Eznik of Kolb ( hy, Եզնիկ Կողբացի, translit=Yeznik Koghbatsi), was an Armenian

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

writer of the 5th century.

Biography

Eznik was born in Koghb (modern-day

Tuzluca Tuzluca ( az, Duzluca; ku, Qulp; hy, Կողբ ''Koghb''; russian: Кульп or Тузлуджа) is a town and district of the Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The northern portion of the district forms part of the inte ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

), located in a tributary valley of the Chorokh in the historical province of Tayk, in Northern

Greater Armenia Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք, translit=Mets Hayk) is the name given to the Armenian state that emerged on the Armenian Highlands during the reign of King Artaxias I at the turn of the 2nd century BC. The term was used to refer prin ...

. He was a pupil of Catholicos Isaac the Great of Armenia and of Saint Mesrop. At their request he went first to

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroe ...

, then to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

to perfect himself in the various sciences and to collect or copy

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

and Greek manuscripts of the Bible, and the writings of the

Fathers of the Church The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

. He returned to Armenia after the

First Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperors, Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus deci ...

(431). He is probably identical with Eznik, Bishop of the region of

Bagrevand Bagrevand (also spelled Bagrewand) was a region of Armenia. The Old Iranian etymology of the name is disputed. It is either derived from ''*bāγa.raivanta'' ("rhubarb garden") or ''baga-raēvanta-'', which either means "the rich giver" ( Mith ...

, who took part in the Synod of

Artashat Artashat ( hy, Արտաշատ); Hellenized as Artaxata ( el, Ἀρτάξατα) and Artaxiasata ( grc, Ἀρταξιάσατα), was a large commercial city and the capital of ancient Armenia during the reign of king Artaxias I; the founder of t ...

in 449.

Works

In addition to his labors in connection with the new version of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

and various translations, he composed several works, the principal of which is his remarkable apologetic treatise "Against the Sects" or "On God". It was written between 441 and 449, and contains four parts: *In the first, against the heathens, Eznik combats the eternity of matter and the substantial existence of evil. *In the second he refutes the chief doctrines of Parseeism/

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

(particularly Zurvanism). *The third is directed against aspects of the beliefs of the Greek philosophers (

Pythagoreans Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...

Platonists Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at l ...

Peripatetics The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers. The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...

and

Epicureans Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by ...

). This is the only section in which Eznik takes his arguments from the Bible rather than from reason. *The fourth book is an exposition and refutation of

Marcionism Marcionism was an early Christian dualistic belief system that originated with the teachings of Marcion of Sinope in Rome around the year 144. Marcion was an early Christian theologian, evangelist, and an important figure in early Christiani ...

as a dualist

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

. An essential theme of the work is on the importance of free will in Christian theology. Eznik displays much acumen and an extensive erudition. Eznik was evidently as familiar with the

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...

(

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

) as with Greek literature. His Armenian diction is of the choicest classical type, although the nature of his subject matter forced him to use quite a number of Greek words. The book also contains many interesting asides, such as Eznik's refutation of astrology and his diversion to the topic of animal behavior and psychology. The original manuscript of "Against the Sects" is lost: The work survived due to a single medieval transcription copied at the

University of Gladzor University of Gladzor ( hy, Գլաձորի համալսարան, translit=Gladzori hamalsaran) was a medieval Armenian university, one of the two "great centres of learning" along with the University of Tatev () that were "essentially of a singl ...

. This manuscript is currently at the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. A copy of the first printing of "Against the Sects" as a book in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...

(now Izmir) in 1762 is in the collection at the British Library. The

Mechitarists , image = , image_size = , caption = , abbreviation = C.A.M. , nickname = Mechitarists , established = , founder = Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste, C.A.M. , foundin ...

at Venice published an updated edition in 1826 and again in 1865.

Translations

French Translation

A French translation (titled "Réfutation des différentes sectes") by LeVaillant de Florival was published in 1853.

German Translation

A German translation (titled "Eznik von Kolb, Wider die Sekten") by J. M. Schmid was published in 1900.

English Translation

A complete English translation (titled "On God") by Monica Blanchard and Robin Darling Young was published in 1998. An (abridged) retelling of the work in English (titled "Refutation of the Sects") by Thomas Samuelian was published in 1986 and is available to read online. http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/scanned/yeznik_refutation.htm An Abridged Retelling in English/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*
Eznik of Kołb Refutation of the Sects in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeznik Of Kolb Christian writers 5th-century Armenian writers 5th-century Christians Armenian male writers Armenian people from the Sasanian Empire