Theodore Abū Qurra Theodore Abū Qurra Date of birth Mid-8th c. Place of birth Probably Edessa Date of death Probably after 816 Place of death Perhaps Ḥarrān Biography Beyond the few items listed below, little is known about the events of Theodore Abū Qurra’s life. He seems to have been a native of Edessa, and was born toward the middle of the 8th century. A Melkite, he was one of the earliest Christians known to have written in Arabic. While it has been suggested that as a young man he was a monk at the Pales- tinian monastery of Mar Saba, the evidence for this is both slight and dubious (Lamoreaux, ‘The biography’). At an unknown date, he was ordained as the bishop of Ḥarrān, an important see just to the south of Edessa. Around 811, Thomas the Patriarch of Jerusalem had one of his Arabic Christological works translated into Greek and sent to the Monophysites of Armenia. According to a late Monophysite source, in about 813 he was deposed from his see by Theodoret, the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, because of his heretical Christology, though this is hardly likely to have been the case (Lamoreaux, Theodore Abū Qur- rah, pp. xiii-xv). Sometime between 813 and 817, he went to Armenia to debate with the Monophysites at the court of the Bagratid Prince Ashot Msakeri. Perhaps in 816, he translated into Arabic Pseudo- Aristotle’s De virtutibus animae. A late text has him meeting the Caliph al-Maʾmūn in Ḥarrān in 829 and participating in a theologi- cal debate in his presence, though there are few reasons to trust this source (Lamoreaux, Theodore Abū Qurrah, pp. xvii-xviii), much less the later text that claims to be a record of this debate (see the entry below on ‘The Debate of Abū Qurra’). The date of his death is unknown. Later authorities remembered him for his polemic against the Manicheans and Jews, his defense of icons, his defense of Melkite Christology against Monophysites and Nestorians, and his polemics against Islam. CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 440088 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::2299 PPMM Theodore Abū Qurra 409 Theodore’s originally large corpus of writings in Arabic, Greek, and Syriac has been preserved only in part. The history of their transmis- sion is still not well understood, nor in particular the relation between his Arabic works and the Greek fragments ascribed to him. Very nearly all his works also unfortunately still lack critical editions. Among Theodore’s works, a full 30 deal with the challenges of Islam in one manner or another. Sixteen of these are in Arabic and the remainder in Greek. A handful of these works are substantial treatises, but most are quite short, even fragmentary. Among Theodore’s Arabic works that treat Islam, a large number seek to defend Christianity through a comparison of the manner of its propagation with the way in which Islam was propagated. Key for Theodore is that those who first preached Christianity were unable to offer potential converts promises of wealth, power, or pleasures; on the contrary, they could promise only hardship and humility. And yet a great many accepted Christianity. How could this be? Theodore rea- sons that it could only have happened if its earliest preachers had con- firmed their message through the performance of miracles. All this stands in contrast to the other religions of the early medieval Near East, particularly Islam. As Theodore viewed the matter, these other religions were accepted because they offered an ethic that catered to human desire. Converts, for example, might receive political power or wealth, be allowed multiple wives or divorce at will, and so on. And of equal importance, none of these religions, Islam included, could dem- onstrate that its founder had been attested by miracles. Another prominent theme in Theodore’s writings on Islam is the defense of the reasonableness of Christian doctrine and practice. Not surprisingly, the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation are of paramount concern. On a great many occasions, Theodore seeks to show that neither