A NEW FRAGMENT of THEODORE of MOPSUESTIA's CONTRA MAGOS 1. Introduction Until the Publication, in 1968, of H. Scheinhardt's

A NEW FRAGMENT OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA'S CONTRA MAGOS

1. Introduction

Until the publication, in 1968, of H. Scheinhardt's article Zitate aus drei verlorenen Schriften des Theodor von Mopsuestia1 Theodore's work Contra magos, dedicated to the Armenian bishop Mastubius2, was only known by title and by Photius' summary of its contents3. In this article Scheinhardt published, in German translation, a fragment of the Contra magos discovered by W. Strothmann in the manuscript Vat. syr. 496, and contained in Dadisho{ Qatraya's Commentary on the writings of Abba Isaiah4. The critical edition of Dadisho{'s Commentary by R. Draguet in 1972 made the Syriac text of the fragment together with its French translation accessible to the scholarly world5. Since 1968 Dadisho{'s quotation, which appears to have been taken from the last section of the work6, has been the only known fragment of Contra magos. In this rather short fragment Dadisho{'s adduces Theo- dore's work “against the Magicians ( ) which is called Mastubiya () after the name of the man who asked him (scil. Theodore) (to compose it)" with the purpose of demonstrating that the souls of the righteous are in a state of enjoyment in Paradise7. More re- cently, however, the present writer has drawn attention to a second fragment of Contra magos, hidden in a still unpublished East Syrian work on Christology dating from the end of the twelfth century at the earliest8.

1 In Paul de Lagarde und die syrische Kirchengeschichte, Göttingen, 1968, pp. 185- 198 (= SCHEINHARDT, Zitate). 2 See R. DEVREESSE, Essai sur Théodore de Mopsueste (Studi e Testi, 141), Città del Vaticano, 1948, pp. 51, 136. 3 See Leontius of Byzantium, Adversus Nestorianos et Eutychianos, 3 (PG 861, col. 1384 C); Chronicle of Seert, LIII, A. SCHER (ed.), Histoire nestorienne, 1 (PO V), Paris, 1910, p. 290 [178]; ¨Abdisho¨, Catalogue, XIX, J.S. ASSEMANI (ed.), Bibliotheca Orien- talis Clementino-Vaticana, III, 1, Romae, 1725, p. 34; Photius, Bibl. 81, R. HENRY (ed.), Photius, Bibliothèque, 1, Paris, 1959, p. 187. 4 SCHEINHARDT, Zitate (n. 1), pp. 188, 192-194. 5 R. DRAGUET (ed.), Commentaire du livre d'Abba Isaïe (logoi I-XV) par Dadiso Qa†raya (VIIeS.), (C.S.C.O., 326, 327; Scriptores Syri, 144, 145), Louvain, 1972, Dis- cours XV, 16, pp. 270, 21-271, 8 (text), pp. 208, 28-209, 7 (transl.). In Discours XV, 18, pp. 275, 27-276, 5 (text), p. 212, 31-36 (transl.), Theodore's Contra magos is mentioned again, but this is only a reference to the preceding quotation in XV, 16. 6 See Discours XV, 16, 18, pp. 270, 15, 276, 1 (text), pp. 208, 22, 212, 33 (transl.). 7 Discours XV, 16, p. 270, 9-14 (text), p. 208, 18-22 (transl.). 64 G.J. REININK

Its contents are sufficiently interesting to justify a separate edition, which will provide students of Theodore with a little piece of fresh in- formation concerning this work, which occupies a rather unique place among Theodore's writings, in defining the Christian faith over against pagan religion9.

