Sedre'li Yahya III (ö. 648)
Yazar
Sedre'li III. John 631'den 648'deki ölümüne kadar Antakya Patriği
ve Süryani Ortodoks Kilisesi'nin başıydı. Muhtemelen Ömer ibn el -Hattab'ın
halifeliği sırasında Umayr ibn Sad, Suriye'nin Humus valiliğine atandı. 874'te
yazılan Yahya ve Emir'in Tartışması adlı tek bir el yazmasında, Yahya'nın
İncil'in bütünlüğünü, Mesih'in kutsallığını ve Hıristiyan hukuk kaynaklarını
tartışmak için isimsiz bir emir tarafından çağrıldığı ayrıntılı olarak
anlatılır. Tartışma 9 Mayıs 644'te gerçekleşti ve emir Umayr ibn Sad el-Ansari
olarak tanımlandı 644'te gerçekleşen bu karşılaşmanın sekreteri tarafından
Süryanice raporu tek bir ms'de saklanıyor. 874'te yazılmıştır. Metinde,
özellikle miras hukuku üzerine bir tartışma olmak üzere, orijinal raporun daha
sonraki redaktörler tarafından, muhtemelen 8. ve hatta 9. yüzyılda elden
geçirildiğini düşündüren bir dizi unsur vardır. Tel Mah'lı Dionysius. (ö. 845)
Müslüman bir emir olan Bar'dan bahseder. Saʻd, patrik Antakyalı Yahya'yı bir
seyirci için çağırıyor. Yahya'nın sorularına verdiği yanıtlardan etkilenen
emir, ona İncil'i Arapçaya tercüme ettirmesini emretti. John ve Emir'e göre, bu
görüşme gerçekleşti 9 Mayıs Pazar. John'un görev süresi boyunca üç yıl vardı.
John 14 Aralık 648'de (AG 960) öldü ve Amid'deki Saint Zoora Kilisesi'ne gömüldü.
John'un ölümü Suriyeli Mikail, Chronicle of 819 ve Chronicle of 846 tarafından
648'de (AG 960) yer alırken, Zuqnin Chronicle 649/650 (AG 961) verir.
Biyografi Ephrem Barsoum, (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History
of Syriac Literature and Sciences. Translated by Matti Moosa (2nd ed.). Gorgias
Press, s.320-322;
“87. John of
the Sedros (d. 648)
John III, Patriarch of Antioch, was a prominent and energeticchurch
dignitary, a pious, intelligent and far-sighted man. Heentered the monastic
order at the Monastery of Ousebuna wherehe mastered Greek and Syriac as well as
theology. He became thedisciple and secretary of Athanasius I and succeeded him
to theApostolic See in 631 . He witnessed the Arab conquest of al-Jazira.He was
a man who faced difficulties and hardships with patienceand the course of
events made him compliant.
At his behest, the Gospels were translated from Syriac into Arabic
by skilled Christian Orthodox Arab translators from the Banu 'Uqayl, Tanukh,
and Tay at the request of 'Umayr Ibn Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas al-An�ari the Amir of al-Jazira around 643,1 but this translation did not
come down to us. He entered into an elaborate dialogue with this Amir on the
establishment of the facts of Christianity, which was written down by Severus,
one of his secretaries. It is titled "Letter of the Patriarch Mar John
concerning his conversation with the Amir of the Muslims." This letter was
translated into French and published by Nau.2
Joho also composed supplicatory prayers known as the sedros or husoyos,
which he incorporated into church rituals. They usually begin with praise and
glorification. Of these sedros we found a large collection in the oldest copy
at the British Museum,3 most of which undoubtedly came from the pen of this
father who was nicknamed "John of the Sedros." They are written in a
smooth and splendid style. Nine of these sedros bear his name, the first of
which is for Lent, the second for the resurrection, the third and the fourth
for the repentance of sinners, the fifth for the dispelling of ordeals, the
sixth for evening, night and day, the seventh for the morning, the eighth for
the dead and the ninth for the Friday morning of the fifth week of the
fasting.4 We have also found three of his husoyos for the celebration of the
eucharist, the first of which begins thus: "Praise be to the pure
sacrifice who became the priest of his person;" the second begins thus:
"Praise be to the heavenly Lord of hosts;" and the third begins: "O
Lord who art truly a good master."; He has also drawn a liturgy which
begins: "O Lord, who art delighted by love and enjoyest safety;"6 a
homily on the consecration of the Chrism, beginning thus: "Beloved
brethren let us talk philosophically a little bit in behalf of this present
sacred
1 Bar Hebraeus, Ecclesiastical HistOIJ', 1 : 275. Chronicle of the
anonymous Edessene, 1 : 263.
2 Published by Nau according to a Brit. Mus. MS. 1 7 1 93 in 1 9 1
5.
3 Brit. Mus. MS. 1 7 1 28 in 1 48 large size pages transcribed in
the tenth century.
4 Brit. Mus. MSS. 1 45 1 8, 1 4493, 1 4495 and 1 4499, and also
Paris MS. 1 059.
5 Paris MS. 75, also in a liturgy dated 1 486 at the village of
Fayruza.
6 Berlin MS. 1 5 1 .”
feast"1 and a letter to Marutha, Maphryono of Takrit, which he
wrote at the beginning of his patriarchate.2 He also wrote a magnificent
doctrinal treatise in thirty-nine pages addressed to Chorepiscopus Theodorus,
which he opened with a general proclamation to the children of the Holy Church
and declared in detail the creed of faith in support of the true apostolic
belief, citing as evidence the fathers, one of whom is John of Jerusalem.
Furthermore, he condemned in this treatise the heresy of the Phantasiasts and
concluded it with the history of the leaders of this heresy and the account of
their false ordinations.3 He died on the fourteenth of December, which is also
the day of his commemoration.
1 Brit. Mus. MS. 825.
2 Michael the Great, Chronicle, 2: 432.
3 Brit. Mus. 1 4629. Some Nestorian scholars ascribed to him the
orders for the Benediction of the Oil of Anointment and the Benediction of the
Water at the evening of the Epiphany.
Kitap
874'te Abraham adlı bir keşiş doksan dokuz yapraktan oluşan bir
kitap yazdı. El yazması artık British Library'de bulunuyor (BL Add. 17,193).
John ve Emir'e. Fraçois Nau bu metnin bir baskısını yayınladı 1915'te. Michael
Penn, 2008'de gözden geçirilmiş bir baskı yayınladı.
Kaynakça
Baumstark,
Literatur, 243–5.
Jean-Baptiste Chabot, ed. (1905). Chronique de Michel le Syrien.
Vol. III. Paris: Ernest Leroux; François Nau, ‘Un colloque du patriarche
Jean avec l’émir des Agaréens et faits divers des années 712 à 716’, JA 11.5”
(1915), 225–79; Andrew Palmer (1990). Monk and Mason on the Tigris Frontier:
The Early History of Tur Abdin. Cambridge University Press;
Jouko Martikainen, “Johannes I. Sedra. Einleitung, syrische Texte,
Übersetzung und vollständiges Wörterverzeichnis” (GOFS 34; 1991)”; Gerrit
Jan Reinink, “The beginnings of Syriac apologetic literature in response to
Islam”, OC 77 (1993), 165–87; Andrew Palmer, ed. (1993). The Seventh Century in the
West Syrian Chronicles. Liverpool University Press; Abdul-Massih Saadi, “The
letter of John of Sedreh. A new perspective on nascent Islam”, JAAS 11
(1997), 68–84; Amir Harrack (1999). The Chronicle of Zuqnin, Parts III and
IV A.D. 488–775. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies;
Barbara Roggema, ‘The Debate between Patriarch John and an emir of the
Mhaggrāyē: A Reconsideration of the earliest Christian-Muslim Debate’, in
Christlich-muslimische Gespräche im mittelalterlichen Orient, ed. M. Tamcke
(BTS 117; 2007), 21–39; Ephrem Barsoum (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History
of Syriac Literature and Sciences. Translated by Matti Moosa (2nd ed.). Gorgias
Press; Griffith, Sidney H. (2005). "Answering the Call of the Minaret:
Christian Apologetics in the World of Islam". In Jan Jacob van Ginkel;
Hendrika Lena Murre-van den Berg; Theo Maarten van Lint (eds.). Redefining
Christian Identity: Cultural Interaction in the Middle East Since the Rise of
Islam. Peeters Publishers. pp. 91–127; Ignatius Jacob III (2008). History
of the Monastery of Saint Matthew in Mosul. Translated by Matti Moosa.
