The synodical letters between the non-Chalcedonian patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch included in the manuscript: ‘The confession of the fathers’ (i‘tirāf al-ābā’) and the impact of Arabization on their exposition of non-Chalcedonian Christology
von Emad Youssef
Datum der mündl. Prüfung:2019-09-10
Erschienen:2021-09-30
Betreuer:Prof. Dr. Heike Behlmer
Gutachter:Prof. Dr. Martin Tamcke
Gutachter:Prof. Dr. Yohanna Nessim
Dateien
Name:PhD Thesis_EY.pdf
Size:5.90Mb
Format:PDF
Zusammenfassung
Englisch
The synodical letters are the correspondences exchanged between the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch upon their installment on their apostolic see. The main objective of the synodical letters between the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, is to confirm the synodical ecclesiastical communion of faith between the two patriarchs. These letters were opportunities for each church to reaffirm its loyalty to the faith of the major figures of the Alexandrine non-Chalcedonian Christology such as Athanasius, Cyril, Dioscorus, Severus, and Theodosius. The synodical letters, therefore, include a profession of the non-Chalcedonian faith in which the patriarchs offered a doctrinal exposition in clear terms and showed why they would not accept the council of Chalcedon. The most ancient letter preserved from the correspondence between the two anti-Chalcedonian sees was the letter from Severus of Antioch (512–538) to John of Alexandria (505–516), which must be dated between 512 and 516. The synodical letters examined in this thesis are extracted from an Arabic manuscript: ‘The confession of the fathers’ (i‘tirāf al-ābā’), which includes thirty-two letters. These letters cover a time range from Severus of Antioch (512) until Christodoulus of Alexandria (†1077), i.e. from the early 6th century to the third quarter of the 11th century. The terminus post quem for compiling this manuscript would be 1077 since the last letters mentioned in the manuscript are those of Christodoulus. When exactly the synodical letters started being composed in Arabic remains unclear since following the Arab conquest, Arabic gradually began to dominate, and slowly replace the native languages of Egypt and Syria. The synodical letters from the 6th century to the mid-7th century and may be later, were most probably composed in Greek, as e.g. the letters of Severus of Antioch and Theodosius of Alexandria. Greek was common in both Egypt and Syria during this period. Although the transition from local languages to Arabic may have started in Syria a little bit earlier than what happened in Egypt, Arabic definitely became the primary language in both regions from the 11th century onwards. This would suggest that the synodical letters as well started being composed in Arabic from the beginning of the 11th century. This assumption is supported by the course of arabization and the development of the theological language of the letters. With regards to the intermediate period between the domination of the Greek and the Arabic languages respectively in both Egypt and Syria, i.e. from the mid-7th to the late 10th century, it is unclear whether the synodical letters exchanged between the two regions, were composed in Greek or in the local language of each region: Coptic in Egypt and Syriac in Antioch. In case of the earlier, there is a probability that either church would have translated the synodical letters into their local language upon receiving them. Thus, we have two groups of synodical letters: Group A includes letters 1 – 20 (early 6th century - late 10th century) and can be assumed to have been translated into Arabic (after an intermediate translation into local languages of the either regions); Group B includes letters 21 – 32 (from the early 11th century) which were most probably composed originally in Arabic. The exposition of non-Chalcedonian Christology in the synodical letters differs amongst Group A and Group B. The arabization which took place after the 10th century had a clear impact on Group B. Not only can a decline in the average number of Non-Chalcedonian Christological expressions in each letter be observed in group B, but also a diffidence in the expression of theological teachings. While in Group A the theological terminology was clear and precise, in Group B it appears toned down, imprecise and vague.
Keywords: synodical letters; non-Chalcedonian Christology; The confession of the fathers; arabization; Antioch; Egypt; Coptic; Severus of Antioch; Christodoulus of Alexandria