Ibas (Assyrian bishop)
Encyclopedia
Ibas was bishop
of Edessa
(c. 435–457) and was born in Syria
. His name in Syriac
is Ihiba or Hiba, the quivalent of Donatus. He is frequently associated with the growth of Nestorianism
, although his recorded acts do not support this reputation.
, warmly espousing the theological views which his bishop uncompromisingly opposed. He admired the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia
, which he translated into Syriac and diligently disseminated through the East.
The famous theological school of Edessa, of which, according to some accounts, Ibas was head, and to which the Christian youth from Persia
and adjacent lands came for education, offered many opportunities for propagating Theodore's beliefs. The growing popularity of doctrines which appeared clearly heretical
alarmed Rabbula, and he endeavored to get Theodore's works anathematized and burnt. However the church of Edessa was generally favorable to Theodore's teaching, and supported Ibas against their bishop.
Ibas attended the First Council of Ephesus in 431 as a presbyter, was cognizant of Cyril's autocratic conduct, and wrote in 433 the letter to Maris, bishop of Hardaschir in Persia, a letter which later became one of the Three Chapters. Maris had been at Edessa previous to the Nestorian controversy, and Ibas wrote to tell him what had occurred since his visit. Though evidently written under great exasperation, it shows Ibas as a man of independent judgment, and free from partisanship. In the letter, Nestorius
is severely censured for refusing the title Theotokos
to the Virgin Mary, and Ibas accuses Cyril
of Apollinarianism, and denounces the heresy of his 12 chapters, charging him with maintaining the perfect identity of the manhood and Godhead in Christ, and denying the Catholic doctrine of the union of two Natures in One Person.
When Rabbula died in 435 or 436, Ibas was elected his successor. This was distasteful to those who held the strong anti-Nestorian views of their late bishop, and they speedily planned to secure his deposition, by spreading charges against him of openly preaching heretical doctrines. The accusations soon reached the ears of Theodosius II
and Archbishop Proclus of Constantinople
. To Proclus the matter appeared so serious that towards the close of 437 he wrote to John I of Antioch, as the leading prelate of the East, though really having no canonical jurisdiction over Osrhoene, begging him to persuade Ibas, if innocent, to remove the scandal by condemning publicly certain propositions chiefly drawn from Theodore's writings against the errors of Nestorius. The same demand was made by Proclus of all the Eastern bishops; but Ibas and the other bishops generally refused to condemn Theodore's propositions.
Although blocked so far, the malcontents at Edessa continued to work against their bishop. Their leaders were four presbyters, Samuel, Cyrus, Eulogius, and Maras, who acted at the instigation of one of Ibas's own suffragans, Uranius
, bishop of Himeria
, a pronounced Eutychian. While Domnus II
, who had in 442 succeeded his uncle John I of Antioch as Patriarch of Antioch
, visited Hierapolis Bambyce for the enthronization of the new bishop Stephen, Ibas' opponents chose that moment for action. Cyrus and Eulogius formally laid before Domnus the accusation against Ibas, signed by about 17 clergy of Edessa, and supported by 30. Ibas, starting his journey for Hierapolis Bambyce to pay his respects to Domnus, learned of the accusation, at once summoned his clergy, pronounced excommunication on Cyrus and Eulogius as calumniators, and threatened the same treatment to all who participated in their proceedings.
held at Antioch in the matter of Athanasius of Perrha, but he excused himself by letter. The Domnus supported Ibas, and he showed no readiness to entertain the charges brought against him. At last, in Lent
448, the four chief accusers presented their indictment before Domnus and the council of the East in a manner too formal to be neglected. Domnus consequently summoned Ibas to appear before him after Easter to answer the charges. The council was held at Antioch, and was attended by only a few bishops: the existing Acts bear only nine signatures. Ibas in person answered the 18 charges, mostly of a frivolous character and destitute of proof: e.g. that he had appropriated a jewelled chalice
to his own use; that the wine
at the Eucharist
was inferior in quality and quantity; the malversation of sums given for the ransom of captives; simoniacal
ordinations and the admission of unfit persons to the ministry and episcopate, especially his nephew Daniel, whom he had made bishop of Charrae. The most serious charges were that he had anathema
tized Cyril and charged him with heresy; that he was a Nestorian; and especially that at Easter
445, in the presence of his clergy, he had spoken the blasphemous words, "I do not envy Christ His becoming God, for I can become God no less than He." "This is the day that Jesus Christ became God". The first charge he acknowledged, the others he indignantly repudiated as base slanders. Only two of the accusers appeared. Samuel and Cyrus had gone to Constantinople, in defiance of the terms on which the excommunication had been lifted, to lay their complaint before the emperor and Patriarch of Constantinople
, deciding that a hearing by Domnus would obviously be biased towards Ibas. Domnus and the council declined to proceed in the absence of the chief witnesses, and the case seemed to be postponed indefinitely.
Eulogius and Maras then hastened to join their companions in Constantinople, where they found a powerful party strongly hostile to the Eastern bishops, Theodoret
in particular. Their faction was soon strengthened by the arrival of Uranius, and half a dozen more Edessene clergy. The emperor and Flavian
, who had succeeded Proclus as archbishop, listened to their complaints, but declined to hear them officially. The case was remitted to the East, and by an imperial commission, dated October 26, 448, Uranius of Himeria, Photius of Tyre, who was elected September 9, 448, on the deposition of Irenaeus, and Eustathius of Beirut were deputed to hear it, and Damascius, the tribune and secretary of state, was dispatched as imperial commissioner. The whole proceeding was contrary to the canons that bishops should be subjected to the judgment of other bishops, two belonging to another province, on the strength of an imperial decree. No one, however, protested: imperial power was regarded as absolute. The tribunal also was grossly unfair. One of the three judges, Uranius, was ringleader of the movement against Ibas; the other two had obtained their sees by the instrumentality of Uranius.
to avoid disturbances. In response to the indictment, Ibas laid before his judges a memorial signed by many of his clergy, denying that he had ever uttered the alleged blasphemies. Only three witnesses supported the accusation, and brought forward a copy of the celebrated letter to Maris. The commissioners, avoiding any judicial decision, brought about a friendly arrangement.
His enemies agreed to withdraw their accusations on lbas promising that he would forget the past, regard his accusers as his children, and remit any fresh difficulty for settlement to Domnus; and that, to avoid suspicion of malversation, the church revenues of Edessa should be administered, like those of Antioch, by oeconomi. Ibas gave equal satisfaction on theological points. He engaged to publicly anathematize Nestorius and all who thought with him on his return, and declared the identity of his doctrine with that agreed upon by John and Cyril, and that he accepted the decrees of Ephesus equally with those of Nicaea as due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The concordat was signed, Uranius alone dissenting, February 25, 449
The truce was broken within a very few weeks. The Eutychian party was aided by the intrigues of Chrysaphius, Dioscorus
, and their partisans to obtain an edict summoning a further General Council at Ephesus
for August 1, 449. Although the council was intended to rehabilitate the reputation of Eutyches, it served as a weapon against Ibas. Reports diligently spread in Edessa during his absence of Ibas's heterodoxy
made his reception so hostile that he was obliged to leave the town and request the Magister militum
for a guard to protect him. He soon discovered that all appeal to the civil power was in vain. The count Chaereas was governor of Osrhoene, but had secret instructions from Chrysaphius
and Eutyches to arrest and imprison him and reopen the suit. When Chaereas entered Edessa on April 12, 449, to commence the trial, he was met by a mob of abbots and monks and their partisans, clamoring for the immediate expulsion and condemnation of Ibas and his followers. Two days later the inquiry began with Ibas absent and a mob agitating for his condemnation. All Edessa knew that Chaereas had come merely to announce a sentence of condemnation already passed.
Chaereas, however, was moving too slowly for their hatred, and on Sunday, April 17, the excitement in church was so violent that the count was compelled to promise that the verdict of the synod of Beirut should be reviewed and a new investigation commenced. This began on the next day; all the old charges were reproduced by the same accusers, amid wild yells of "Ibas to the gallows, to the mines, to the circus, to exile" drowning every attempt at explanation or defence. Chaereas, as had been predetermined, addressed a report to the imperial government, declaring the charges proved; and on June 27 the emperor, acknowledging the receipt of the document, ordered that a bishop who would command the confidence of the faithful should be substituted for Ibas. Only a legally constituted synod could depose him, but meanwhile his enemies' malice could be gratified by his maltreatment. He was forbidden to enter Edessa, apprehended and treated as the vilest of criminals, dragged about from province to province, changing his quarters 40 times and being in 20 different prisons.