doctrine contravenes the dictates of reason or the commonly accepted notions about God’s attributes. Of near equal importance for Theodore are the defense of free will and of the related topic of the Christian understanding of salvation – that human beings can be saved only through the death of Christ, the eternal Son of God made human. On the subject of Christian practice, subjects of concern include: baptism, the eucharist, and most especially the veneration of icons and the cross. Theodore’s Arabic works seldom mention Islam by name. He speaks instead, obliquely, of ‘those who lay claim to faith’ or ‘those who claim to have a book sent down by God’. However, that Islam is frequently CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 440099 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM 410 Theodore Abū Qurra the subject of his concern in his defense of Christianity is confirmed by his subtle use of qurʾānic language and his frequent use of the tech- nical terminology of Muslim theology. The situation is quite different in his Greek works. Here his opponents are almost always explicitly identified as Saracens, Hagarenes, or Arabs. Moreover, the tenor of his arguments is far from subtle, even to the point of accusing the prophet of Islam of moral turpitude, insanity, and willful distortion of the truth or, perhaps most strikingly, of having been possessed by a demon. The remarkably different approaches to Islam evinced by his works in Arabic and Greek might best be explained by reference to the audiences for whom he was writing, and perhaps also by a mea- sure of circumspection and fear. Taken as a whole, Theodore’s works on Islam represent one of the earliest and most detailed defenses of Christianity against the claims of the other faith. Judging from the number of extant manuscripts, his Arabic works seem not to have been widely read or copied in the Middle Ages – perhaps because of the difficulty of their language, or perhaps because they did not have the same appeal as later, more sys- tematic treatises. The situation was far different with his Greek works, which were widely circulated in manuscript form. Most of these Greek works also exist in Georgian translation, and in this form enjoyed an immense popularity. (For the Georgian tradition of Theodore’s works, see Tarchnišvili, Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, pp. 129, 206, 208-9, 366, 370-71, 375, 380, 385.) Main sources of information Primary G. Graf, Die Schriften des Jacobiten Ḥabīb Ibn Ḫidma Abū Rāʾitạ , Louvain, 1951 (CSCO 130), pp. 65-66, 73, 75-76, 79-80, 82-83, 86, 163 (references to Theodore’s Christology, as well as his journey to Armenia) Nonnus of Nisibis, Commentary on the Gospel of John, in A. van Roey, Non- nus de Nisibe, Louvain, 1948, pp. 6-9 (trans. of the relevant passage, originally written in Arabic and preserved only in Armenian; without mentioning Theodore by name, the preface to this work makes refer- ence to his visit to Armenia) L. Cheikho, Eutychii patriarchae alexandrini annales, 2 vols, Beirut, 1906-9 (CSCO 50-51), ii, p. 64 (that Theodore wrote in defense of icons) ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Hamadhānī, Al-mughnī fī abwāb al-tawḥīd wa-l-ʿadl, vol. 5, ed. M.M. al-Khuḍayrī, Cairo, 1958, pp. 144-45 (brief mention of a theo- logical argument of Theodore) CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441100 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM Theodore Abū Qurra 411 The Passion of Michael the Sabaite, in K. Kekelidze (ed.), Monumenta hagio- graphica georgica, pars prima. Keimena, 2 vols, Tbilisi, 1918, i, pp. 165- 73; for Latin and English translations, see respectively P. Peeters, ‘La passion de S. Michel le Sabaïte’, AB 48 (1930) 65-98, and M. Blanchard, ‘The Georgian version of the martyrdom of Saint Michael, monk of Mar Sabas monastery’, Aram 6 (1994) 149-63 (this text presents our Theodore as the narrator, perhaps confusing him with Theodore of Edessa; see Lamoreaux, ‘The biography’, pp. 26-32) S.K. Samir, ‘Un traité nouveau de Sawīrus Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ. La