Bardesanes
The father of Syriac poetry, Bardesanes (or Bar-Daisan) was born into a pagan family c. 154 in Edessa. At 25, he converted to Christianity and was later ordained a deacon or a priest. He was among the earliest Christian converts in Syria and was also associated with the court of Abgar VIII. He wrote 150 hymns, as well as treatises on philosophy and astrology. The latter do not survive. His Dialogue of Destiny, of the Book of the Laws of the Countries, which his disciple Philip recorded, is the oldest known original poem in Syriac. Bardesanes rejects the fatalism of Aristotle and the determinism of astrology. He also rejects the resurrection of the body and believes that Christ's body was not a real human body. Bardesanes suggests that a hierarchy of dieties created the world; his cosmology may have influenced Mani. Ephrem of Syria attacks Bardesanes, who died c. 222 in Edessa, in his poetry.
Karen Rae Keck
including the header and this copyright remain intact.