It is not clear what befell Ibas on his deposition. At the beginning of 451 the bishops who were deposed and banished as a consequence of the Second Council of Ephesus were allowed to return from exile, but the question of their restoration was left for the Council of Chalcedon
. At the 9th session, October 26, the case of Ibas came before the assembled bishops. On his demand to be restored in accordance with the verdict of Photius and Eustathius at Beirut and Tyre, the Acts of that synod were read, and the next day the pope's legate
s gave their opinion that Ibas, was unlawfully deposed, and should be at once restored. After much discussion this was carried unanimously. The legates led the way, declaring his letter to Maris orthodox, and commanded his restitution. All the prelates agreed in this verdict, on the condition that he should anathematize Nestorius and Eutyches and accept the tome of Leo. Ibas consented without hesitation. "He had anathematized Nestorius already in his writings, and would do so again ten thousand times, together with Eutyches and all who teach the One Nature, and would accept all that the council holds as truth." On this he was unanimously absolved, restored as bishop of Edessa at the subsequent sessions. Nonnus, who had been chosen bishop on Ibas' deposition, having been legitimately ordained, was allowed to retain his episcopal rank, and on Ibas's death, October 28, 457, quietly succeeded him as metropolitan.
The fiction that Ibas had disowned the letter to Maris at Chalcedon, as Justinian
claimed he did at Beirut, as having been forged in his name, is disproved by Facundus. A controversy concerning his letter to Maris arose in the next century, in the notorious dispute about the "Three Chapters," when the letter - was branded as heterodox (together with the works of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret's writings in favour of Nestorius) in the edict of Justinian, and was formally condemned in 553 by the fifth general council, which pronounced an anathema, in bold defiance of historical fact, against all who should pretend that it and the other documents impugned had been recognized as orthodox by the council of Chalcedon. Ibas is anathematized by the Syrian Orthodox Church as a Nestorian. According to the Chronicle of Edessa, Ibas erected the new church of the Apostles at Edessa, to which a senator gave a silver table of 720 lb. weight, and Anatolius, Magister militum per Orientem, a silver coffer to receive the relics of Thomas the Apostle
, who was said, after preaching in Parthia, to have been buried there.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
(c. 435–457) and was born in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. His name in Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
is Ihiba or Hiba, the quivalent of Donatus. He is frequently associated with the growth of Nestorianism
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
, although his recorded acts do not support this reputation.
Early life
He appears first as a presbyter of the church of Edessa during the episcopate of RabbulaRabbula
Rabbula was a bishop of Edessa from 411 to August 435, noteworthy for his opposition to the views of Theodore of Mopsuestia, as well as those of Nestorius...
, warmly espousing the theological views which his bishop uncompromisingly opposed. He admired the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia
Theodore of Mopsuestia
Theodore the Interpreter was bishop of Mopsuestia from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate...
, which he translated into Syriac and diligently disseminated through the East.
The famous theological school of Edessa, of which, according to some accounts, Ibas was head, and to which the Christian youth from Persia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and adjacent lands came for education, offered many opportunities for propagating Theodore's beliefs. The growing popularity of doctrines which appeared clearly heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
alarmed Rabbula, and he endeavored to get Theodore's works anathematized and burnt. However the church of Edessa was generally favorable to Theodore's teaching, and supported Ibas against their bishop.
Ibas attended the First Council of Ephesus in 431 as a presbyter, was cognizant of Cyril's autocratic conduct, and wrote in 433 the letter to Maris, bishop of Hardaschir in Persia, a letter which later became one of the Three Chapters. Maris had been at Edessa previous to the Nestorian controversy, and Ibas wrote to tell him what had occurred since his visit. Though evidently written under great exasperation, it shows Ibas as a man of independent judgment, and free from partisanship. In the letter, Nestorius
Nestorius
Nestorius was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431.Drawing on his studies at the School of Antioch, his teachings, which included a rejection of the long-used title of Theotokos for the Virgin Mary, brought him into conflict with other prominent churchmen of the time,...
is severely censured for refusing the title Theotokos
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
to the Virgin Mary, and Ibas accuses Cyril
Cyril
Cyril is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek name Κύριλλος meaning "Lordly, Masterful" which in turn derives from Greek κυριος "Lord"...
of Apollinarianism, and denounces the heresy of his 12 chapters, charging him with maintaining the perfect identity of the manhood and Godhead in Christ, and denying the Catholic doctrine of the union of two Natures in One Person.
