The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313

Bardaisan of Edessa

c. 154 – 222 · Christian courtier of Edessa · Syriac philosopher-theologian (“the last of the Gnostics”) · Edessa

The Ante-Nicene Church

Who Bardaisan of Edessa was

A brilliant nobleman of Edessa, philosopher, astrologer, and hymn-writer at the court of king Abgar, converted to Christianity but retaining speculative and dualist ideas the later church judged heretical. His Book of the Laws of Countries — actually by his pupil Philip — is the earliest surviving Syriac prose, arguing against astrological determinism from the diversity of human customs. He composed 150 hymns that carried his teaching so effectively that Ephrem the Syrian, a century later, wrote orthodox hymns expressly to displace them. Called by Eusebius a former Valentinian who “did not entirely wipe off the filth of the old heresy,” he stands at the fountainhead of Syriac Christian literature — its first great voice, and its first great controversy.

Also listed in heretics & schismatics.

Common questions

When did Bardaisan live?

Bardaisan of Edessa is dated c. 154 – 222 in the archive, which places Bardaisan in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

What did Bardaisan write?

Bardaisan of Edessa has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: The Book of the Laws of Countries (On Fate).

Which early sources mention Bardaisan?

Bardaisan of Edessa is named in 4 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea, Ephrem the Syrian, Jerome of Stridon and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Bardaisan from?

The archive associates Bardaisan of Edessa with Edessa.

Writings (1)

The Book of the Laws of Countries (On Fate)

The dialogue set down by his pupil Philip — the oldest surviving original Syriac prose
Wherever we be, all of us are called by the one name of the Messiah — Christians.

Earliest witness · London, British Library Add. 14658 (6th–7th c.)

Read the interlinear source text →

Primary-source mentions (4)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Ecclesiastical History IV.30

c. AD 325
Bardesanes, a most able man and skilful disputant in the Syriac tongue, composed dialogues against the Marcionites… and turned from the school of Valentinus, though he did not entirely wipe away the filth of his former heresy.
Eusebius of Caesarea · IV.30 · source text

Hymns against Heresies (the running Syriac polemic against 'the teaching of Bardaisan')

c. AD 363
Ephrem the Syrian · Hymns against Heresies · source text

On Illustrious Men 33

c. AD 392
Jerome of Stridon · On Illustrious Men 33 · source text

Compendium of Heretical Fables I.22

c. AD 453
Bardesanes, a Syrian by race, adorned with both languages, left works against Marcion in the Syriac tongue which his disciples translated. (working translation)
Theodoret of Cyrrhus · Compendium I.22 · source text

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The one place the sources put Bardaisan.

  1. 1Edessa

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