2. The Source of the Fragment

The Christological work, which bears the title On the Union ( ), is preserved in the East Syrian manuscripts Mingana Syr. 544 and Cambridge Or. 1317. It was composed by Simon the Persecuted ( )10, a monk of the monastery of ¨Abdisho¨ of Kum near the town of Amadia in Northern Iraq11, in the time of the Catho- licosate of Yahballaha II (1190-1222) or possibly still later, in the time of the Catholicos Yahballaha III (1281-1317)12. The direct cause leading to its composition was the appearance of a certain monk George Wash- naya, who had started propagating heretical ideas in the region of Ninive, Bet Zabdai and Bet Nuhadre, and in Simon's monastery. Although the abbot Isho{ expelled George from the monastery, the abbot felt incapable

8 G.J. REININK, The Quotations from the lost Works of Theodoret of Cyrus and Theodore of Mopsuestia in an Unpublished East Syrian Work on Christology, in Studia Patristica. Papers of the 1995 Oxford Patristic Conference, Vol. XXXIII, Leuven, 1996, pp. 562-567 (= REININK, The Quotations). 9 Cfr A. CHRISTENSEN, L'Iran sous les Sassanides, Paris, 1944, pp. 150, 286. 10 The author is otherwise unknown; cfr A. BAUMSTARK, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, Bonn, 1922, p. 210. Simon calls himself “the Persecuted” for the sake of God and for the sake of Christ. The epithet refers to his being persecuted by the demons, which may be a metaphor both for his ascetic life and for his struggle against the heretics, whom he calls “the children of Satan”. 11 The monastery of ¨Abdisho¨ of Kum is mentioned in Simon's introduction. D. JENKS, Ktabona d-partute, Urmia, 1898, p. 316 (= JENKS, Ktabona), identifies this monastery with the monastery of ¨Abdisho¨ “to the east of Amadia”. The geographical indica- tions in the introduction, which localize Simon's dwelling-place in the frontier district ( ) to the north of Bet Zabdai and Bet Nuhadre seem to corroborate this identification. For the description of its church, see G.P. BADGER, The Nestorians and their Rituals, I, London, 1852, pp. 252-253; cfr also J.M. FIEY, Assyrie chrétienne, I, Beyrouth, 1965, p. 206, n. 3. 12 If it is the case that there were to have been a connection between George Washnaya's activities and the revived interest in the Book of the Holy Hierotheos in Jaco- bite circles in Northern Iraq in the second part of the thirteenth century, Simon may have composed his work in the earlier years of Yahballaha III's Catholicosate; cfr F.S. MARSH, The Book which is called the Book of the Holy Hierotheos, with Extracts from the Pro- legomena and Commentary of Theodosius of Antioch and from the “Book of Excerpts” and other Works of Gregory Bar-Hebraeus, London-Oxford, 1927, pp. 175-182, 194-196, 248-249; I. HAUSHERR, De doctrina spirituali christianorum orientalium, in Orientalia Christiana, 30 (1933), pp. 204-211. NEW FRAGMENT OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA'S CONTRA MAGOS 65 of taking further measures against the heretic, since the Catholicos Yahballaha, who summoned George by letters to come to Bagdad, failed entirely to put up a vigorous fight against him. Since no efficacious dis- ciplinary actions on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities were taken, Simon decided to use his pen as a weapon against George's perverted ideas, which threatened the orthodox faith of the East Syrian Church13. Simon characterizes George's heresy as plain Origenism. He calls George “the second Origen” denying the resurrection of the body, the existence of angels, souls and demons, rejecting the holy sacraments of baptism and eucharist, and straying from the path of the orthodox East Syrian Diophysite Christology14. This is not the appropriate place to en- ter into the question of the ideological and historical background of George's views15, but it should be noted that Simon's work On the Un- ion is far from being a polemical treatise against George Washnaya alone. Simon rather intends to explain the orthodox confession of his Church over against the heresies of past and present, in which the Jacobites take a prominent place. In so doing, he not only wishes to demonstrate that the Christological doctrine of his Church has always been the orthodox confession, but also that his contemporary, George Washnaya, belongs to a long tradition of ecclesiastical schismatics16. The work On the Union is preceded by a preface, an introduction ex- plaining the grounds for its composition, a prayer and a metrical homily against George17. The principal work is divided into twenty-one chap- ters, called rese (ch. 1-2, 11-21) or memre (ch. 3-10), and it is concluded by a final memra dealing with the refutation of Monophysite heresies18. The title, the literary structure and many of its themes are strongly influ-