Gorgias Press; M. Penn, ‘John and the Emir. A new introduction, edition, and
translation’, LM 121 (2008), 65–91; Barbara Roggema, (2008). "The
Disputation of John and Emir". In David Thomas; Barbara Roggema
(eds.). Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. Vol. 1.
Brill. pp. 782–785; Herman G. B Teule, (2011). Marianna Mazzola, ed. (2018). Bar 'Ebroyo's Ecclesiastical
History : writing Church History in the 13th century Middle East. PSL
Research University. Retrieved 31 May 2020; "Yuḥanon of the Sedre".
In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay
(eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage:
Electronic Edition. Retrieved 8 July 2020; David Wilmshurst, (2019). "West
Syrian patriarchs and maphrians". In Daniel King (ed.). The Syriac
World. Routledge. pp. 806–813;
John III of the Sedre
“Next, the letter of Mār John the patriarch concerning the
conversation that he had with the emir of the Hagarenes. Because we know that
you are anxious and afraid on our behalf due to the aff air for which we have
been called to this region [along with] the blessed and God-honored father,
lord, and patriarch of ours—we inform your love that on the ninth of this month
of May, on holy Sunday, we entered before the glorious commander, the emir. The
blessed one and father of all was asked by him if the gospel that all those in
the entire world who are and are called Christians hold is one and the same and
does not vary in anything. The blessed one answered him, “It is one and the
same to the Greeks, the Romans, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, the
Indians, the Aramaeans, the Persians, and the rest of all peoples and
languages.”
He also inquired, “Why, when the gospel is one, is the faith
diverse?” The blessed one answered, “Just as the Torah is one and the same and
is accepted by us Christians, by you Hagarenes, by the Jews, and by the
Samaritans, but each people differs in faith, so also concerning the gospel’s
faith: each sect understands and interprets it differently, and not like us.”
He also inquired, “What do you say Christ is? Is he God or not?”
Our father answered, “He is God and the Word that was born from God the Father,
eternally and without beginning. At the end of times, for men’s salvation, he
took fl esh and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and from Mary—the holy
one and the Virgin, the mother of God—and he became man.”
The glorious emir also asked him, “When Christ, who you say is God,
was in Mary’s womb, who bore and governed the heavens and the earth?” Our
blessed father immediately replied, “When God descended to Mount Sinai and was
there speaking with Moses for forty days and forty nights, who bore and
governed the heavens and the earth? For you say that you accept Moses and his
books.” The emir said, “It was God, and he governed the heavens and the earth.”
Immediately he heard from our father, “Thus Christ [is] God; when he was in the
womb of the Virgin, as almighty God he bore and governed the heavens, the earth,
and everything in them.”
The glorious emir also said, “As for Abraham and Moses, what sort
of faith and belief did they have?” Our blessed father said, “Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the prophets and all the just and
righteous ones had and held the faith and belief of Christians.” The emir said,
“Why then did they not write openly and make [it] known concerning Christ?” Our
blessed father answered, “As [God’s] confi dants and intimates they knew. But
[there was] the childishness and uneducated state of the people at that time
who were inclined and attracted toward a multitude of gods to the point of
considering even pieces of wood, stones, and many things [to be] gods and
erecting idols, worshiping them, and sacrifi cing to them. The holy ones did
not want to give the errant an occasion to depart from the living God and to go
after error. But cautiously they said that which is the truth: ‘Hear, Israel,
that the Lord your God, the Lord is one’ [Dt 6:5]. For they truly knew that God
is one and [that there is] one divinity of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Because of this, they spoke and wrote secretly concerning God,
that he is one and the same in divinity and is three hypostases and persons.
But he is not, nor is he confessed [to be], three gods or three divinities or,
by any means, gods and divinities. Because [there is] one divinity of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as we have said. And from the Father are
the Son and the Spirit. If you want, I am willing and ready to confi rm all
these things from the holy scriptures.”