When Rabbula died in 435 or 436, Ibas was elected his successor. This was distasteful to those who held the strong anti-Nestorian views of their late bishop, and they speedily planned to secure his deposition, by spreading charges against him of openly preaching heretical doctrines. The accusations soon reached the ears of Theodosius II
Theodosius II
Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
and Archbishop Proclus of Constantinople
Archbishop Proclus of Constantinople
Saint Proclus was an Archbishop of Constantinople. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.-Biography:...
. To Proclus the matter appeared so serious that towards the close of 437 he wrote to John I of Antioch, as the leading prelate of the East, though really having no canonical jurisdiction over Osrhoene, begging him to persuade Ibas, if innocent, to remove the scandal by condemning publicly certain propositions chiefly drawn from Theodore's writings against the errors of Nestorius. The same demand was made by Proclus of all the Eastern bishops; but Ibas and the other bishops generally refused to condemn Theodore's propositions.
Although blocked so far, the malcontents at Edessa continued to work against their bishop. Their leaders were four presbyters, Samuel, Cyrus, Eulogius, and Maras, who acted at the instigation of one of Ibas's own suffragans, Uranius
Uranius
Uranius is the name of a Roman usurper cited by Zosimus, and active during the reigns of Elagabalus or Alexander Severus.However, it is possible that Zosimus confused this usurper with Lucius Julius Aurelius Sulpicius Severus Uranius Antoninus, who, according to numismatical evidence, reigned much...
, bishop of Himeria
Himeria
Himeria was an ancient city in the Roman province of Osrhoene. It is also a Roman Catholic titular see, a suffragan of the archbishopric of Edessa.-History:...
, a pronounced Eutychian. While Domnus II
Domnus II of Antioch
Domnus II, Patriarch of Antioch of the heavily religious Eastern Roman Empire, and a friend of the influential Saint Theodoret Bishop of Cyrrhus. He was nephew of John I, Patriarch of Antioch, brought up under Euthymius the famous hermit of Palestine. He was ordained deacon by Juvenal of Jerusalem...
, who had in 442 succeeded his uncle John I of Antioch as Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...
, visited Hierapolis Bambyce for the enthronization of the new bishop Stephen, Ibas' opponents chose that moment for action. Cyrus and Eulogius formally laid before Domnus the accusation against Ibas, signed by about 17 clergy of Edessa, and supported by 30. Ibas, starting his journey for Hierapolis Bambyce to pay his respects to Domnus, learned of the accusation, at once summoned his clergy, pronounced excommunication on Cyrus and Eulogius as calumniators, and threatened the same treatment to all who participated in their proceedings.
Summoning by Domnus
In 445 Ibas was summoned by Domnus to the synodSynod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
held at Antioch in the matter of Athanasius of Perrha, but he excused himself by letter. The Domnus supported Ibas, and he showed no readiness to entertain the charges brought against him. At last, in Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
448, the four chief accusers presented their indictment before Domnus and the council of the East in a manner too formal to be neglected. Domnus consequently summoned Ibas to appear before him after Easter to answer the charges. The council was held at Antioch, and was attended by only a few bishops: the existing Acts bear only nine signatures. Ibas in person answered the 18 charges, mostly of a frivolous character and destitute of proof: e.g. that he had appropriated a jewelled chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
to his own use; that the wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
at the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
was inferior in quality and quantity; the malversation of sums given for the ransom of captives; simoniacal
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...
ordinations and the admission of unfit persons to the ministry and episcopate, especially his nephew Daniel, whom he had made bishop of Charrae. The most serious charges were that he had anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
tized Cyril and charged him with heresy; that he was a Nestorian; and especially that at Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
445, in the presence of his clergy, he had spoken the blasphemous words, "I do not envy Christ His becoming God, for I can become God no less than He." "This is the day that Jesus Christ became God". The first charge he acknowledged, the others he indignantly repudiated as base slanders. Only two of the accusers appeared. Samuel and Cyrus had gone to Constantinople, in defiance of the terms on which the excommunication had been lifted, to lay their complaint before the emperor and Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
, deciding that a hearing by Domnus would obviously be biased towards Ibas. Domnus and the council declined to proceed in the absence of the chief witnesses, and the case seemed to be postponed indefinitely.
