The Syriac Works of Nonnos of Nisibis: Interreligious Apologetics and Christological Controversies in the Early Islamic Period
Nonnos of Nisibis was a 9th-century Syriac Christian theologian from Northern Mesopotamia. He was a proponent of Miaphysite Christology, who was involved in particular in religious controversies with Christians from other denominations, Muslims, and Jews. Five works composed by Nonnos have been preserved, of which only a part has been edited and translated: Nonnos’s Commentary on the Gospel of John was written in Arabic but is preserved only in an Armenian translation. Aside from this Commentary, four works of Nonnos composed in Syriac are preserved in a single manuscript located in the British Library (Add. MS 14,594). It is the aim of this present project to produce the first edition and modern translation of the four extant Syriac works written by Nonnos of Nisibis.
Within a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF (2022–2025), the two most extensive Syriac works by Nonnos of Nisibis – his Apologetic Treatise and the Treatise against Thomas of Bēt Garmai – were edited and translated into German with annotations and an introduction. The extensive annotations to the translation put Nonnos’s arguments into their historical and theological context.
The Apologetic Treatise is a general apology for Christianity intended to prove it as the “true” religion. However, it is primarily an apology for Christianity vis-à-vis Islam, even though Nonnos also addresses other religions. In the three parts of the Treatise, Nonnos first briefly addresses monotheism, then discusses the doctrine of the Trinity, before turning to Christology in the most extensive section of the Treatise.
The Treatise against Thomas of Bēt Garmai is entirely devoted to Miaphysite Christology, defending it against the strict Dyophysitism of the East Syriac Church. The fundamental theological problem of the Treatise are the so-called exalted and lowly statements of Christ, that is, words (and also acts) of Christ that seem to belong more to his divinity, and those that seem to fit more to his humanity. On the one hand, Nonnos argues against the East Syriac doctrine of two natures and two “hypostases” (qnōmē) using a multitude of apparently controversial biblical passages. On the other hand, Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390) proves to be Nonnos’s most important authority among the Church Fathers. Furthermore, Nonnos’s theological reliance on West Syriac Miaphysite authorities such as Philoxenos of Mabbug (d. 523) and Severos of Antioch (d. 538) is evident. Regarding East Syriac Christology, Nonnos clearly sets himself apart from Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428) and Narsai of Nisibis (d. c. 500). Furthermore, references to contemporary East Syriac Christology – such as in the letters of the East Syriac Patriarch Timothy I (d. 823) – can be identified.
Nonnos’s two letters, contained in the manuscript BL Add. MS 14,594, are considerably shorter than his two Syriac treatises and deal also with Christological issues. Their edition and translation will be part of future research at ZECO.
Principal Investigator: Joachim Jakob
