Shahlufa () was a legendary
primate
Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...
of the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...
, who is conventionally believed to have reigned from 220 to 224 A.D.
Sources
Brief accounts of the life of Shahlufa are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer
Bar-Hebraeus (''
fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
'' 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the
Nestorian
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...
writers Mari (twelfth-century), (fourteenth-century) and Sliba (fourteenth-century). These accounts differ slightly, and these minor differences are of significance for scholars interested in tracing the various stages in the development of the legend.
Although Shahlufa is included in traditional lists of primates of the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...
, his existence has been doubted by
J. M. Fiey, one of the most eminent twentieth-century scholars of the Church of the East. In Fiey's view, Shahlufa was one of several fictitious bishops of
Seleucia-Ctesiphon whose lives were concocted in the sixth century to bridge the gap between the late third century bishop
Papa, the first historically attested bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and the apostle
Mari, the legendary founder of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
.
Life of Shahlufa
The following brief account of the life of Shahlufa is given by Bar-Hebraeus:
After Ahadabui, Shahlufa. He was a native of Kashkar. After the death of Ahadabui, the Eastern bishops assembled and consecrated him. He was the first catholicus to be consecrated by the Eastern bishops. He died at Seleucia after fulfilling his office for twenty years.[Bar Hebraeus, ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' (ed. Abeloos and Lamy), ii. 26–8]
See also
*
List of patriarchs of the Church of the East
Notes
References
* Abbeloos, J. B., and Lamy, T. J., ''Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum'' (3 vols, Paris, 1877)
* Assemani, J. A., ''De Catholicis seu Patriarchis Chaldaeorum et Nestorianorum'' (Rome, 1775)
* Brooks, E. W., ''Eliae Metropolitae Nisibeni Opus Chronologicum'' (Rome, 1910)
* Fiey, J. M., ''Jalons pour un histoire de l'Église en Iraq'' (Louvain, 1970)
* Gismondi, H., ''Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria I: Amri et Salibae Textus'' (Rome, 1896)
* Gismondi, H., ''Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria II: Maris textus arabicus et versio Latina'' (Rome, 1899)
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahlufa
Legendary primates of the Church of the East
3rd-century bishops
Bishops of Seleucia-Ctesiphon