Light In The Dark Ages 5s554b

Light in the Dark Ages

By Daniel Zimmermann

The title may surprise the reader. I am a Lutheran; and by the standard of Lutheran theology, most of the authors who wrote in the early Middle Ages were heretics and the papacy was the Antichrist.

Nevertheless, even though these Medieval lights were not perfect, they did provide Christian illumination. Hopefully God forgave their theological shortcomings, so that we may greet them in heaven. After all, Christ died for everyone, including the Antichrist.

We shall focus on the seventh century A.D. All the authors treated spent at least a few years of their lives in this time period. Pope Gregory the Great

Let us start with a pope. Gregory the Great occupied the papal chair from 590 to 604. In spite of his power, he was a humble man. He called himself “the servant of the servants of God,” and I think that he really meant it. Moreover, when the patriarch of Constantinople enjoyed the title “ecumenical patriarch,” Gregory objected to the term, and he never used it himself.

In his early life, Gregory was fairly well-to-do. However, he gave away all his money, some for the sake of ecclesiastical concerns and the rest to the poor.

Since he had become a monk, this was not unusual, for poverty was one of the vows that monks had to make. However, what was unusual was his continued concern for poor widows, as well as others. When he became pope, he used his power to help the needy.

His concern for others extended not only to their physical needs, but also to their spiritual welfare. At this time, the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of England were enthralled by pagan philosophy. Gregory sent Augustine to help them (not to be confused with the significant African theologian of the same name).

Like all popes, Gregory was an author. However, he did not restrict himself to papal bulls. In addition, he wrote some beautiful hymns, such as a hymn to the Trinity entitled: “Tu, Trinitas in Unitas.” It is a morning hymn. Interestingly, one line of this hymn fits in with our theme. Gregory prays: “Fill us with Thy light.” Eastern Theologians of the Seventh Century

Now let us look at a few eastern theologians: Anastasius Sinaïta, Andreas of Caesarea, Babai the Great, Dadisho Qatraya, Isaac of Nineveh, Gabriel of Qatar, John Climacus, Leontius of Jerusalem, Maximus the Confessor, Joseph Moschus, John the Almoner, Sergius I of Constantinople, Sophronius of Jerusalem, and Timothy of Constantinople.

Anastasius Sinaïta

Anastasius Sinaïta, as his name implies, spent much of his life in a monastery at Mount Sinai. He eventually became its abbot.

Some of his excellent writings are extant. Hodegos, known in English as Guide along the Right Path, defends the theology of the Calcedonian Creed. This creed is accepted not only by the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, but also by Lutherans. The work of Anasasius refutes the opinions of the monophysites, monothelites, and Jews.

Anastasius also wrote a work entitled Questiones et Responsiones. It is a work that offers pastoral advice on various subjects. Scholars found it difficult to reconstruct the text that Anastasius wrote because later authors altered the text radically as time ed. I believe that this was because it was widely used in church work. Those who used it probably adapted it so that it more accurately fulfilled their needs.

According to Wikipedia, this work is of historical value. At this time, the Moslems were conquering Sinai, Egypt, etc. Questiones et Responsiones includes material that sheds light on how Christians suffered during this invasion.

Interestingly, the monastery, popularly known as Saint Catherine’s Monastery, is still alive and well. Its continued existence in the Moslem world is an interesting story, but it is beyond the scope of this article, so I’ll let you read it for yourselves.

Andreas of Caesarea

The term “Caesarea” may cause confusion. Andreas was bishop of the Caesarea that is located in Cappadocia. His important contribution to Christian literature is an influential commentary on the book of Revelation.

Babai the Great

According to Nestorian.org, Christians living in Sassanian territory were often persecuted because of their connection with Christians living in the territory of their enemy, the Roman Empire. Therefore, a few years before the Council of Ephesus (431), they decided to develop their own organization, separate from their Roman brethren.

When Nestorianism was condemned in the Council of Ephasis, many eastern Christians sympathized with Nestorius, but the Church of the East did not take a stand on the issue.

