathers. With much of the church today either an offshoot of the church of the Latin West (what will also be called Roman Catholic) or Orthodox in its varieties (Greek, Russian, etc…), there are pockets of Early Church history that are often overlooked. While Constantinople and Rome were 2 of the early centers of the church, we sometimes ignore the other great centers of Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch. The legacy of these churches and centers of theological activity is often difficult on account of the locations falling to powers outside of Christendom and the non-Latin or Greek languages of North Africa and the Middle East.

But today, despite those difficulties and the distance of the 2nd century, I want to tell you the story of the man called Bardesanes, who was born on this, the 11th of July in 154. We know where he was born as his name means “son of the Daisan,” a river in Edessa in modern Syria. There are two stories about his birth- the more common that he was the son of Nuhama and Nashiram- wealthy Persians who fled their native kingdom. The other story is that he was found in a basket near a river- a common origin story for men who would later become famous- we can likely chalk that one up to adoration and imagination.

Edessa, in his day, the 2nd century, was a place caught between the East and West. The Roman Empire to the West and the Parthia to the East. Edessa was, for the beginning of Bardesanes' life, part of the kingdom of Osroene. It was there that he was educated in the home of a pagan priest. There he would become versed in Babylonian astrology- something that would stay with him for the rest of his life. But, at about the age of 25, he heard a sermon by the Christian Bishop of Edessa and converted. He would receive instruction, was baptized, became a deacon in the church, and then a priest (although we know little about what this meant- he was married and had at least one child- if not 3). The lack of certainty comes from the fact that although we know of a number of his writings, they have been lost. He wrote in Syriac- a language related to Aramaic (the language of Jesus) but most of it is lost. The first Church historian Eusebius recounts his works of poetry and popularity. He would write against the major heresies of his region- mostly Gnosticism. Even though he and especially his followers would later be attacked by Ephrem the Syrian, the 4th century Saint. After Eusebius, it is Ephram where we read the most about Bardesanes, the problem is that Ephrem was writing in the 4th century against the followers of Bardesanes, who seems to have expanded on his thought and moved beyond the boundaries of an orthodoxy solidifying in that century.

What we do know of his thought does reflect a hierarchy and cosmology that looks like Babylonian and Gnostic teaching. Defenders of Bardesanes claim that while he played with the idea of primordial elements, he always claimed that God created them and that evil was not a substance on par with goodness. Nevertheless, in the 2nd century, it was not uncommon to see Christian theology wading into territories from which it would later retreat. While there are stories that he abandoned the faith, these appear to be attempts to attack his later heterodox followers. We do know that his patron, Abgar, the king of Osroene, would convert under Bardesanes and appears to have claimed that kingdom as Christian- making it the first to officially convert. The Romans, however, would soon take the kingdom from Abgar. The story goes that Bardesanes was told to renounce his faith, and he refused to. He was treated with leniency and went back to Edessa, where he died in 233 at the age of 78. Thus the legend of Bardesanes, the Syriac Christian and mysterious 2nd-century figure in the history of Middle Eastern Christianity.

The last word for today comes from Romans 3:

3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written:

“So that you may be proved right when you speak
    and prevail when you judge.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 11th of July 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who knows that besides Bardesanes and Ephrem, other men of Syrian descent include both Bob Marley and Steve Jobs- he is Christopher Gillespie. 

The show is written and read by a man who will be watching the MLB All-Star game tonight, where my American League has a 47-43 all-time lead (I take my victories where I can). I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.