lettre à Abū al- Yumn Quzmān Ibn Mīnā’, Pd’O 25 (2000) 567-641, pp. 605-6, 614 (brief mention of Theodore as one of the leading Melkite theologians) Ibn al-Nadīm, Kitāb al-Fihrist, ed. M. Riḍā-Tajaddud, Tehran, 1971, p. 26 (reading ‘Qurrah’ for ‘ʿIzzah’) and p. 207 (that Theodore wrote against Nestorius and that he had been refuted by a Muslim) B. Martin-Hisard, ‘La Vie de Jean et Euthyme et le statut du monastère des Ibères sur l’Athos’, REB 49 (1991) 67-142, p. 86 (on the Life of Euthym- ius, stating that Theodore’s works had been translated from Georgian into Greek; cf. A. Mahé and J.-P. Mahé, La sagesse de Balahvar, Paris, 1993, p. 26, who suggest that a textual error underlies this passage) J.-B. Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien, patriarche jacobite d’Antioche (1116-1199), 4 vols, Paris, 1899-1924, iii, pp. 32-34 (trans.), iv, p. 495 (text) J.-B. Chabot and A. Abouna, Anonymi auctoris chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens, 4 vols, Paris, 1916, 1920, 1937, 1974 (CSCO 81-82, 109, 354), ii, p. 23 (text), iv, p. 16 (trans.) (reference to Theodore’s debate before al-Maʾmūn) R. Thomson, ‘The historical compilation of Vardan Arewelcʿi’, DOP 43 (1989) 125-226, p. 183 (on Theodore’s visit to Armenia) Bar Hebraeus, Mnorat qudshê, as cited by Assemani, BO ii, p. 292 (that Theo- dore was one of the first to teach that Christ has two wills) M. Brosset, Histoire chronologique par Mkhithar d’Aïrivank, XIIIe S., St Peters- burg, 1869, p. 83 (on Theodore’s visit to Armenia) Abū l-Barakāt ibn Kabar, Misḅ āḥ al-zụ lma fī īḍāḥ al-khidma, ed. S.K. Samir, Cairo, 1971, p. 301 (wrongly identifying Theodore as a Nestorian) Daniel ibn al-Khatṭạ̄ b, Kitāb al-ishrāq fī l-usụ̄ l al-dīniyya, as cited in L. Cheikho, Vingt traités théologiques d’auteurs arabes chrétiens (IXe-XIIIe siècles), Beirut, 1920, p. 75 (that Theodore was one of the first to teach that Christ has two wills) John Kyparissiotes, Ekthesis stoicheiōdēs tōn rhēseōn theologikōn, PG 152, cols 784, 809 (Latin trans. only); for the Greek text, see Hemmerdinger, ‘Le synode réuni par Théodore Abū Qurra contre les manichéens’, p. 270 (that Theodore participated in a council against the Manicheans) CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441111 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM 412 Theodore Abū Qurra Secondary D. Bertaina, ‘The development of testimony collections in early Christian apologetics with Islam’, in D. Thomas (ed.), The Bible in Arab Christi- anity, Leiden, 2007, 151-73, pp. 168-71 S. Keating, Defending the ‘People of truth’ in the early Islamic period. The Christian apologies of Abū Rāʾitạ h, Leiden, 2006, pp. 35-48, 347-57 S.H. Griffith, ‘The church of Jerusalem and the “Melkites”. The making of an “Arab Orthodox” Christian identity in the world of Islam (750-1050 CE)’, in O. Limor and G. Stroumsa (eds), Christians and Christianity in the Holy Land. From the origins to the Latin kingdoms, 2006, 175-204, pp. 198-202 J. Lamoreaux, Theodore Abū Qurrah, Provo UT, 2005 S.K. Samir, Abú Qurrah. Vida, bibliografía y obras, trans. J. Monferrer Sala, Córdoba, 2005 (augmented trans. of Samir’s two pamphlets on Abū Qurrah published in 2000) M. Beaumont, Christology in dialogue with Muslims. A critical analysis of Christian presentations of Christ for Muslims from the ninth and twenti- eth centuries, Oxford, 2005, pp. 28-43, 93-112 I. Dorfmann-Lazarev, Arméniens et Byzantins à l’époque de Photius. Deux débats théologiques après le triomphe de l’Orthodoxie, Louvain, 2004, pp. 68-79 J. Monferrer Sala, ‘Una muestra de kalām cristiano. Abū Qurra en la sección novena del Kitāb muŷādalat maʿ al-mutakallimīn al-muslimīn fī maŷlis al-Jalīfa al-Maʾmūn’, Revista española de filosofía medieval 10 (2003) 75-86 J. Lamoreaux, ‘The biography of Theodore Abū Qurrah revisited’, DOP 56 (2002) 25-40 D. Schon, ‘Zur Wahrnehmung des Islam in den Ostkirchen des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts’, Ostkirchliche Studien 51 (2002) 29-51, pp. 39-44 D. Thomas, Early Muslim polemic against Christianity. Abū