Dionysius bar Salibi (died 1171) was
Syriac Orthodox
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writer and bishop, who served as
metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
of
Amid, in
Upper Mesopotamia, from 1166 to 1171. He was one of the most prominent and prolific writers within the
Syriac Orthodox Church
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, alt = Cathedral of Saint George
, caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...
during the twelfth century.
He was a native of
Malatia, on the upper
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
. His
baptismal
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
name was Jacob. He assumed name 'Dionysius' upon consecration to the
episcopate
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. In 1154 he was created bishop of
Marash by the patriarch
Athanasius VII bar Qatra; a year later the diocese of
Mabbug was added to his charge. In 1166, new patriarch
Michael the Great, the successor of Athanasius, transferred him to the metropolitan see of
Amid in Mesopotamia, and there he remained till his death in 1171.
Of his writings probably the most important are his exhaustive commentaries on the text of the Old and New Testaments, in which he skillfully interwove and summarized the interpretations of previous writers such as
Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...
,
Chrysostom,
Cyril of Alexandria,
Moses Bar-Kepha and
John of Dara, whom he mentions together in the preface to his commentary on
St Matthew. Among his other main works are a treatise against heretics, containing ''inter alia'' a polemic against the
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and the
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
; liturgical treatises, epistles and homilies.
His polemical works also include treatises on
Melkites, and
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
.
See also
*
Alogi
The Alogi (ἄλογοι), also called Alogoi or Alogians, were a group of heterodox Christians in Asia Minor that flourished c. 200 CE, and taught that the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse of John (Book of Revelation) were not the work of the Ap ...
*
Syriac literature
*
Dioceses of the Syriac Orthodox Church
References
Sources
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External links
* Dionysius bar Salibi
''In Apocalypsim, Actus et Epistulas Catholicas'' trans. I. Sedlacek, Romae : Karolus de Luigi (1909).
Hermathena, vol. 6 (1888) pp. 397–418, vol. 7 (1890) pp. 137–150; The Expositor 7th series, vol. 1 (1906), pp. 481–495.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salibi, Dionysius bar
Syriac writers
Christian anti-Gnosticism
1171 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Syriac Orthodox Church bishops
12th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops