Simeon of Beth Arsham: Difficulties of Confessional Identification in the Christian Orient

Simeon of Beth Arsham, a priest and later bishop of the Church of the East, the main Christian community in Sasanian Iran, was one of the most prominent figures in the Syriac tradition. Simeon’s activity began at the turn of the 5th — 6th centuries, when this community was under the strong influence of the extreme dyophysite Christology of the Antiochene school, which prepared the East Syrian tradition for the subsequent reception of Nestorianism. Being a supporter of Christological views diametrically opposed to Antiochene theology, Simeon actively fought against the “Nestorianization” of his native tradition. On the basis of sources dedicated to the “Persian debater”, as well as Simeon’s own writings, the author clarifies the relative and absolute chronology of his life, the confessional status of Simeon’s doctrine within Nicene Christianity, and also considers his struggle with the “Nestorians” not as a set of disparate measures, but as a system of strategies aimed to narrow down the influence of extreme Antiochene theology in Iran.

Keywords

Simeon of Beth Arsham, Syriac Christianity, intrareligious polemics, human capital, Sasanian Iran, Church of the East, religious policy of Byzantine emperors, Armenian Church

Acknowledgment

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 19-29-07549 “Human capital of the Middle Ages: typology, structures, strategies of its increment (Western Europe, Byzantium, Middle East)”.

Received

08.09.2022

Publication date

15.12.2022

Number of characters

66090

Cite

GOST	Zabolotnyi E. Simeon of Beth Arsham: Difficulties of Confessional Identification in the Christian Orient // ISTORIYA – 2022. – V. 13. – Issue 11 (121) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840023159-3-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840023159-3
MLA	Zabolotnyi, Evgenii "Simeon of Beth Arsham: Difficulties of Confessional Identification in the Christian Orient." ISTORIYA 13.11 (121) (2022) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840023159-3
APA	Zabolotnyi E. (2022). Simeon of Beth Arsham: Difficulties of Confessional Identification in the Christian Orient. ISTORIYA 13(11 (121)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840023159-3

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