Acacius (Nestorian Patriarch)
Encyclopedia
Acacius was patriarch of the Church of the East from 485 to 496. He is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East. During his reign he struggled to prevent the Church of the East from aligning itself with the 'Nestorian' doctrine espoused by the metropolitan Bar Sawma of Nisibis.
, in the hope that he would prevent the takeover of the Church of the East by the Nestorians. But despite frequent quarrels with Barsauma, Acacius was unable to prevent the victory of the powerful Nestorian faction. A synod held under his presidency in 485 at Beth Edrai entrenched Nestorianism
within the Church of the East.
The following account of Acacius's reign [with some minor omissions] is given by Bar Hebraeus, who as a Jacobite author was prejudiced against the Nestorians. In the first sentence Barsauma (the name means 'son of fasting') is derisively nicknamed 'Bar Sula', 'son of the shoe'.
Sources
Brief accounts of Acacius's reign are given in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (floruit 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the Nestorian writers Mari (twelfth-century), Amr (fourteenth-century) and Sliba (fourteenth-century). His life is also covered in the Chronicle of Seert.Acacius's patriarchate
Acacius played a key role in the events that led to the takeover of the Church of the East by the Nestorians in the last two decades of the fifth century. A moderate churchman, he was appointed patriarch in 485 by the political enemies of the powerful metropolitan Barsauma of Nisibis, a champion of NestorianismNestorianism
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...
, in the hope that he would prevent the takeover of the Church of the East by the Nestorians. But despite frequent quarrels with Barsauma, Acacius was unable to prevent the victory of the powerful Nestorian faction. A synod held under his presidency in 485 at Beth Edrai entrenched 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...
within the Church of the East.
The following account of Acacius's reign [with some minor omissions] is given by Bar Hebraeus, who as a Jacobite author was prejudiced against the Nestorians. In the first sentence Barsauma (the name means 'son of fasting') is derisively nicknamed 'Bar Sula', 'son of the shoe'.
Then the bishops who had fled from Bar Sula met at Seleucia, and consecrated a certain Acacius as their catholicus. When Barsauma of Nisibis and Magna of Fars heard of this, they threatened to kill Acacius like his predecessor unless he accepted their words. And he, terrified, gave in to them, chiefly on account of the old affection that he still felt for them; for he had been a fellow-student of Barsauma, Magna and Narsaï in the school of Edessa, and had fled from there with them; and so he did not oppose their plans. He also convened a synod in which he confirmed the faith of NestoriusNestoriusNestorius 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,...
. From that time NestorianismNestorianismNestorianism 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...
held sway throughout the East, and fornication became so common among the bishops, the priests, the deacons and the people that Christian babies lay on the rubbish tips and in the streets, and many of them were eaten by dogs, so that Acacius was forced to build houses to accommodate the orphans and to feed the women so that they might bring up the offspring of their lust. In this way, under tragic auspices, the Nestorian faithNestorianismNestorianism 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...
was established in the East.
At that time Acacius was sent by the king of the Persians as an ambassador to the emperor of the Greeks, and the western bishops met with him. He was asked about the Nestorian heresy, but denied any knowledge of either NestoriusNestoriusNestorius 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,...
or his heresy, and said that this was just a shameful name given to them by their enemy Aksenaya. On his return to the East, Acacius found that Barsauma had already died. Some say that the monks of Tur Abdin mobbed him in the church and killed him with the keys of their cells, while others say that his tomb can be seen in the church of Mar Yaqob in Nisibis.