Marijke Metselaar, Defining Christ: The Church of the East and Nascent Islam (Leuven:
Peeters, 2019)
Marianna
Mazzola
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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James E. Walters
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
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Volume 25.1
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https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv25n1prmazzola
Marianna Mazzola
Marijke Metselaar, Defining Christ: The Church of the East and Nascent Islam (Leuven:
Peeters, 2019)
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol25/HV25N1PRMazzola.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, 2022
vol 25
issue 1
pp 300-304
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal
dedicated to the study of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in
January and July) by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. Published since 1998,
Hugoye seeks to offer the best scholarship available in the field of Syriac
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Marijke Metselaar, Defining Christ: The Church of the East and Nascent Islam (Leuven:
Peeters, 2019). Pp. xi + 464; €105.00.
The main question Metselaar’s book seeks to answer is how seventh-century East Syriac
catholicoi formulated their theoogical views in response to nascent Islam and its
fundamental rejection of Christ’s divinity. As the author states in her
introduction, the study of the christology of Ishoʿyahb III offers a valuable
perspective because his theology reflects the earlier theological discourse while he
also adjusts his christological views within the new Islamic context. In order to
understand the intricate theoretical argumentation and terminology which marked this
theological dispute, Metselaar starts at the beginning of the East Syriac
tradition.
Chapter 1 constitutes an excellent introduction to the theological tradition of the
Church of the East. Beginning with Aphrahat and Ephrem (pp. 17–26), the author draws
attention to the later christological implications of their definition of qnoma in
trinitarian doctrine (p. 154). She then traces the formation of the
two-qnome-formula through the theological statements of the early Antiochene school
and Theodore of Mopsuestia (pp. 26–52), observing that Theodore’s use of the
terminology could lead to divergent interpretations (p. 48), which indeed animated
the sixth-century debates within the School of Nisibis (pp. 91–97) and which
encouraged a ‘one-qnoma-interpretation’ by Sahdona, an opponent of Ishoʿyahb III
(pp. 309, 311). She then moves on to the relation between qnoma, hypostasis, and
prosopon in Nestorius (pp. 53–65) and the ramifications for later theological
developments within the Church of the East. Lastly, the chapter surveys the
subsequent reception of these creedal formulas within the Church of the East, from
the first synod of 410 to the confirmation of the Theodorian standpoint at the
synod of 612, claiming that a hardening of the Miaphysite position, as well as
Justinian’s attempts to find a doctrinal compromise, gave momentum to the
crystal¬lization of the East Syriac theological position.
Although internal divisions continued, a Theodorian christology became normative
after the theological debate of 612, which constitutes the centrepiece of chapter 2.
The author starts her inquiry with a detailed analysis of Babai’s christology,
contending that a growing Miaphysite influence in Persia, internal voices advocating
qnomatic union, and threats posed by Origenist tendencies in monastic circles
elicited a stricter adherence to Theodore’s formulas in Babai’s work (pp. 127–38).
Throughout her study, the author keeps closely intertwined the soteriological,
epistemological, and christological aspects of Babai’s theology (and that of
others). As she notes, Babai considered the preservation of the human nature in
Christ as a critical factor for the correct epistemological process leading to
knowledge of the transcendent God. The author then surveys the theological debate of
612, when East Syriac representatives officially formulated a doctrine of ‘two qnome
in one parsopa,’ relying largely on Babai’s formulations. The chapter closes with an
inquiry into the christology of Ishoʿyahb II. As the author notes, his theology was
articulated in response to challenges similar to those encountered by his
predecessor Babai, especially with regard to internal opponents claiming a uniquely
divine parsopa (pp. 195–97), but constitutes also a reaction to contemporary
Monenergism, a dogmatic compromise promoted by Heraclius to seek doctrinal
reconciliation (p. 193).
Chapter 3 takes the reader to the core of the inquiry. It investigates the leadership
of Ishoʿyahb III in the earliest years of Islamic rule. A lengthy and meticulous
historical excursus situates the patriarchate of Ishoʿyahb III in the context of the
critical yet chaotic transition from Sasanian rule to the subsequent establishment
of Byzantine and then Islamic governance. Metselaar surveys Ishoʿyahb’s letters in
order to investigate the catholicos’s attitude vis-à-vis Islamic power. The apostasy
of the Marawnaye, a hitherto unidentified south Arabian population, gives Ishoʿyahb
the occasion to develop a compromise position which defended the spiritual benefits
of Christianity while making Arab rulership acceptable to a Christian subject (pp.
