Abris

Abris

Abris, also called Abrosius and Abrisius, was a legendary Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in Persia, who is conventionally said to have sat from 121–137. He is said to have been from the family of Saint Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus.

Although Abris is included in traditional lists of primates of the Church of the East, his existence has been doubted by J. M. Fiey, one of the most eminent twentieth-century scholars of the Church of the East. In Fiey's view, Abris was one of several fictitious bishops of Seleucia-Ctesiphon whose lives were concocted in the sixth century to bridge the gap between the late third century bishop Papa, the first historically-attested bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and the apostle Mari, the legendary founder of Christianity in Persia.[1]

Contents

Sources

Brief accounts of the life of Abris are given in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of the Syriac Orthodox writer Bar Hebraeus (floruit 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the Nestorian writers Mari (twelfth-century), ʿAmr (fourteenth-century) and Sliba (fourteenth-century). Abris is also mentioned in the Chronicle of Erbil, a text whose authenticity and reliability have been hotly disputed.

Life of Abris

The following account of the life of Abris is given by the twelfth-century Nestorian writer Mari:

Abris, a Hebrew, from the family of Joseph the carpenter, the husband of our Virgin Lady, was chosen by Simon, son of Cleophas, bishop of Jerusalem. He was renowned for his continence and probity. It is said that after the death of the apostle Mar Mari the people disagreed over who should occupy his throne; and after they asked God in prayer to choose the worthiest man among them, several holy men saw in a dream a man urging them to choose Abris, but they did not know who he was. Then the vision was repeated, and they learned that he was about to enter the church to seek a blessing. When they saw him, they understood. They admitted him to all the orders of the priesthood at once, and sent him into the East. He was a man of exemplary virtue, charitable towards the needy and the poor, prone to good deeds and repelled by the way of the world. He only ordained those who were as chaste as he himself. He passed over to the kingdom of peace after leading the church for sixteen years.[2]

The following account of the life of Abris is given by the thirteenth-century Jacobite historian Bar Hebraeus, who used two different spellings of his name (Abrosius and Abrisius) within a single paragraph. Bar Hebraeus is normally dependent on Mari for his information, but in the case of Abris has clearly derived some of his account from another source:

After Mari, his disciple Abrosius. His master Mari had sent him to Antioch, to visit the brethren there and to bring him back news of them. After the death of the blessed Mari the faithful of the East sent to Antioch and asked to be given a bishop. And the disciples of that place laid hands upon Abrosius and sent him back to occupy the throne of his master. There he ruled the faithful for seventeen years until his death. Some say that the place of his burial is unknown, but in fact he was buried in the church of Seleucia. This Abrisius is said to have been from the family of Joseph the carpenter, the father of James and Jesus.[3]

The many contradictions between these two accounts, both of them probably invented, cannot be resolved.

See also

  • List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East
  • Patriarchs of the Church of the East

Notes

  1. ^ Fiey, Jalons, 64–5
  2. ^ Mari, On the Nestorian Patriarchs (ed. Gismondi), 4–5 (Latin)
  3. ^ Bar Hebraeus, Ecclesiastical Chronicle (ed. Abeloos and Lamy), ii. 20–22

References

  • Abbeloos, J. B., and Lamy, T. J., Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum (3 vols, Paris, 1877)
  • Assemani, J. A., De Catholicis seu Patriarchis Chaldaeorum et Nestorianorum (Rome, 1775)
  • Brooks, E. W., Eliae Metropolitae Nisibeni Opus Chronologicum (Rome, 1910)
  • Fiey, J. M., Jalons pour un histoire de l'Église en Iraq (Louvain, 1970)
  • Gismondi, H., Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria I: Amri et Salibae Textus (Rome, 1896)
  • Gismondi, H., Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria II: Maris textus arabicus et versio Latina (Rome, 1899)

External links

Preceded by
Mari
(c. 87–c. 120)
Catholicus-Patriarch of the East
121–137
Succeeded by
Abraham
(159–171)

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • abris — abris; abris·tle; …   English syllables

  • Abris Cavernes — Les abris cavernes ou casemates cavernes sont des éléments de fortifications du Système Séré de Rivières construit après la guerre franco allemande de 1870. Suite à la crise de l obus torpille, et le problème de la protection de l infanterie dans …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Abris cavernes — Les abris cavernes ou casemates cavernes sont des éléments de fortifications du Système Séré de Rivières construit après la guerre franco allemande de 1870. Suite à la crise de l obus torpille, et le problème de la protection de l infanterie dans …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Abris du Sud — (Сен Сиприен Пляж,Франция) Категория отеля: Адрес: 23 Rue Condorcet, 66750 Сен Сиприен …   Каталог отелей

  • Abris alpins de la Moutière — Les abris alpins de la Moutière sont des casernements de montagne du Secteur fortifié du Dauphiné (Ligne Maginot des Alpes). Sommaire 1 Situation 2 Mission 3 Construction 4 Les combats …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Abris sous-roche du Bhimbetka — Bhimbetka Peintures rupestres Bhimbetka est un site archéologique du Madhya Pradesh comportant différents abris sous roche. Certains de ces abris ont livré des peintures rupestres datant de quelque 9 000 ans. Le site a été classé au patrimoine… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • abris-sous-roche — ● abri sous roche, abris sous roche nom masculin Partie inférieure d un escarpement, protégée par une corniche surplombante, et ayant souvent servi d habitat préhistorique. ● abri sous roche, abris sous roche (difficultés) nom masculin… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • abris — plural of abri …   Useful english dictionary

  • abris sous roche —    (French.) See rock shelter …   Lexicon of Cave and Karst Terminology

  • Апартаменты Abris — (Железногорск,Россия) Категория отеля: Адрес: Район Улицы Ленина, Железногорск, Р …   Каталог отелей

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”