Synod of Isaac
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The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also called the Council of Mar Isaac, met in AD 410 in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
. Convoked by King Yazdegerd I (399–421), it organized the Christians of his empire into a single structured Church, which became known as the
Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
. It is often compared to Constantine's Edict of Milan, approximately a century earlier. Previously, the Persian state persecuted those Christians, fearing that their loyalty lay with the Roman Empire, which under
Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
had legalized Christianity and with which the Sassanid Empire was repeatedly at war. Persecution had been most severe under Shapur II (309–379). Shapur I (241–272), the second ''shahinshah'' (king of kings) of the Sasanian dynasty had advanced as far as Antioch in 260, and both he and Shapur II deported eastward much of the population of the invaded territories to strengthen the Persian economy. Yazdegerd I adopted a policy of engagement with the Roman Emperor in Constantinople and with the Christian minority in his own empire. In 409, he allowed the Christians to worship openly and to have churches. Zoroastrianism continued to be the official religion, and apostasy from it was punishable by death. At the suggestion of a bishop from the Roman side of the frontier, he called a synod or council of bishops to organize the Persian Christians as a single Church, with a single bishop in each diocese and with one bishop to act as their head collectively throughout his empire. See
Maruthas of Martyropolis Saint Maruthas or Marutha of Martyropolis was a Syrian monk who became bishop 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 norma ...


Establishment of the Church of the East

The Council, presided over by Mar Isaac, bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, arranged the Persian Church in ecclesiastical provinces, with the bishops in each province grouped around a
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 ...
, the arrangement approved by the First Council of Nicea (325) in the civil provinces of the Roman Empire. The bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital city, who is referred to in the acts of the council as the Grand Metropolitan, was to hold authority throughout the Church and for that reason was called (probably only from a later date) the
Catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...
. The 410 council set up six provinces, which became known as the interior provinces, according as other provinces, referred to as exterior provinces, were recognized further afield within the empire and even beyond it. In order of precedence, the six interior provinces were: # Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in what is now central Iraq #
Beth Lapat Gundeshapur ( pal, 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, ''Weh-Andiōk-Šābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founde ...
, in western Iran # Nisibis, on the border between today's Turkey and Iraq # Prat de Maishan, Basra, southern Iraq # Arbela, Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq # Karka de Beth Slokh, Kirkuk, northeastern IraqT.J. Lamy, "Le concile tenu à Séleucie-Ctésiphon en 410" in ''Compte rendu du troisième Congrès scientifique international des catholiques tenu à Bruxelles du 5 au huit septembre 1894. Deuxième section : Sciences religeuses'' (Brussels 1895), pp. 250-276
/ref> The council marked a major milestone in the history of the Church of the East and of Christianity in Asia in general.


Uncertain early example of the ''Filioque''

The synod also declared its adherence to the decisions of the First Council of Nicaea and adopted a form of the
Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
. The creed is found in two different recensions, each of which is recorded in much later manuscripts. The first recension is East Syriac and comes from
Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
sources. The second is West Syriac and comes from
Syriac Orthodox , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascu ...
sources. The East Syriac recension contains: "And in the Holy Spirit" while the West Syriac recension contains: "And we confess the living and Holy Spirit, the living
Paraclete Paraclete ( grc, παράκλητος, la, paracletus) means 'advocate' or 'helper'. In Christianity, the term ''paraclete'' most commonly refers to the Holy Spirit. Etymology ''Paraclete'' comes from the Koine Greek word (). A combination o ...
, who is from the Father and the Son". There has long been controversy among scholars about the relation between the two texts. The development of the Persian creed is difficult to trace, since there were several recensions prior to 410. The first recension is textually closer to the original Nicene Creed. On the other hand, some scholars claim that the second represents the original text of the Seleucia-Ctesiphon Council, and that the words "who is from the Father and the Son" in the second recension are the earliest example of the '' Filioque'' clause.


See also

*
Catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...
*
Dioceses of the Church of the East to 1318 At the height of its power, in the 10th century AD, the dioceses of the Church of the East numbered well over a hundred and stretched from Egypt to China. These dioceses were organised into six interior provinces in Mesopotamia, in the Church's Ir ...
* List of patriarchs of the Church of the East * Patriarchs of the Church of the East *
Synod of Beth Lapat The Synod of Beth Lapat was a local council of the Church of the East, that was held in 484, in the Persian city of Gundeshapur (''Bēth Lapaṭ'', in the Syriac language). The council was headed by Metropolitan Barsauma of Nisibis (d. 491), w ...
*
Syriac Christianity Syriac Christianity ( syr, ܡܫܝܚܝܘܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ / ''Mšiḥoyuṯo Suryoyto'' or ''Mšiḥāyūṯā Suryāytā'') is a distinctive branch of Eastern Christianity, whose formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expr ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{Ecumenical councils Christianity in the Sasanian Empire Seleucia-Ctesiphon 5th century in Iran Church of the East Eastern Christianity in Iraq Babylonia 410 Ctesiphon