However, various factors goaded them into taking a stand. They were very unhappy when the second Council of Constantinople condemned Theodore of Mopsuestia, whose theology was very influential in the east. Later the patriarch of the Church of the East died in 609, and Chosroes II, the Sassanian king, did not allow them to choose a successor.

In dealing with these problems, Babai the Great earned the title by which he has become known. Together with an archdeacon named Mar Aba, he gave stopgap guidance to the leaderless church. In addition, he wrote voluminously on various subjects. His principal surviving work on Christology is The Book of Union.

Was his Christology really Nestorian? Did he make two persons out of Christ? The key is this. Did he believe in the communication of attributes? Did he recognize that the attributes of Christ’s divine nature were communicated to His human nature and that the attributes of His human nature were communicated to His divine nature? Did he recognize therefore that Mary was the mother of God, and that God suffered and died for us on the cross? This is the Biblical Christology set forth at the Council of Chalcedon.

For what it is worth, my feeling is that his theology is a compromise. He paid lip service to the communication of attributes, but it seems that he felt repugnance to the concept of God’s suffering on the cross. ittedly, my information is second-hand.

Chosroes II died in 628; so the Church of the East was free to choose a new patriarch. They wanted Babai the Great, but he refused. He may have been sick. At any rate, he also died in 628.

Dadisho Qatraya

Dadisho of Qatar was an ascetic whose writings deal with mystic solitude. He wrote in Syriac, but his works have been translated into other languages, such as Sogdian and Arabic. I believe that his emphasis on contemplative solitude represent an early stage of a tendency that later developed into hesychasm, which the Encyclopaedia Britannica defines as “in eastern Christianity, a type of monastic life in which practitioners seek divine quietness through the contemplation of God in uninterrupted prayer.”

Dadisho was the author of Seven Weeks of Solitude, On Stillness, Commentary on Abba Isaiah, Commentary on the Paradise of the Fathers, etc.

Abba Isaiah, a fifth century author, lived in the Scetis Valley of Egypt. He wrote Asceticon, a book offering advice to monks. Dadisho and Isaiah apparently were kindred spirits.

Paradise of the Fathers is a Syriac translation of Greek works on monasticism. It was written by Enanisho, an older contemporary of Dadisho.

Isaac of Nineveh

The reader has undoubtedly noticed that many of the writers that we are treating are monks. I fully agree with Martin Luther’s analysis of monasticism. That being said, we acknowledge that the lives and writings of many monks offer light to the world. After all, they devoted their lives to our Lord Jesus Christ.

As you may expect from the foregoing introduction, Isaac of Nineveh was a monk. He is also known as Isaac of Qatar. Note that Qatar (Beth Qatraya or Beth Qatraye) used to refer to a a fairly extensive region. Wikipedia describes it as “a mixed Syriac and Arabic speaking region encoming the south east of Mesopotamia and the north eastern Arabian peninsula.”

The life of Isaac of Nineveh is easily summarized. He spent his youth in a monastery, reading voraciously and becoming a learned man. He became bishop of Nineveh. He did not like it and resigned after a few months of service. He lived as an anchorite for many years. He became blind and had to return to a monastery in his old age.

The fame of Isaac rests primarily on his sermons. Unfortunately, my comments are not based on the Syriac originals, but I did run across the English translation of the homily cited in the footnotes.

His forte is Christian sanctification, and his presentation is very clever. For example, he says: “Liberality ed with blows is a knife fixed and concealed in

honey.”

Moreover, to warn against fornication, he says: “Chastity and conversation with a woman is like a lioness and a lamb in one dwelling.” Of course, Isaac’s comment reflects his monastic point of view. However, his warning applies to other people as well. It is a mistake to be unduly familiar with a woman to whom you are not married.

Isaac seems to have an irable love for God; but is it based on the saving sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ?

In the work cited in the footnotes, Isaac says: “The Son of God endured the Cross, therefore let us sinners boldly rely on repentance.”

Gabriel of Qatar

At least two ancient lights were called Gabriel of Qatar, probably more. One was also called Gabriel Arya. All his writings have been lost, except for some quotations by other authors. Like Babai the Great, he belonged to the Church of the East. Isaac of Nineveh was his relative.

