Nestorianist melkite: on the special features of christology of Suleiman of Gaza

Abstract

The article examines the Christological doctrine of the Melkite writer Suleiman of Gaza, who occupies a special place in the history of Arabic-speaking Orthodox theology: for the Melkite tradition, it is with Suleiman that the era of the so-called “Arabic scholasticism” begins. The Bishop of Gaza is an example of a rather rare author among the Arab-Christian apologists, who freely borrowed theological ideas from heterodox sources. Thus, he borrowed his rational Trinitarian apologetics from his contemporary, the Nestorian Metropolitan Elijah of Nisibin. In this regard, it seems very interesting to check for such borrowings and the Christological teaching of Suleiman. Formally, his Christology is undoubtedly Orthodox, he teaches about two natures in Christ, professes the unity of His Hypostasis, affirms the personal identity of God the Word before and after incarnation. At the same time, his teaching on the unity of Christ is very reminiscent of the Nestorian concept of the “person of unity”. In general, Suleiman avoids using Christological terms and formulas that are normative for Orthodox theology, but at the same time unacceptable for Nestorianism. In particular, he does not use the name “Theotokos” in relation to the Virgin Mary. In addition, the Bishop of Gaza does not regard Christ’s humanity as own humanity of God the Word, and does not use theopaschitic expressions. In the doctrine of salvation, he is characterized, on the one hand, by an emphasis on the special role of Christ’s humanity, that is uncharacteristic for Orthodox soteriology, and, on the other hand, by a complete absence of the concept of deification. Analysis of the Christology of Suleiman of Gaza gives serious grounds to assume that in his Christological teaching he was also under the influence of Nestorian theology.