Athanasius II Baldoyo

Template:Short description Template:Template other Athanasius II Baldoyo (Template:Langx, Template:Langx), also known as Athanasius of Balad, and Athanasius of Nisibis, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 684 until his death in 687.

Biography

Athanasius was born at Balad, and studied Syriac, Greek, and sciences under Severus Sebokht at the monastery of Qenneshre,Template:Sfnp where he became friends with Jacob of Edessa.Template:Sfnp After becoming a monk at the monastery of Beth Malka near Antioch, he continued his studies, and was educated in philosophy.Template:Sfnp Athanasius was later ordained as a priest, and made his residence at Nisibis.Template:Sfnp

In the tenure of the Patriarch Severus II bar Masqeh, the church had suffered schism between the patriarch and a number of bishops over the issue of the right of archbishops to ordain suffragan bishops.Template:Sfnp On his deathbed, Severus authorised John, archbishop of the monastery of Saint Matthew, to reconcile with the errant bishops,Template:Sfnp and after his death earlier in the year, a synod was held at the monastery of Asphulos near Reshʿayna in the summer of 684.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp At the synod, the schism was brought to an end,Template:Sfnp and Athanasius was consecrated as Severus' successor as patriarch of Antioch by Ananias, bishop of Merde and Kfar Tutho.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

Athanasius' consecration is placed in 684 (AG 995) in the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian and the Ecclesiastical History of Bar Hebraeus,Template:Sfnp whereas the Chronicle of 846 and Zuqnin Chronicle erroneously give 687 (AG 999) due to confusion between Athanasius' consecration and death.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp In the same year as his ascension to the patriarchal office, he issued an encyclical addressed to rural bishops (chorepiscopi) and priests (periodeutai) on the relationship between adherents and other religious groups.Template:Sfnp In the encyclical, Athanasius forbade priests from baptising or giving the Eucharist to Julianists, Nestorians, and other sects.Template:Sfnp The encyclical also expressed Athanasius' condemnation of Christian women who married Muslims,Template:Sfnp but he did permit them to continue to receive the Eucharist, and encouraged clergy to ensure the children of these marriages were baptised, did not participate in Muslim festivals,Template:Sfnp and did not consume sacrificial meat.Template:Sfnp

Prior to his death, Athanasius instructed the bishop Sergius Zkhunoyo to consecrate his student George as bishop of the Arabs.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Athanasius subsequently died in September 687.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp 687 (AG 998) is derived as the year of Athanasius' death from the histories of Michael the Syrian and Bar Hebraeus,Template:Sfnp whilst the Zuqnin Chronicle places it in 703/704 (AG 1015).Template:Sfnp

Works

Athanasius was a prolific translator of Greek works into Syriac, including Porphyry's Isagoge in January 645, as well as an anonymous Greek text on logic.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp At the request of the archbishops Matthew of Aleppo and Daniel of Edessa, Athanasius translated nine treatises of the Hexameron by Basil of Caesarea in 666/667.Template:Sfnp In 669, whilst at Nisibis, he completed a translation of a number of letters of Severus of Antioch following a commission from Matthew of Aleppo and Daniel of Edessa.Template:Sfnp Severus of Antioch's second discourse against Nephalius, several homilies by Gregory of Nazianzus, and the book of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite were also translated by Athanasius.Template:Sfnp He is also known to have translated several works of Aristotle, such as Prior Analytics, Topics, and Sophistical Refutations.Template:Sfnp

In addition to his translations, Athanasius composed prayers of supplication, three of which are to be used at the celebration of the Eucharist, and prayers for the dead.Template:Sfnp