13 These data are taken from Simon's introduction, which is only preserved in Cam- bridge Or. 1317, p 9, column 1 - p. 11, column 1 (owing to the loss of several folios the introduction is not preserved in the Mingana manuscript). A summary is given by JENKS, Ktabona (n. 11), pp. 316-317. In this article I quote Mingana Syr. 544 according to the modern numbering of the folios and Cambridge Or. 1317 — only where the Mingana manuscript is incomplete— according to the Syriac pagination. The text in the Cambridge manuscript is written in two columns on each page. 14 Cambridge Or. 1317, p. 9, column 1, line 19 - column 2, line 1; p. 18, column 1, line 25 - column 2, line 14. 15 George Washnaya may have propagated an extreme form of the ideas of Evagrius of Pontus (died 399). The present writer is preparing a separate study of George's heresy. 16 Cambridge Or. 1317, p. 11, column 1, lines 23-25. 17 Owing to the loss of folios at the beginning the Mingana manuscript now begins in the metrical homily against George (Mingana Syr. 544, f. 1r, line 1 = Cambridge Or. 1317, p. 13, column 1, lines 19-20). 18 Owing to the loss of folios at the end the final memra is incomplete in both manuscripts. However, the Mingana manuscript here is less incomplete than the Cambridge manuscript (Cambridge Or. 1317, p. 475, column 2, line 27 = Mingana Syr. 544, f. 194v, lines 25-26; f. 200 is the last folio in the Mingana manuscript). 66 G.J. REININK enced by the Christological work On the Union composed by the famous East Syrian theologian Babai the Great (died 628)19. However, Simon's work is not to be considered a slavish imitation of that of Babai in every respect20. In adapting and elaborating the topics from Babai's On the Union, in its style, in the addition of quotations from the works of other authorities, and in its topical allusions, Simon's work shows its own character. The quotation from Theodore's Contra magos occurs in memra 7, which opens with a fictitious dialogue between a Jacobite and Simon the Persecuted. The topic of the dialogue — introduced by the question of the Jacobite: how can the Godhead, consisting of three hypostases, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, dwell in Christ, while only the hypostasis of the Son is united with him — is inspired by Babai's memra 2 in particular21. In a subsequent long exposition Simon adduces Theodore's Contra magos as a testimony for the thesis that the conjunc- tion () of the Word God and Man in Christ made the Man par- ticipate in the glory and sovereignty of the Word to such a degree, that there is no longer any difference between the Word and his “temple” Christ, except for the properties of the divine nature and the human nature, which remain distinct and without confusion22.

3. Text and Translation

On the ground of its handwriting A. Mingana dated Mingana Syr. 544 (= B), which is incomplete at the beginning and the end, to between about 1050 and 1150 AD, and did not exclude the possibility that the manuscript is contemporary with the author of the text23. Because of the historical data in the introduction preserved in the Cambridge manu-

19 A. VASCHALDE (ed., transl.), Babai magni liber de unione (C.S.C.O., 79, 80; Scriptores Syri, 34, 35), Louvain, 1915. 20 Jenk's judgement in this respect is too severe; cfr JENKS, Ktabona (n. 11), p. 317. 21 Mingana Syr. 544, f. 91r, lines 9-27; cfr Babai, On the Union, memra 2, ed. VASCHALDE (n. 19), pp. 36-71 (text), pp. 29-58 (transl.). For Babai's Christology, see V. GRUMEL, Un théologien nestorien: Babai le Grand (VIe et VIIe s.), in Échos d'Orient, 22 (1923), pp. 153-181, 257-280; 23 (1924), pp. 9-23, 162-177, 257-274, 395-399; L. ABRA- MOWSKI, Die Christologie Babais des Grossen, in Symposium Syriacum 1972 (O.C.A., 197), Roma, 1974, pp. 219-244; EAD., Babai der Grosse: Christologische Probleme und ihre Lösungen, in Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 41 (1975), pp. 289-343; G. CHEDIATH, The Christology of Mar Babai the Great, Kottayam, 1982. 22 Mingana Syr. 544, f. 96r, lines 14-24. 23 A. MINGANA, Catalogue of the Mingana Collection of Manuscripts, I, Cambridge, 1933, col. 1004 (description of the manuscript in coll. 1001-1004), (= MINGANA, Cata- logue). NEW FRAGMENT OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA'S CONTRA MAGOS 67 script we now must conclude that Mingana's date is too early. The Min- gana manuscript cannot be older than the beginning or perhaps even the end of the thirteenth century. The manuscript Cambridge Or. 1317 (= C) is a modern copy (late nineteenth century), which was acquired by the Reverend David Jenks between the years 1892-1899, when he was a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Mission to the Assyrian Christians in Urmia24. It was copied from the old manuscript Urmia 32 (of roughly the same date as B)25, which apparently is inaccessible to- day26. The edition of the fragment of Contra magos given here is based on the text of B, the alternative readings of C being included in the appara- tus criticus. The text of B is faithfully reproduced; however, I have ren- dered the enclitic in its full form , and I have omitted the spo- radically occurring East Syrian vowel signs. The diacritical points and the punctuation are, for the greater part, from my own hand. The text is on folio 95v, line 15-folio 96r, line 14 in B (according to the modern numbering of the folios)27 and on page 220, column 2, line 24 — page 222, column 1, line 5 in C (according to the Syriac pagination).

