The attitude of Persian Christian church during the persecution of Shapur II

Wojciech Teister

Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach , Poland

Andrzej Uciecha

Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach , Poland


Abstract

The subject of this article deals with Persian Christians in the period of the persecution of Shapur II. The ruler derived from the Sassanid dynasty had gov­erned the Persian Empire since 309 to 379 and on that time of his reign Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era. The three source accounts were analysed: Demonstrations of Aphrahat, The History of the Hermias Sozomenus and Chronica Seertensis – nestorianical source dated from the IX or X century. Each of analysed reports concerning the persecution of the Persian Christians appears to be interesting and noteworthy. In his Church History Hermias accepted the role of external factors in origin and turn of events of Church persecution in Persia in the IV century (magicians and Jews). Nestorian author of Chronica Seertensis has also made observations of these groups in forming the antichristian politics of the Persian ruler but besides that he even expands theological reflection: the persecution should be interpreted as the time of trial, strengthening the faith and calling on to convert. The Aphrahat in his Demonstrations, particularly in his Synodical Letter had briefed the similar historical-redemptive conception in the martyr theology but judging the posture of Simeon negatively.

Keywords:

Persian Christian, Shapur II

Aphraates, Demonstrationes I-XXIII, ed. J. Parisot, PSyr 1-2, Paris 1894
Burgess R.W. – Mercier R., The Dates of the martyrdom of Simeon bar Sabba‘e and the ‘Great Massacre’, AnBol 117 (1999) 9-66
Devos P., Sozomène et les Actes syriaques de Syméon bar Sabba‘e, AnBol 84 (1966) 443-456
Hermias Sozomenus, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. J. Bidez – G.C. Hansen, GCS 50, Berlin 1960
Higgins M.J., Date of the martyrdom of Simeon bar Sabbae, „Traditio” 11 (1955) 1-36
Historia Nestoriana (Chronica Seertensis), ed. A. Scher – J. Périer, PO 4, fasc. 3 – n. 17, Turnhout 1981
Neusner J., Babylonian Jewry and Shapur II’s persecution of Christianity from 339 to 379 A. D., w: „Hebrew Union College Annual” 43 (1972)
Peeters P., La date du martyre de S. Siméon, archevêque de Séleucie-Ctésiphon, AnBol 56 (1938) 118-143
Pierre M.J., Introduction, w: Aphraate le Sage Persan. Les Exposes I-X, SCh 349, Paris 1988
Składanek B., Historia Persji, t. 1: Od czasów najdawniejszych do najazdu Arabów, Warszawa 2008
Sozomenus, HE
Uciecha A., Postawa duchowieństwa Kościoła Perskiego w czasie prześladowań Szapura II, w: Vobis Episcopus vobiscum christianus. Ksiega Jubileuszowa ks. abpa Damiana Zimonia, red. W. Myszor – A. Malina, Katowice 2004
Uciecha A., Rola i znaczenie „córek przymierza” w Kościele perskim w IV i V w., VV 19 (2011)
Zieliński Z., Wstęp, w: Hermiasz Sozomen, Historia Kościoła, tłum. S. Kazikowski, Warszawa 1980

Published
2012-06-15


Teister, W., & Uciecha, A. (2012). Postawa chrześcijan Kościoła perskiego w czasie prześladowań Szapura II. Vox Patrum, 57, 667–676. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.4167

Wojciech Teister 
Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach
Andrzej Uciecha 
Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach



License

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.