After the emir also heard these things, he asked only that if
Christ is God and was born from Mary and if God has a son that it immediately
be shown to him also from the Torah. The blessed one said, “Not only Moses but
also all the holy prophets prophesized beforehand and wrote these things
concerning Christ. One wrote concerning his birth from a virgin, another that
he would be born in Bethlehem, another concerning his baptism. All of them, so
to say, [wrote] concerning his salvific suffering, his life-giving death, and
his glorious resurrection from among the dead after three days.” And he
immediately brought forth examples and began to confi rm [these things] from
all the prophets and from Moses. But the glorious emir did not accept these
things from the prophets but wanted it to be shown to him [from] Moses that
Christ is God. The same blessed one, along with many other [passages], brought
forth this [one from] Moses: “The Lord brought down from before the Lord fi re
and sulfur upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah” [Gn 19:24]. The glorious emir asked
that this be shown in the scripture. Without delay our father showed [this] in
the full Greek and Syriac scriptures. For in [that] place there were also
present with us certain Hagarenes. And they saw with their eyes those writings
and the glorious name of “the Lord” and “the Lord.” Indeed, the emir summoned a
Jewish man who was [there] and was considered by them an expert of scripture.
He asked him if this was so in the wording in the Torah. But he answered, “I do
not know exactly.” From here the emir moved to asking about the laws of the
Christians, what and what sort [of laws] they are and whether they are written
in the gospel. He also [asked], “If a man dies and leaves sons or daughters, a
wife, a mother, a sister, and a cousin, how should his property be divided
among them?” And after our holy father said, “The gospel is divine, for it
teaches and commands the heavenly teachings and life-giving commandments and
rejects all sins and evils and through itself teaches virtue and
righteousness,” many things were discussed regarding this subject—while there
were gathered there [many] people, not only nobles of the Hagarenes but also
chiefs and leaders of cities and of believing and Christ-loving people: the
Tanukāyē and Tuʻāyē and the ʻAqulāyē. And the glorious emir said, “I want you
to do one of three [things]: either show me that your laws are written in the
gospel and be guided by them or submit to the Hagarene law.” When our father
answered, “We Christians have laws that are just, are upright, and agree with
the teaching and commandments of the gospel, the canons of the apostles, and
the laws of the church,” that first day’s assembly was thus concluded. And we
have not yet come to enter before him again.
It was commanded by him that some people from the bishoprics of the
Council of Chalcedon also come. Indeed, everyone who was present [both] from
the Orthodox and from the Chalcedonians prayed for the life and safety of the
blessed lord patriarch. They glorifi ed and magnifi ed God, who generously
provided the word of truth for his eloquence and fi lled him with the power and
grace which is from him, according to his true promises when he said, “They
will stand you before kings and governors on account of me. But do not worry
what you will say and be not concerned. At that hour, what you should say will
be given to you. For you will not speak. Rather the spirit of your Father will
speak through you” [Lk 12:11–12].
We have reported to your love these few of the many things that
were very recently discussed so that you might diligently and continually pray
for us without ceasing and entreat the Lord that he, in his mercy, care for his
church and his people and that Christ make a resolution to this aff air that
pleases his will, aids his church, and comforts his people. For, as we said
above, also those of the Council of Chalcedon prayed for the blessed Mār
patriarch, because he spoke on behalf of the entire Christian community and did
not speak against them. They continually communicated with him and sought his
blessedness to thus speak on behalf of the entire community and not to stir up
anything against them. For they knew their weakness and the greatness of the
danger and anguish that awaited if the Lord did not care for his church in
accord with his mercy.
Pray for the glorious emir, that God would enlighten and instruct
him concerning what is pleasing to the Lord and is beneficial. The blessed
father of all, the revered fathers with him- Abba Mār Thomas, Mār Severus, Mār
Sergius, Mār Aitilaha, Mār John, and their entire holy synodal board- as well
as the leaders and believers who are gathered here with us, especially our
beloved Mār Andrew (both a wise leader and one guarded by Christ), and we [who
are] least in the Lord ask for your peace and holy prayers always.”
