The Letters of John of Dalyatha

346 Pages·2006·1.066 MB·English

by  Mary T. Hansbury

TEXTS FROM CHRISTIAN LATE ANTIQUITY
Volume 2
(cid:3)
The Letters of
John of Dalyatha
The Letters of
John of Dalyatha
MARY T. HANSBURY
GORGIAS PRESS
2006
First Gorgias Press Edition, 2006.
Copyright © 2006 by Gorgias Press LLC.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias
Press LLC, New Jersey.
ISBN 1-59333-341-2
(cid:3)
GORGIAS PRESS
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www.gorgiaspress.com
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................vii
Love of Tradition........................................................................................viii
Way of Wonder...............................................................................................x
Path of Glory................................................................................................xiii
Companions on the Way...........................................................................xvii
Messalianism.................................................................................................xix
Present Translation......................................................................................xxi
List of Abbreviations.........................................................................................xxiii
Text and Translation: The Letters of John of Dalyatha....................................1
Appendix...............................................................................................................277
List of Some Syriac Terms.................................................................................311
Bibliography.........................................................................................................313
v

INTRODUCTION
John of Dalyatha or John Saba, the “Elder,” is the author of these Letters.
He was born in northwest Iraq and was a monk during the eighth century
in a monastery at Qardu near the Turkish border. He was actually born in
the village of Ardamut in Beit Nuhadra near the mountains of Kurdistan.1
At the local church he first studied the basics of Christian life for those
destined for the priesthood or monastic life: studies of Scripture, liturgy,
and writings of the Fathers.2 Already as a student he frequented the
monastery of Mar Afnimaran. But eventually he entered a different one,
further from his home, Mar Yuzadak, in the mountains of Qardu, east of
the Tigris near Turkey. This is thought to be where Narsai, the prolific
sixth-century writer of Scriptural verse and commentary had lived, and that
John may have returned here for this reason.3 His novicemaster was a
certain “Blessed Stephen,” a disciple of Mar Yuzadak (early 7th cent.).
Hence one may set John in an historical context with a possible birth date
of 690 and date of death about 780.4 From Qardu, after living seven years
in community, he received permission to establish himself as a solitary and
went to the mountains of Dalyatha (lit. “of the vine branches”) at 3,000
meters. He lived most of his life there. These mountains must have been a
tremendous influence on his insights, though in the Letters he mentions
them only once.5 Perhaps these mountains helped him to reach and speak
of such a unity with God while never arriving at monism or denying the
1 Details may be found in J. Chabot, “‘Le Livre de la chasteté’ of Isho‚denah,”
Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire 16 (1896) # 126.
2 J. M. Fiey, “La Bible dans la Vie de l’Église Syrienne Orientale Ancienne,”
Bible et Vie Chrétienne 67–72 (1966): 35–42.
3 J. M. Fiey, Assyrie Chrétienne, 3 vols. (Beyrouth, 1965) vol. 2, 685–86.
4 See R. Beulay, “Précisions touchant l’identité et la biographie de Jean Saba de
Dalyatha,” PdO 8 (1977/8): 103–16. See also Brian E. Colless, “The Biographies of
John Saba,” PdO 3 (1972): 45–63.
5 Mountains, see Letter 37.2.
vii
viii The Letters of John of Dalyatha
otherness of Christ.6 He remained most of his life in the mountains, only
returning to Qardu as a very old man when conditions had gone beyond his
strength. At his return to Qardu other monks grouped around him and
founded a community of which John was the superior until he died.
There has always been some confusion as to the authorship of the
writings attributed to John of Dalyatha. Early manuscripts simply say “the
Elder” or “divine Elder” although some references to Mar John the Elder
do occur.7 Not until the fifteenth century were two identities put forth, that
of John of Dalyatha and John bar Penkaye. Others have reflected and
written at length on this, and the present conclusion indicates that the
