“If Man Had Received Such a Nature…” Textual Form, Transmission, and Interpretation of a Passage in Eznik’s Refutation of the Sects (Book I, 11 [§ 45])

Abstract

After providing some background on Eznik’s views on the origin of evil and free will as they are argued for in his treatise Refutation of the Sects, the article reviews the history of the interpretation of a passage in this work (Eznik, I, 11 [§ 45]), giving a critical assessment of the suggested emendations so far, and proposing two hypothetical readings, based on a comparison of the Armenian text with its supposed Greek Vorlage, the text’s transmission history, and internal contextual analysis.