Eulogius and Maras then hastened to join their companions in Constantinople, where they found a powerful party strongly hostile to the Eastern bishops, Theodoret
Theodoret
Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms...
in particular. Their faction was soon strengthened by the arrival of Uranius, and half a dozen more Edessene clergy. The emperor and Flavian
Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople
Flavian was Archbishop of Constantinople from 446 to 449. He is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church....
, who had succeeded Proclus as archbishop, listened to their complaints, but declined to hear them officially. The case was remitted to the East, and by an imperial commission, dated October 26, 448, Uranius of Himeria, Photius of Tyre, who was elected September 9, 448, on the deposition of Irenaeus, and Eustathius of Beirut were deputed to hear it, and Damascius, the tribune and secretary of state, was dispatched as imperial commissioner. The whole proceeding was contrary to the canons that bishops should be subjected to the judgment of other bishops, two belonging to another province, on the strength of an imperial decree. No one, however, protested: imperial power was regarded as absolute. The tribunal also was grossly unfair. One of the three judges, Uranius, was ringleader of the movement against Ibas; the other two had obtained their sees by the instrumentality of Uranius.
Trial
Tyre was named as the place of trial. The accusations raised against Ibas were so inflammatory that the hearing was moved to Eustathius's episcopal residence in BeirutBeirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
to avoid disturbances. In response to the indictment, Ibas laid before his judges a memorial signed by many of his clergy, denying that he had ever uttered the alleged blasphemies. Only three witnesses supported the accusation, and brought forward a copy of the celebrated letter to Maris. The commissioners, avoiding any judicial decision, brought about a friendly arrangement.
His enemies agreed to withdraw their accusations on lbas promising that he would forget the past, regard his accusers as his children, and remit any fresh difficulty for settlement to Domnus; and that, to avoid suspicion of malversation, the church revenues of Edessa should be administered, like those of Antioch, by oeconomi. Ibas gave equal satisfaction on theological points. He engaged to publicly anathematize Nestorius and all who thought with him on his return, and declared the identity of his doctrine with that agreed upon by John and Cyril, and that he accepted the decrees of Ephesus equally with those of Nicaea as due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The concordat was signed, Uranius alone dissenting, February 25, 449
The truce was broken within a very few weeks. The Eutychian party was aided by the intrigues of Chrysaphius, Dioscorus
Dioscorus of Alexandria
Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria was Patriarch of Alexandria from 444. He was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 but was recognized as Patriarch by the Coptic Church until his death. He died in Asia Minor, on September 17, 454...
, and their partisans to obtain an edict summoning a further General Council at Ephesus
Second Council of Ephesus
The Second Council of Ephesus was a church synod in 449 AD. It was convoked by Emperor Theodosius II as an ecumenical council but because of the controversial proceedings it was not accepted as ecumenical, labelled a Robber Synod and later repudiated at the Council of Chalcedon.-The first...
for August 1, 449. Although the council was intended to rehabilitate the reputation of Eutyches, it served as a weapon against Ibas. Reports diligently spread in Edessa during his absence of Ibas's heterodoxy
Heterodoxy
Heterodoxy is generally defined as "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". As an adjective, heterodox is commonly used to describe a subject as "characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards"...
made his reception so hostile that he was obliged to leave the town and request the Magister militum
Magister militum
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
for a guard to protect him. He soon discovered that all appeal to the civil power was in vain. The count Chaereas was governor of Osrhoene, but had secret instructions from Chrysaphius
Chrysaphius
Chrysaphius was a eunuch at the Eastern Roman court, who became the chief minister of Theodosius II . Effectively the ruler of the empire during his ascendancy, he pursued a policy of appeasement towards the Huns, which cost the empire far more gold than any military campaign, while amassing a...
and Eutyches to arrest and imprison him and reopen the suit. When Chaereas entered Edessa on April 12, 449, to commence the trial, he was met by a mob of abbots and monks and their partisans, clamoring for the immediate expulsion and condemnation of Ibas and his followers. Two days later the inquiry began with Ibas absent and a mob agitating for his condemnation. All Edessa knew that Chaereas had come merely to announce a sentence of condemnation already passed.