24 Cfr A.E. GOODMAN, The Jenks Collection of Syriac Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge, in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1939, p. 591 (description of the manuscript on p. 595), (= GOODMAN, The Jenks Collection). 25 GOODMAN, The Jenks Collection (n. 24), p. 595, n. 1. An extract containing the end of resa 13 was published by JENKS, Ktabona (n. 11), pp. 318-319 (probably taken from Jenk's copy of Urmia 32). 26 Cfr W.F. MACOMBER, New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East, in W. VOIGT (ed.), XVII. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 21. bis 27. Juli 1968 in Würzburg, Vorträge, Teil 2, Sektion 4 (ZDMG, Suppl. I, Teil 2), Wiesbaden, 1969, p. 479; A. DESREUMAUX, Répertoire des bibliothèques et des catalogues de manuscrits syriaques, Paris, 1991, pp. 242-243. 27 This numbering was carried out after the loss of certain folios of this manuscript; cfr MINGANA, Catalogue (n. 23), col. 1002. 68 G.J. REININK

Text C, p. 221, c. 1 | a d c b C, p. 221, c. 2 | B, f. 96r | e f h g i C, p. 222, c. 1 | j

a C — b C — c This is a contraction of — d C — e C — f lege or — g C — h C — i C — j C. NEW FRAGMENT OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA'S CONTRA MAGOS 69

Translation

And behold, I will adduce for me and for you this faithful witness, I mean the blessed Expositora, who — expounding to me, his son, the fact that his greatnessb cannot be expressed in words — in that book (composed) for Mastubiya says this: “Hec gave himd the conjunctione with himself to such a degree, that he made him the treasuref of all “thoughts”g by which the (divine) economyh of the whole creation is wroughti, (a treasure) which cannot suffer diminution nor be spoiled, and (also) that hej no longer uses human “thoughts”k, but has only, through himl, divine “reflections”m, namely those (divine “reflections”) by which hen unceasingly and in an inexpressible way works the (divine) economy of all things. For this happened for a short time also to those who received divine revelations — i.e. either the blessed prophets or again the holy apostles — as it also happened to the blessed Peter, when he saw that vessel of linen cloth descending from heaven, filled with all kinds of beastso. And since he was in divine trance, as also the Lord's Scripture saysp, there was not even the sense of hunger in his soul, although he, being hungry, went up upon the housetop to pray; but he was