Another author named Gabriel of Qatar was more fortunate. His commentary on the East Syrian liturgy has survived to the present day.

John Climacus

The Greek word klîmax means “ladder,” so John Climacus is “John of the Ladder.” He acquired this nickname because of his significant work. Its English title is Ladder of Divine Ascent.

I shall not say anything about his life, because the only available material seems to be ancient legend and modern conjecture. Even his placement in the seventh century is not absolutely certain.

His work is a sort of method by which a soul may ascend to Jesus through various ascetic practices. There are thirty rungs on this ladder.

We hope that he based his ascent to God on the justifying work of our Savior. I have not been able to examine his work, either in the original or in translation, so I hesitate to make any judgment.

Leontius of Jerusalem

Leontius has been a source of confusion for scholars. Leontius of Byzantium was apparently a writer who died around 543 A.D. Leontius of Jerusalem has occasionally been considered a seventh century author, but he may have lived in the sixth. In addition, some have claimed that there was only a single Leontius who wrote all the works in question. Assuming that we are dealing with two authors, they both opposed the Nestorianism and Monophysitism.

Maximus the Confessor

Maximus participated in the Monothelite controversy. The monothelites wanted to deprive our Lord of one of His two wills, but Maximus and others staunchly defended the orthodox doctrine.

He suffered grievous persecution for his faithfulness to God’s Word. He was imprisoned, mutilated, and exiled.

The persecution that he suffered actually resulted from his refusal to obey the emperor’s Typos, which forbade any further discussion of Christ’s will or wills. It is wrong to be silent in situations that call for a confession of the truth.

His faith was vindicated in the sixth ecumenical council (680-681), but he did not live long enough to witness it.

Whatever darkness may have occurred in his teachings and writings, his light shone brilliantly when interrogated by authorities. Since he rejected the Typos of the Greek emperor Constans II and approved of the opposition of the Roman pope Martin I, he was asked: “Why do you love the Romans and hate the Greeks?” To this he replied: “We have a precept that says not to hate anyone. I love the Romans as those who share the same faith, and the Greeks as sharing the same language.”

John Moschus . John Moschus spent most of his life in the Middle East. He spent time at monasteries not far from the place where Christ was born, He also went to Egypt

and Mount Sinai. Toward the end of his life, he visited Cyprus and Rome.

Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, was his friend. When he died in the year 619 A. D., Sophronius buried him at the monastery of St. Theodosius not far from Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

I would say that scholarship was not John’s forte. However, during his extensive travels, he met many interesting ascetics. As a result, he had a lot of stories to tell. The result was a work entitled “Spiritual Meadow.” It was dedicated to Sophronius.

Sergius I of Constantinople

In the Council of Chalcedon the ancient church acknowledged that Jesus Christ possessed both a divine and a human nature in one person. However, there were throngs of schismatic Monophysites, and Emperor Heracleas wanted to bring this schism to an end.

To effect a reconciliation, Heracleas consulted Sergius, the patriarch of Constantinople.

The patriarchate of Sergius had begun in the year 610 A, D. Heracleas had become emperor in the same year. Because of a Sassanid invasion, he was not able to deal with the religious problems in his empire for a long time.

Eventually Sergius suggested a compromise formula that they hoped everyone

would accept. They acknowledged that Christ had two natures but claimed that He possessed one divine-human energy.

Many Monophysites like this formula. They were willing to give up their idea that Christ had only one nature if they could believe that He had only one energy.

However, Sophonius of Jerusalem and others recognized that Jesus was completely human and completely divine; so they insisted that Christ had two energies.

Sophronius had plenty of energy himself. Since Sergius had presuaded many church leaders to accept monoergism, Sophonius visited Sergius and the patriarch of Alexandria in a vain effort to reclaim them to orthodoxy. In addition, when he became patriarch of Jerusalem, he wrote persuasive letters to Sergius and to all the other patriarchs, including Pope Honorius, but probably not the patriarchs who resided in Aquileia and Grado.