Chaereas, however, was moving too slowly for their hatred, and on Sunday, April 17, the excitement in church was so violent that the count was compelled to promise that the verdict of the synod of Beirut should be reviewed and a new investigation commenced. This began on the next day; all the old charges were reproduced by the same accusers, amid wild yells of "Ibas to the gallows, to the mines, to the circus, to exile" drowning every attempt at explanation or defence. Chaereas, as had been predetermined, addressed a report to the imperial government, declaring the charges proved; and on June 27 the emperor, acknowledging the receipt of the document, ordered that a bishop who would command the confidence of the faithful should be substituted for Ibas. Only a legally constituted synod could depose him, but meanwhile his enemies' malice could be gratified by his maltreatment. He was forbidden to enter Edessa, apprehended and treated as the vilest of criminals, dragged about from province to province, changing his quarters 40 times and being in 20 different prisons.
Council of Ephesus
The council of Ephesus opened on August 3. One of its objects was to get rid finally of Ibas, which was the work of the second session, held on August 22. The three bishops who had conducted the investigation at Tyre and Beirut were asked for an account of their proceedings; they avoided reporting Ibas' acquittal, stating that the investigation that was later made at Edessa would be more useful. The monks of Edessa and the other parties to the indictment were admitted, and asked for their report, which condemned Ibas as expected. The motion of deposition carried without objection, Eustathius of Beirut and Photius of Tyre, who had previously acquitted him on the same evidence, voting with the majority. Ibas was not called to appear, being then in prison at Antioch.It is not clear what befell Ibas on his deposition. At the beginning of 451 the bishops who were deposed and banished as a consequence of the Second Council of Ephesus were allowed to return from exile, but the question of their restoration was left for the Council of Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
. At the 9th session, October 26, the case of Ibas came before the assembled bishops. On his demand to be restored in accordance with the verdict of Photius and Eustathius at Beirut and Tyre, the Acts of that synod were read, and the next day the pope's legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
s gave their opinion that Ibas, was unlawfully deposed, and should be at once restored. After much discussion this was carried unanimously. The legates led the way, declaring his letter to Maris orthodox, and commanded his restitution. All the prelates agreed in this verdict, on the condition that he should anathematize Nestorius and Eutyches and accept the tome of Leo. Ibas consented without hesitation. "He had anathematized Nestorius already in his writings, and would do so again ten thousand times, together with Eutyches and all who teach the One Nature, and would accept all that the council holds as truth." On this he was unanimously absolved, restored as bishop of Edessa at the subsequent sessions. Nonnus, who had been chosen bishop on Ibas' deposition, having been legitimately ordained, was allowed to retain his episcopal rank, and on Ibas's death, October 28, 457, quietly succeeded him as metropolitan.
The fiction that Ibas had disowned the letter to Maris at Chalcedon, as Justinian
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
claimed he did at Beirut, as having been forged in his name, is disproved by Facundus. A controversy concerning his letter to Maris arose in the next century, in the notorious dispute about the "Three Chapters," when the letter - was branded as heterodox (together with the works of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret's writings in favour of Nestorius) in the edict of Justinian, and was formally condemned in 553 by the fifth general council, which pronounced an anathema, in bold defiance of historical fact, against all who should pretend that it and the other documents impugned had been recognized as orthodox by the council of Chalcedon. Ibas is anathematized by the Syrian Orthodox Church as a Nestorian. According to the Chronicle of Edessa, Ibas erected the new church of the Apostles at Edessa, to which a senator gave a silver table of 720 lb. weight, and Anatolius, Magister militum per Orientem, a silver coffer to receive the relics of Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
, who was said, after preaching in Parthia, to have been buried there.