a I.e. Theodore of Mopsuestia, the Expositor par excellence of the East Syrian Church. b I.e. the greatness of the assumed Man, the homo assumptus. c I.e. the Word God, the verbum assumens. d I.e. the homo assumptus. e The Syriac word naqqiputa here is the translation of the Greek sunáfeia. Cfr F.A. SULLIVAN, The Christology of Theodore of Mopsuestia (Analecta Gregoriana, 82), Rome, 1956, pp. 268-270; R.A. NORRIS, Manhood and Christ. A Study in the Christology of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Oxford, 1963, pp. 213, 222-223, 228. f Cfr Col. 2:3. g My translation is offered with reservations, since the Syriac word maÌsabta “thought” etc. can represent different Greek words. In his exegesis of Ps. 39:6 Theodore explains God's “thoughts” (dialogismóv) as his “counsels” (boúleuma); R. DEVREESSE (ed.), Le commentaire de Théodore de Mopsueste sur les Psaumes (I-LXXX), (Studi e Testi, 93), Città del Vaticano, 1939, p. 246, 27-29. h The Syriac word mdabbranuta here may be the translation of the Greek oîkonomía, i.e. the divine economy or dispensation. i I render the Syriac verb s‘r in this fragment by “to work”, when it is used in connection with the notion of the divine economy; cfr Eph. 1:11. j I.e. the homo assumptus. k The same Syriac word maÌsabta “thought” etc. is used (see above, note g). l I.e. the verbum assumens. m My translation is once again offered with reservations, since the Syriac word tar¨ita “mind”, “reflection”, “opinion” etc. can represent different Greek words. There may be a connection with Eph. 1:11, where the Syriac text renders the Greek próqesiv by tar¨ita. n I.e. the verbum assumens. o Acts 10:9-12. p Acts 10:10. 70 G.J. REININK completely occupied by the seeing of the things which were revealed to him. At that time then there was nothing in his mind but only those things which appeared to him in the revelation. However, to our Lord, Christ according to the fleshq, he who was assumed for the sake of these and such good thingsr, this happens unceasingly and in an inexpressible way, because such a seeing departs not at all from his mind, since all things that happened to him exceed and surpass all human comprehen- sion. For he is completely the treasure of divine “reflections”s and “thoughts”t, and those “thoughts”u are unceasingly and always in him, which are in the divine nature working the (divine) economy of all things.” And other similar (words) which this great Doctor brings forth, connecting with such (words) (the view), that because of these (things) hev is the hope of everybody.

4. Closing Remark

The authenticity of Simon's quotation from Theodore's Contra magos is beyond question. Its style and contents reflect Theodore's ideological world as it is known to us from his other works. Moreover, as it appears from the quotations from still surviving works of Theodore in Simon's On the Union, there is no reason to question the accuracy of Simon's at- tributing the present fragment to Theodore's Contra magos28. Since the conditions concerning the literary character of the fragment do not differ essentially from those of Simon's quotations from other works of Theo- dore, we may assume that the fragment is derived from a rather old

q Rom. 9:5. Cfr Cat. Hom. III, 6, VIII, 10, R. TONNEAU-R. DEVREESSE (eds.), Les homélies catéchétiques de Théodore de Mopsueste (Studi e Testi, 145), Città del Vaticano, 1949, pp. 60-61, 200-201. r For the concept of the “good things” in Theodore's works, see R.A. GREER, The Captain of our Salvation (Beiträge zur Geschichte der biblischen Exegese, 15), Tübingen, 1973, pp. 183-189. s See above, note m. t See above, note g. u The Syriac word used here is Ìussaba “thought”, “intention”, “design”, etc. It may be assumed that its meaning here does not differ very much from the meaning of the preceding words maÌsabta and tar¨ita. v I.e. Christ.

28 Simon's quotations from Theodore's Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets (Nah. 1:1), the Commentary on the Twelve Minor Epistles of St. Paul (Eph. 1:23) and the Catechetical Homilies are accurate. Apart from Simon's quotation from the Contra magos there are three shorter quotations from Theodore's lost work On the Incarnation (Book II, V, XII); see REININK, The Quotations (n. 8). NEW FRAGMENT OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA'S CONTRA MAGOS 71

Syriac translation of Contra magos29. However, the question of whether Simon took the quotation directly from this Syriac translation or from some intermediate source, must remain for the moment open.

University of Groningen G.J. REININK Department of Languages and Cultures of the Middle East Oude Boteringestraat 23 NL-9712 GC Groningen The Netherlands

29 See REININK, The Quotations (n. 8), for the example of Theodore's exegesis of Eph. 1:23 representing an old Syriac translation of Theodore's Commentary on the Twelve Minor Epistles of St. Paul.