Eventually Heracleas and Sergius had to discard monoergism. Sergius drew up a new formula which Heracleas published in a document called the Ekthesis. This decree forbade any further discussion of whether Christ had one or two energies and claimed that Christ had only one will.

The Ekthesis was published in the year 638. Both Sergius and Sophronius died that very same year (according to Wikipedia). Other theologians had to deal with the resulting Monothelite controversy. As we have noted before, the Sixth Ecumenical Council pointed out that Christ had both a divine and a human will.

Sophronius of Jerusalem

We have met Sophronius in the last two articles. To recapitulate, he faithfully opposed the heresy of monoergism, and he became patriarch of Jerusalem late in life.

The light of his faith shone brightly when the ,Muslims were besieging Jerusalem. The emperor had tried to protect Palestine and other nearby territories, but he had failed. Now it was up to Patriarch Sophronius to deal with the imminent disaster. Surrender was inevitable, but Sophronius insisted on dealing with Caliph Omar personally. Why? I think it is because this caliph was a reasonable man, particularly when dealing with Christians, whom he seemed to respect.

At any rate, according to the of the surrender, Christians were to enjoy religious and civil liberty. Undoubtedly, this provision shows the concern of Sophronius for his fellow Christians.

Many of the writings of Sophronius were polemical, but he was also a poet. For example, he loved Jerusalem, and two of his poems concern his beloved city. Here is an excerpt of from one of them, printed in English translation by Enlarging the Heart:

“Holy city of God, Jerusalem, how I long to stand even now at your gates, and go in, rejoicing.”

Together with John Moschus, he wrote a biography of John the Almoner.

John V, Patriarch of Alexandria

John was born on the island of Cyprus. He was the son of its governor. He probably would have died in obscurity, but his wife and children died, so he sought consolation in religion.

Eventually he succeeded a man named Theodore as patriarch of Alexandria. He was a conscientious prelate who built churches and fought heresy and various abuses. But he is chiefly known for his generosity. For this reason, his nickname is John the Almoner. When the Muslims invaded Egypt, he returned to Cyprus, where he died in 616 A, D,

Timothy of Constantinople

Timothy was a presbyter in the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. He believed the truths promulgated by the Council of Chalcedon and wrote an elaborate work on heresies.

According to Wikipedia, his chief concern was the steps to follow when reitting heretics to Christian fellowship. For this reason, he classified all the heresies of which he had any knowledge, putting them into three different groups. Some heretics had to be baptized before being itted to the Church. Others only had to be anointed. Still others merely had to renounce their heresy.

Western Theologians of the Seventh Century

The Venerable Bede Though born in the seventh century, the Venerable Bede lived well into the eighth, dying in the year 735 A.D.

At this time, England was divided into several independant kingdoms, sometimes called a Heptarchy. Bede lived in Northumbria, the largest and northernmost of these kingdoms.

He spent most of his life in monasteries. Besides being a monk, he eventually became a priest.

He was a voluminous writer. His principle work is Ecclesiastical History of the English People. He received some assistance from Albinus, the abbot of St. Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, who apparently sent him information on the ecclesiastical history of Kent. Since Kent was a kingdom in southern England, Bede probably would have had trouble finding out this information by himself.

With a few possible exceptions, the language Bede used in his works was Latin. He wrote in an elegant and readable style.

As we would expect, Bede’s history is a fruitful source for modern works on Anglo-Saxon England, and some of the facts that he presents have found their way into college history texts. For example, school texts tell us that Penda, a powerful pagan ruler of Mercia, defeated and killed Edwin, the first Christian king of Northumbria. Perhaps the average college text would fail to mention a

fact nicely supplied by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, namely, that Penda enjoyed the assistance of King Cadwallon of Gwynedd in northern Wales when he invaded Northumbria. All this information comes from Bede. By the way, this battle took place around 632 A.D.

Bede is also the source of our information on the Council of Whitby, in which King Oswy of Northumbria agreed to accept the pope as his spiritual guide as far as time for celebrating Easter and other matters were concerned. This council occurred in 664, more or less.

