On God or Against the Sects

Description

Arthur Rosh, [04/11/25 14:40]:

Eznik of Kolb composed the first treatise of theology in Armenian.

It is focused on the issue of good, evil, and free will, and directed against the various forms of dualism.

It has survived untitled in one manuscript. Modern editors and translators have titled it: On God or Against the Sects

If not for the Grace of God and the efforts of the scribe Luser, the book would have been lost forever. For it was in 1280, by Luser's hand, that the sole surviving copy was made at the University of Gladzor in the Province of Siunik, some 20 miles southeast of Yerevan.

The life of a book is precarious. One wonders whether it could simply be an accident that one day 700 years ago a certain monk began copying a book written 800 years earlier and that this book (Matenadaran manuscript No. 1097) should have reached us to be retold in a distant time and land.

The original is preserved in a unique handwritten copy from 1280. It was first published in Smyrna (Izmir) in 1762 by Nalean. The second edition was published in 1826 in Venice by Bagratuni. It was translated and published in French (Paris, 1853 and 1959), in German (Vienna, 1900, Munich, 1927), in Russian (Yerevan, 1968). The last edition was published in Yerevan in 2008.

The significance of the book is set forth by Eznik:

"We, out of love for our friends and because of the mistaken views of our opponents, are obliged, within our bounds and with the help of God's grace, to undertake this study, confident that our readers will be open-minded and straight-thinking.

"Eznik uses an extensive library of Greek and Syriac patristic texts, including the Apology of Aristides and Ephrem’s Hymns against Heresies. Its main source is the treatise On Free Will by Methodius of Olympus

"The basic themes are absolute monotheism, free will and self-discipline. It rejects the idea of fate and preaches the need for a struggle between good and evil. It shows the groundlessness of superstition, fatalism, astrology and paganism."

cf. Orengo, Alessandro. “Eznik of Kołb as a Translator of Methodius of Olympus.” In Greek Texts and Armenian Traditions: An Interdisciplinary Approach , edited by Francesca Gazzano, Lara Pagani, and Giusto Traina. De Gruyter, 2016. DOI 10.1515/9783110489941-005.

The conversion of Armenia is traditionally dated to 314 when Gregory the Illuminator (c. 240-332) baptized King Trdat (298-330) and the royal family. Not until the fifth century did there develop both a Christian literature for Armenians in the Armenian languages, and the beginnings of a literary tradition in several genres which provided a coherent argument against the old religion of Zoroastrianism and made for the creation of Armenia as a Christian nation. Eznik of Kolb, later bishop of Bagrewand, studied in Edessa and in Constantinople among that first generation of Armenian Christians who made available in the newly established Armenian script translations of Greek and Syriac texts, including the Bible and other early Christian writings. Eznik composed a treatise of theology and apologetic in Armenian which has survived untitled in one manuscript. Modern editors and translators have titled this treatise On God or Against the Sects. Eznik addressed perceived threats to Christianity in Armenia from heretical and non-Christian movements, among them Valentinian Gnosticism and the schools of Greek philosophy, Marcionism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrian Zurvanism. Eznik's sources include the Bible; ancient Greek, non-Christian literature; earlier Greek patristic treatises and other works; Syriac patristic texts; and Iranian works either written or oral, concerning the Zurvanite form of Zoroastrianism and Armenian paganism. The central concern of the book is to contrast the monotheistic Christian God with the dualistic or polytheistic deities and religions of his opponents. Eznik's book is unusual in several aspects. It is the first apologetic treatise composed in Armenian, and it also provides a summary of early Christian doctrine as Eznik understood it. It contains unique information on the fifth-century teachings of Zurvanism and Marcionism. It attests to an Armenian theology conversant with both Syriac and Greek sources. It also opens a window into pre-Christian Armenian mythology and folklore. The English translation is based on the critical edition of Louis Maries and Charles Mercier.