Christian wife, then had been made a Christian himself by Acacius of Berrhœa. His wife went to be a nun and he became a monk. In 412 he was ordained Bishop of Edessa. At Ephesus he took the side of his Patriarch, and was a member of John's anti-synod. But in 431 and 432, while at Constantinople on a visit, he was entirely converted to St. Cyril; from then he becomes one of the chief supporters of the genuine Council of Ephesus. He saw the danger of Theodore's works and wrote to Cyril denouncing them.[1] It was Rabbulâ who procured a decree from the Emperor ordering all books of Diodore and Theodore to be burnt. So there was great opposition to the bishop among the Nestorians at Edessa. The opposition was led by two men, Ibas[2] and Bar Ṣaumâ.[3]
Ibas was an ardent student of Theodore the Interpreter; he too had been at the anti-synod of Ephesus in Rabbulâ's following, but he was never converted to Cyril. Instead, he becomes a keen Nestorian and opponent of his bishop. Writing to a certain Mari in Persia,[4] he denounces Rabbulâ as a turncoat and a tyrant. One of these letters of Ibas to Mari afterwards became the third of the famous "Three Chapters" condemned by Justinian to please the Monophysites.[5] Ibas was excommunicated by Rabbulâ and remained leader of a schismatical party at Edessa till Rabbulâ died. Bar Ṣaumâ was the Rector or President of the Theological School; he, too, shared Ibas's ideas and took part in the schism against the bishop. For the rest, Rabbulâ was a zealous and deserving pastor of this troublesome flock. He was an enthusiast for right order and ecclesiastical discipline, though he had little enough of either in his distracted diocese. It is believed to be Rabbulâ who
- ↑ Rabbulâ's letter is among those of St. Cyril (Ep. 73; P.G. lxxvii. 347–348).
- ↑ Yihībâ ("given," Donatus).
- ↑ "Son of Fasting"; in Greek Βαρσουμᾶς.
- ↑ There is considerable doubt as to who this Mari (Ibas's correspondent) was. He is called Bishop of Beth Ardashīr. Ardashīr is the Persian name for Seleucia; so he would be the Katholikos. But the Katholikos at this time was Dadyeshu‘ (p. 50). Labourt suggests that the word Mari in the address of Ibas's famous letter is not a proper name at all, but merely Mâr (Lord) with the suffix (= "my Lord"). The address might well be: "luth mâri efisḳufâ dbēth ardashīr" (to my Lord Bishop of Ardashīr), which would be transcribed in Greek, εἰς Μάριν ἐπίσκοπον Βηθαρδασιρηνῶν, and Μάρις would be taken for a proper name. So the Maris of the "epistola Ibæ ad Marin" may be Dadyeshu‘ (Le Christ. dans l'emp. perse, p. 134, note).
- ↑ See p. 202, below. It is in Mansi, vii. 241–250.