Bede was one of the first writers to promote and use the birth of Christ as the pivotal point for reckoning time. To calculate the birth of Christ, he and others used data supplied by Dionysius Exiguus.

In a work entitled De temporum ratione, Bede attempted to calculate the date when God created the world, and he came close to the date later calculated by Ussher. Others, following the Septuagint, complained vociferously. When the Septuagint is used as the basis of calculation, the earth is thought to be considerably older than it actually is.

Bede also wrote commentaries on the books of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In addition, he wrote other theological works and various sermons. Because of these writings, he has earned the title Doctor Anglorum.

In addition, Bede wrote on poetic meters, and some Latin and Old English poetry is attributed to him. It is also believed that he translated the gospel of John into Old English. If so, the translation is no longer extant.

Isadore of Seville

Isadore was archbishop of Seville in the Visigothic kingdom of Spain. He died in 636 AD.

When I decided to call this e-book Light in the Dark Ages, I was referring to Christianity because Jesus calls Christians the light of the world. This applies, of course, to Isadore of Seville. He was, after all, a Christian.

However, Isadore also furnished a different type of light in this dark period of history. He was an excellent scholar, and he furnished intellectual light to his benighted contemporaries. You may object that many of the spiritual lights which I have treated above also furnished intellectual light. However, the term “Dark Ages” does not apply to the Byzantine Empire, but only to western Europe. Moreover, the term is relative. Several scholars gave intellectual light to western Europe in the so called Dark Ages.

In fact, Catholic Online testifies that Spain was not very dark during this period, thanks to Isadore’s intellectual light.

His chief work is called Etymologiae. As the name implies, the origin of words plays an important role in this work. However, the work is a sort of encyclodedia. To provide his readers with knowledge, Isadore quotes appropriate ancient works at length.

The Ancient History Encyclopedia gives a list of the subjects treated in Etymologies. Included are grammar, rhetoric mathematics, music, astronomy, medicine, laws, languages, vocabulary, animals, stones, metals, war, ships, etc.

Needless to say, religion is included. Book VIII treats the church and heretical sects, and Book VII discusses God, angels, and the saints.

Besides his Etymologies, Isadore wrote many other works. Some titles are History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandels, and Suevi; Questions on the Old Testament; and Concerning Famous Men.

Ildefonsus

Ildefonsus was abbot of Agali and later archbishop of Toledo in the Visigothic kingdom of Spain. He died in 667 AD.

In ancient and Medieval history, we often run across the sentiment: “Noli episcopari.” This means “I do not want to be a bishop.” This was the attitude of Ildefonsus. He preferred the seclusion of the monastery to the public ministry.

Ildefonsus wrote works on baptism and a work entitled Concerning Famous Men. The latter was a continuation of Isadore’s work of the same name.

He also believed that Mary remained a virgin all her life. This is very unlikely, but most of his contemporaries believed it; His book on the subject took issue with three authors that had a more sensible idea.

Julian of Toledo

Like Ildefonsus, Julian was abbot of Agali. In the year 680 he became the archbishop of Toledo. He died in the year 690.

One of his works bears the title Prognosticum Faturi Saeculi, which makes some educated guesses concerning the experiences a person is likely to encounter after he dies.

He also wrote against Judaism. Interestingly, he himself was of Jewish extraction.

Like many of the theologians treated above, he was canonized, so that he is often called “Saint Julian of Toledo.” The title is appropriate, since all Christians are saints, but I did not deem it necessary to supply these titles in this article. References

Wikipedia: Anastasius Sinaita

Nestorian.org: Is the Church of the East…

Wikipedia: Dadisho Qatraya

Encyclopaedia Britannica: Hesychasm

JBBurnet.com: Isaac the Syrian, Homily 51

New Advent: Johannes Moschus

Wikipedia: The Siege of Jerusalem (636-637)

Enlarging the Heart: Sophronius…

The Encyclopaedia Britannica: Penda

Catholic Online: Isadore of Seville

Ancient History Encyclopedia: Etymologiae