Abu Raita al-Takriti (, '), was a 9th-century

Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and

apologist Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their fa ...

Biography

Little is known about Abu Raita's life, and although some sources portray him as a bishop of

Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...

there is no contemporary evidence to support this. Abu Raita referred to himself as a "teacher" ( ') . It appears that his reputation as a theologian made him so well known that he was recalled to defend his fellow non-Chalcedonian co-religionists in Armenia. Armenian tradition mentions that Abu Raita was recalled by the prince

Ashot Msaker Ashot IV Bagratuni (), better known as Ashot Msaker (, "Ashot the Meat Eater / the Carnivorous"), reputedly for his refusal to refrain from eating meat during Lent, was an Armenian prince from the Bagratid family. A fugitive from the failed upris ...

to defend the

miaphysite Miaphysitism () is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one nature (''physis'', ). It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It differs from the Dyophysitism of the ...

against the Melkite teachings of

Theodore Abū Qurra Theodore Abū Qurrah (; ; – ) was a 9th-century Melkites, Melkite bishop and theologian who lived in the early Islamic period. Biography Theodore was born around 750 in the city of Edessa, Mesopotamia, Edessa (Urfa, Şanlıurfa), in northern M ...

who was on a missionary activity in Armenia. Abu Raita was unable to travel to Armenia but sent his relative Archdeacon Nonnus of Nisibis with a letter defending his doctrine. Another story has Abu Raita personally engaging in a debate with Abu Qurra and the

East Syriac The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite (also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite), is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturg ...

metropolitan Abdishu ibn Bahriz. It is possible that his name appears as "Ibn Rabita" in a list of translators of scientific and philosophical works to Arabic provided by

Ibn al-Nadim Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq an-Nadīm (), also Ibn Abī Yaʿqūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the '' nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn an-Nadīm (; died 17 September 995 or 998), was an important Muslim ...

. He probably died in Tikrit no later than 830 A.D.

Works

Abu Raita's writings are mainly

Dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...

al aimed at providing answers to questions asked about Christian doctrines. He relies heavily on Christian scriptures and apologetic methods coupled with principles of

Hellenistic philosophy Hellenistic philosophy is Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period in Ancient Greece, from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The dominant schools of this period were the Stoics, the ...

. His methods became highly regarded by later Christian apologetics in the Middle East. Abu Raita's writings show deep knowledge of Islam, as he is able to quote suras alongside Christian scripture references.

Bibliography

*''A Risāla of Abū Rāʾitạ l-Takrītī on the proof of the Christian religion and the proof of the Holy Trinity'', ''On the proof of Christianity and the Trinity'' (, '), By far the most comprehensive of Ibn Raita's works, it contains responses to potential questions of Muslims regarding the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

. It also provides arguments supporting

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

in a detailed reasoning for God's becoming human as well as some Christian practices such as the

eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

, and

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

. *''The first Risāla : On the Holy Trinity'', ''On the Trinity'' (, '), this is the first of three requested by an unknown fellow Syrian Orthodox. Only the first two survive. *''The second Risāla of Abū Rāʾitạ l-Takrītī: On the Incarnation'' (, ') *''Unknown risāla in a set of three rasāʾil on the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation'', this entry appears in a Coptic list of works of theologians. *''Witnesses from the words of the Torah, the prophets and the saints'' (, '), its text contains short quotations from the Hebrew Bible which he uses to proof the doctrine of Trinity. *''From the teaching of Abū Rāʾitạ l-Takrītī, the Syrian, Bishop of Nisibis, by which he demonstrates the authenticity of the Christianity received from the Evangelists who called to it by the Holy Gospel'', ''The authenticity of Christianity'' (, '), shortest of all of Abu Raita's works. Unlike his other works he offers reasoning for Christianity based on its universal acceptance without resorting to scriptures. *''Letter to the Christians of Baḥrīn'' (, '), this letter is mentioned at the end of his second letter on incarnation. Only two brief quotations of this letter have been preserved.

Notes

References

* *{{citation, last = Keating , first = Sandra Toenies , title = Defending the People of Truth in the early Islamic period , publisher = BRILL , year = 2006 , url = https://archive.org/details/DefendingTheQuotPeopleOfTruthQuotInTheEarlyIslamicPeriod/page/n173/mode/2up , isbn = 9004148019 Christian apologists Syriac Orthodox Christians 9th-century philosophers People from Tikrit Christians from the Abbasid Caliphate