263–68). This stance is further advo¬cated in the patriarch’s letters that address
the rebellion on the coast of the Arabic peninsula: by claiming that allegiance to
both the Church and the Islamic rulership is divinely ordered, the catholicos
advocates Christian submission to secular leaders as well as to God (pp. 268–77),
and he equates rebellion with apostasy as both result from feeble faith (pp.
277–79).
The religious landscape into which Islamic power was planted, as Metselaar notes at
the beginning of the chapter, was quite diverse. It is against this background that
Ishoʿyahb understands christological notions in Islamic theology as a refutation of
Theopaschism, a common accusation brought forth by East Syrians against the
Miaphysites (pp. 227–32, 286–87).
But Ishoʿyahb III also formulates his christology more systematically in response to
the competing one-qnoma-formula proposed by his opponent Sahdona, a theme that
constitutes the bulk of chapter 4. Although Ishoʿyahb was swift to dismiss his
enemy’s christology as Miaphysitism, Sahdona did draw on the East Syriac tradition.
Metselaar examines how Sahdona utilized the theology of Theodore and Nestorius to
promote a one-qnoma-creed, while ignoring conflicting statements in these works
(pp. 307–15). In his response, Ishoʿyahb drew an etymological and logical
distinction between qnoma and parsopa in order to oppose the idea of a qnomatic
union as argued by Sahdona (pp. 319–22). It is in this defence of his christological
views that, as Metselaar shows, Ishoʿyahb mitigated his christological nomenclature
in so far as it might potentially conflict with Quranic statements against Christ’s
divinity (pp. 337–45) in order to make it more acceptable in a Muslim-dominated
context.
In chapter 5, Metselaar briefly treats the career and christological views of the
subsequent East Syriac catholicoi up to the end of the seventh century, pointing out
that anti-Islamic concerns became more pronounced as the Islamic identity of the
caliphate grew more distinct. Remarkably, as she argues, Catholicos George I also
attempted to show the agreement between different Christian denominations in order
to enhance Christian reputation before Muslim power.
In the final chapter, the author summarizes her findings. Although this chapter is a
useful tool that helps the reader to navigate the immense amount of information
offered in the book, it regrettably remains on an expository level while it could
have been used to tie the chapters together in an overall argument.
The main merit of this volume is that it offers an extensive and meticulous
exposition of the christological tradition of the Church of the East in its late
antique political context. Yet, in my view, this book would have fully accomplished
what it set out to do if the various sections and chapters had been tied into a more
clear and coherent narrative. The author insightfully pinpoints here and there the
entanglement of political and religious motives in the formulation of christological
views, but in terms of structure and narrative, she rarely explicitly connects the
historical and theological trajectories of her book.
One would more gladly indulge in reading lengthy, in-depth historical excursus if the
author had clarified at the outset their relevance for the overall argument, or had
more explicitly articulated how some historical information is related to the
christological formulations of the period. For instance, historical excursus on
Miaphysite Arab tribes and their political influence in early Islam are scattered
throughout the first and third chapters, before the author highlights their role in
fostering one-qnoma-tendencies within the Church of the East. Or, to give another
example, the importance of the digression on the chronology of the Arab conquest of
Nineveh (p. 220) comes to the fore only on page 281, when it proves useful for
understanding when and how Ishoʿyahb III recognized Arabs as secular leaders.
As the book aims to focus on the Church of the East in its relation with nascent
Islam, it would have been helpful if some themes had been treated more extensively:
for instance, whether the supposed collaboration with Ali’s supporters (p. 276) may
have facilitated the transmission of ideas about secular and ecclesiastical power to
Ishoʿyahb III (p. 292); or why the christology of Ishoʿyahb III omits mention of
Jesus as ‘servant of God’ (p. 342), when it would have offered a common ground with
Islamic theology (pp. 231–32).
This aside, overall this is a remarkably learned work, which combines great accuracy
and breadth. It not only presents a rich survey of East Syriac theology through the
seventh century but also sparkles with insightful comments on the complex
intertwining of politics and theology within the Church of the East in the first
decades of Islamic rule.