Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Jacob Baradaeus: The defender of Oriental Orthodox faith.


Introduction
Jacob Baradaeus, a Bishop well schooled in Greek and Syriac with a reputation for austerity and discipline, secluded himself in a monastery in Constantinople. Though an opponent of Chalcedonian Christology. He is a saint who is revered highly by the church. In this short essay I am trying to give a small description about the Jacob Baradaeus.
Biography
He was born in the city of Tall Mawzalt in Turkey, and was son of a priest named Theophilos Bar Mano. Depending on the wishes of his parents, the child was placed at a young age at local monastery, where he did a solid study under the leadership of Father Eustathius who taught him Greek and Aramaic culture. At a young age he was ordained a monk in the monastery of Fsilta, and subsequently he became the principal of that monastery. On the death of his parents, he inherited the family land and property as well as some slaves, at least he chooses to free them and give them all his possessions. Their choice would be a good idea. So it seemed in distress, Baradaeus was one of those who ultimately ensured the survival not only of the Oriental Orthodox Church but also its dramatic revival. For nearly thirty years, he tirelessly traveled the roads of Syria, Arabia Petrea, Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt and Persia. Preaching to crowds, visiting churches and monasteries, ordered under the authority of apostolic ready, bishops and patriarchs.
He was educated in the monastery of Phasilta near Nisibis, lived for fifteen years as a monk in Constantinople, and was consecrated bishop in 541 or 543. Clad in rags, he then wandered from Egypt to the Euphrates and to the islands of the Mediterranean for nearly forty years, expounding his doctrines, ordaining deacons and priests, and consecrating bishops, doing his work in the daytime and traveling at night sometimes forty miles to a new place of labor. He is said to have consecrated two patriarchs and twenty-seven bishops, and to have created 100,000 priests and deacons. He died at Edessa in 578.

Lifestyle
He wore a simple cloth which reflected his humbleness. He wore the same clothing all his life, and every time a part of his clothing was ripped off, he put it together. That is reason he is called "Burd'ono" which means "fixed". One of his most famous words are "Better for the soul to be lifted by the serenity of the good deeds than to be lost in what leads to everlasting suffering". During this time the Emperor Justinian had continued and even step up its campaign to eradicate Oriental Orthodox doctrines. Baradaeus was took refuge from his imperial persecutors at the court of the Ghassanid Christian king . In Seleucia he is said to have visited the court of Chosroes I 559 to gain tolerance for the Oriental Orthodox Christians.


Theology
He was a great and educated theologian, who spent most of his time praying and fasting, in order to be able to convey the word of God to the people. In the monastery he did theological studies, learned the Syriac and Greek languages, and read books that concerned the hermit life. He struggled very hard to keep the Syrian Orthodox faith pure from all the heretical thoughts. He wanted everybody to understand that the faith was the most important in a Christian life. He was also known for his God-fearing and humbleness. He was preached for the theology of Oriental Orthodox Church. (Jesus Christ, is perfect God with respect to His divinity, perfect man with respect to His humanity. In Him His divinity is united with His humanity in a real, perfect union without mingling, without confusion, without alteration, without division, without separation.)
Conclusion
At this critical stage, God raised up an in¬defatigable man to protect the church. Through his efforts to preserve the Oriental Orthodox faith in the time of persecution.




Bibliography

Rustum, A. The Church of the City of God, Great Antioch, 3 vols. Beirut, 1966..,R. Duval, La Literature syriaque, Paris 1900; E. Sachau, Am Euphrat und Tigris, Leipsic, 1900., J. B. Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien, patriarche jacobique d'Antioche (1166-1199), 2 vols., Paris, 1900-04; F. C. Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity,London, 1904; L. Silbernagl, Verfassung und gegenwrtiger Bestand s�mtlicher Kirchen des Orients, Regensburg, 1904; Harnack, Dogma, passim; KL, xi. 1124-34; the periodicals mentioned in the last paragraph above, together with Echos d'orient; and the literature under EUTYCHIANISM; MONOPHYSITES. On Jacob Baradaeus consult H. G. Kleyn, Jacobus Baradeus, Leyden, 1882; DCB, iii. 328-332.Atiya, A. S. A History of Eastern Christianity. London, 1967;Chebot, J. B., ed. and trans. Chronique de Michelle Syrien, patriarche jacobite d'Antioche 1166- 99, 3 vols. Paris, 1899-1903;Honigmann, H. Evêques et évêchés monophysites d'Asie antérieure au VIe siècle. CSCO 127, Subsidia, Vol. 2. Louvain, 1951;Kleyn, H. G. Iacobus Baradeus--de Stichter der Syrische monophysitische Kerk. Leiden, 1882.

Visitors No