author of the writings was in fact John of Dalyatha.8
In addition to the Letters he also wrote Discourses9 and Chapters on
Knowledge. The Letters are more personal in style than the Discourses
since in the Letters he speaks of his own experiences. Sometimes he does
this in the third person as a discrete way of dealing with their incredible and
ineffable content. He truly speaks about God in a way in which few have
ever heard him spoken of. John’s is not an esoteric language, though some
passages defy interpretation, but it is a language which pushes the limits of
faith beyond where most are accustomed to go.
LOVEOFTRADITION
The Syriac mystics10 of the seventh century such as Sahdona, Isaac of
Nineveh, Dadisho, Shem(cid:551)on the Graceful, and in the eighth century John of
Dalyatha and Joseph Hazzaya all had a love of tradition and of the Fathers
that made up that tradition. The early patristic writers, whether Greek or
Syriac, tended to be conservative in wishing to do their theologizing within
6 See, for example, Letter 7. According to Blum, the non-duality of Stephen bar
Sudaili may have influenced John’s monistic tendencies. See G. G. Blum, Mysticism
in the Syriac Tradition, Correspondence Course 7 (Kottayam: St. Ephrem Ecumenical
Research Institute, 1990), 24–25.
7 See Beulay, “Précisions,” 87–102.
8 Colless says that they may have been the same person. See Colless,
“Biographies,” 61–63. Beulay presents evidence and draws a different conclusion.
See “Précisions,” 98.
9 Beulay’s critical edition of the Discourses with French translation will be
published soon.
10 Mystics here refers to those who wrote about the experience of God in a
systematic way. The style of this writing is different from that of Ephrem or Jacob
of Serug, for example, although the content—the mysteries of the sacramental
life—is the same.
Introduction ix
tradition which was for them a principle of hermeneutics and a
methodology.11 Scripture and spiritual writings could only be understood in
the context of the Church’s living tradition. Some Syriac authors are more
specific in citing the Fathers, while others like John tend not to name
names. Sometimes the lack of names is a result of later editing to remove
certain Fathers considered less than orthodox for various reasons at various
times. The influences easiest to track in the present translation are those of
Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394); Evagrius (d. 399); Macarian Homilies (4th cent.);
Theodore of Mopsuestia (ca. 350–428); Book of Steps (late 4th cent.); John
the Solitary (5th cent.); Pseudo-Dionysius (5th/6th cent.).12 Other mystical
writers of the seventh and eighth centuries mention Babai (d. 628); Diodore
of Tarsus (d. ca. 394); Theodoret of Cyr (ca. 393–460).13
As to what kind of influence the Fathers had on the seventh and
eighth century mystics, and in particular on John, a very good analysis is
provided by Beulay.14 Not only does he trace lineage diachronically but he
also does cross-textual studies showing how, for example, Evagrius might
have influenced Isaac of Nineveh in a different way than he influenced
John of Dalyatha. Included in the study is how the seventh century
influenced the eighth century, such as Joseph Hazzaya’s tremendous esteem
for Isaac of Nineveh, referring to him as a “holy Father.” Sebastian Brock’s
work on Isaac is very helpful as it includes so many references to East
Syrian writers who influenced Isaac (and therefore John) or were influenced
by him, or who simply demonstrate similar patterns of interpretation.15
11 See G. Florovsky, “The Function of Tradition in the Ancient Church,” Greek
Orthodox Theological Review 9,2 (1963–64): 181–200. This conservative aspect is also
underlined by Amann, see E. Amann, “La Théologie de l’église Nestorienne,”
Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique 11, pt. 1 (1931) 288–92.
12 See Beulay, LM. In the first part of the book, pages 16–181, Beulay considers
the influences in detail of Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius, the Macarian writings, John
the Solitary, and Pseudo-Dionysius.
13 See Beulay, LM, 184–223, where he looks at the dogmatic theological
influence exerted by Theodore of Mopsuestia, Diodore of Tarsus, Theodoret of
Cyr, and Babai.
14 In the final section of LM, Beulay examines eleven authors in greater detail:
(7th cent.) Sahdona, Dadisho of Qatar, Shem‚on the Graceful, Isaac of Nineveh,
Henanisho‚, John Bar Penkaye; (8th cent.) Abraham Bar Dashandad, John of
Dalyatha, Joseph Hazzaya, Nestorius of Nouhadra, Berikhisho.
15 See Isaac of Nineveh (Isaac the Syrian) ‘the Second Part,’ Chapters IV–XLI,
ed./trans. Sebastian P. Brock (CSCO Syr. 224–25, 1995).