ʿĪsā al-Warrāq’s ‘Against the Incarnation’, Cambridge, 2002, pp. 51-54, 78 Y. Maximov, ‘Feodor Abu Kurra i ego mesto v istorii ranneˇı pravoslavnoˇı polemiki s islamon’, Bogoslovskiˇı sbornik 10 (2002) 114-23 J. Lamoreaux, ‘Theodore Abū Qurrah and John the Deacon’, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 42 (2001) 361-86 S.H. Griffith, ‘ “Melkites”, “Jacobites” and the christological controversies in Arabic in third/ninth-century Syria’, in D. Thomas (ed.), Syrian Chris- tians under Islam. The first thousand years, Leiden, 2001, 9-55, pp. 32- 34, 36-53 S.H. Griffith, ‘The Life of Theodore of Edessa. History, hagiography and reli- gious apologetics in Mar Saba Monastery in early Abbasid times’, in J. Patrich (ed.), The Sabaite heritage in the Orthodox Church from the fifth century to the present, Louvain, 2001, 147-69, pp. 152-54, 157-58 CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441122 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM Theodore Abū Qurra 413 B. Outtier, ‘Le Dogmatikon d’Arsène d’Iqalto et ses modèles grecs’, Le Muséon 114 (2001) 217-26, pp. 221-24 S.K. Samir, Abu Qurra. al-Muʾallifāt, Beirut, 2000 S.K. Samir, Abu Qurra. Sīra wa-l-marājiʿ, Beirut, 2000 S.K. Samir, ‘Al-jadīd fī sīrat Thāwudūrus Abī Qurra wa-āthārihi’, Al-mashriq 73 (1999) 417-49 S.H. Griffith, ‘The monk in the emir’s majlis. Reflections on a popular genre of Christian literary apologetics in Arabic in the early Islamic period’, in H. Lazarus-Yafeh et al. (eds), The majlis. 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Griffith, ‘The view of Islam from the monasteries of Palestine in the ear- ly ʿAbbāsid period. Theodore Abū Qurrah and the Summa theologiae arabica’, ICMR 7 (1996) 9-28 S.H. Griffith, ‘Michael, the martyr and monk of Mar Sabas Monastery, at the court of the Caliph ʿAbd al-Malik. Christian apologetics and martyrol- ogy in the early Islamic period’, Aram 6 (1994) 115-48 S.H. Griffith, ‘Reflections on the biography of Theodore Abū Qurrah’, Pd’O 18 (1993) 143-70 S. Rissanen, Theological encounter of oriental Christians with Islam during early Abbasid Rule, Åbo, 1993, pp. 20-23 et passim S.H. Griffith, Theodore Abū Qurrah. The intellectual profile of an Arab Chris- tian writer of the first Abbasid century, Tel Aviv, 1992 S. Rissanen, ‘Der richtige Sinn der Bibel bei Theodor Abu Qurra’, in H.-O. Kvist (ed.), Bibelauslegung und Gruppenidentität, Åbo, 1992, 79-90 J. Lamoreaux, ‘An unedited tract against the Armenians by Theodore Abū Qurrah’, Le Muséon 105 (1992) 327-41 W. Madelung, ‘Al-Qāsim Ibn Ibrāhīm and Christian theology’, Aram 3 (1991) 35-44 W. Klein, Die Argumentation in den griechisch-christlichen Antimanichaica, Wiesbaden, 1991, pp. 229-38 CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441133 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM 414 Theodore Abū Qurra I. Dick, ‘La discussion d’Abū Qurra avec les ulémas musulmans devant le calife al-Maʾmūn’, Pd’O 16 (1990-91) 107-13 S.H. Griffith, ‘Islam and the Summa theologiae Arabica. Rabīʿ I, 264 A.H.’, JSAI 13 (1990) 225-64, pp. 227-37, 260-63 S.K. Samir, ‘La littérature melkite sous les premiers abbassides’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 56 (1990) 469-86, pp. 476-81 J. Declerck, ‘Le patriarche Gennade de Constantinople (458-471) et un opus- cule inédit contre les Nestoriens’, Byzantion 60 (1990) 130-44 J.-M. Sauget, ‘Un homéliaire melkite bipartite. Le manuscrit Beyrouth, Biblio- thèque Orientale 510’, Le Muséon 101 (1988) 231-90, p. 256 S.H. Griffith, ‘The monks of Palestine and the growth of Christian literature in Arabic’, Muslim World 78 (1988) 1-28, pp. 22-26 S.H. Griffith, ‘A ninth century Summa theologiae arabica’, in S.K. Samir (ed.), Actes du deuxième congrès international d’études arabes chrétiennes (1984), Rome, 1986, 123-41, pp. 128-36 S.K. Samir, ‘La “Somme des aspects de la foi”, oeuvre d’Abū Qurrah?’ in S.K. Samir (ed.), Actes du deuxième congrès international d’études arabes chrétiennes (1984), Rome, 1986, 93-121 S.H. Griffith, ‘Greek into Arabic. Life and letters in the monasteries of Pales- tine in the ninth century. The example of the Summa theologiae ara- bica’, Byzantion 106 (1986) 117-38, pp. 124-33, 136-38 S.H. Griffith, ‘Stephen of Ramlah and the Christian kerygma in Arabic in ninth-century Palestine’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History 36 (1985) 23- 45, pp. 32-37, 42-44 M. van Esbroeck, ‘Le “De sectis” attribué à Léonce de Byzance (CPG 6823) dans la version géorgienne d’Arsène Iqaltoeli’, Bedi kartlisa 42 (1984) 35-52, pp. 36, 38-39, 44 G. Monnot, ‘Les doctrines des chrétiens dans le “Moghni” de ʿAbd al-Jabbār’, MIDEO 16 (1983) 9-30, pp. 15 and 25 n. 19 S.K. Samir, ‘Note sur les citations bibliques chez Abū Qurrah’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 49 (1983) 184-91 S.K. Samir, ‘Thayūdūrus Abū Qurra’, Majallat al-majmaʿ al-ʿilmī l-ʿirāqī 7 (1983) 138-60 R. Caspar et al., ‘Bibliographie du dialogue islamo-chrétien (6)’, Islamochris- tiana 6 (1980) 259-99, pp. 290-93 Nasrallah, HMLEM, pp. 104-34 S.H. Griffith, The controversial theology of Theodore Abū Qurrah (c. 750-c. 820 A.D.). A methodological, comparative study in Christian Arabic litera- ture, Washington DC, 1978 (Diss. Catholic University of America) I. Lolašvili, Arsen Iq’altoeli (cxovreba da moɣvac’eoba), Tbilisi, 1978, pp. 112-23 S.K. Samir, ‘Théodore de Mopsueste dans le “Fihrist” d’Ibn an-Nadīm’, Le Muséon 90 (1977) 355-63 CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441144 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM Theodore Abū Qurra 415 M. Richard and M. Aubineau, Iohannis Caesariensis presbyteri et grammatici opera quae supersunt, Turnhout, 1977 (Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca 1), pp. 113-15 L. Datiašvili, ‘Arsen Iq’altoelis targani Teodore Abuk’uras t’rakt’at’isa “Saɣmrtoysa da garešisa pilosoposobisatvis”’, in I. Lolašvili (ed.), Dzveli kartuli lit’erat’ura (XI-XVIII ss.), Tbilisi, 1977, 20-40 L. Datiašvili, ‘Kartul-bizant’iuri lit’erat’uruli urtiertobas ist’oriidan’, Dzveli kartuli mc’erlobisa da rustvelologiis sak’itxebi 7-8 (1976) 65-101 J. Nasrallah, ‘L’église melchite en Iraq, en Perse et dans l’Asie centrale (3)’, POC 26 (1976) 319-53, p. 345 S.K. Samir, ‘Les plus anciens homéliaires géorgiens et les versions patristiques arabes’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 42 (1976) 217-31, p. 229 R. Caspar et al., ‘Bibliographie du dialogue islamo-chrétien (1)’, Islamochris- tiana 1 (1975) 125-81, pp. 154-56, 170-71 L. Datiašvili, ‘ “Tedore Edeselis Cxovreba” da “Abuk’ura” ’, Dzveli kartuli mc’er- lobisa da rustvelologiis sak’itxebi 5 (1973) 144-74 L. Datiašvili, ‘ “Abuk’uras” originalobis sak’itxisatvis’, Macne 39 (1967) 169-94 M. Kellermann, Ein pseudoaristotelischer Traktat über die Tugend. Edition und Übersetzung der arabischen Fassungen des Abū Qurra und des Ibn at-̣Tạ yyib, Erlangen-Nürnberg, 1965 (Diss. Friedrich-Alexander- Universität) J. Gauß, ‘Glaubensdiskussionen zwischen Ostkirche und Islam im 8.-11. Jah- rhundert’, Theologische Zeitschrift 19 (1963) 14-28, pp. 15-17 I. Dick, ‘Un continuateur arabe de saint Jean Damascène. Théodore Abu- qurra, évêque melkite de Harran. La personne et son milieu’, POC 12 (1962) 209-23, 317-32; 13 (1963) 114-29 B. Hemmerdinger, ‘Le synode réuni par Théodore Abū Qurra contre les ma- nichéens (Ḥarrān, 764-765?)’, RHR 161 (1962) 270 K. K’ek’elidze, Et’iudebi dzveli kartuli lit’erat’uris ist’oriidan, 13 vols, Tbilisi, 1945-74, v, pp. 55-57, vi, pp. 18-40 D. Lang, ‘St Euthymius the Georgian and the Barlaam and Ioasaph romance’, BSOAS 17 (1955) 306-25, pp. 315-16 E. Hammerschmidt, ‘Einige philosophisch-theologische Grundbegriffe bei Leontius von Byzanz, Johannes von Damaskus und Theodor Abû Qurra’, Ostkirchliche Studien 4 (1955) 147-57 M. Tarchnišvili, Geschichte der kirchlichen georgischen Literatur, Rome, 1955, pp. 129, 206, 208-9, 366, 370-71, 375, 380, 385 Graf, GCAL ii, pp. 7-26 R. Walzer, ‘New light on the Arabic translations of Aristotle’, Oriens 6 (1953) 91-142, p. 99 et passim A. Vööbus, Studies in the history of the Gospel text in Syriac, Louvain, 1951 (CSCO 128), pp. 158-62 A. Abel, ‘La portée apologétique de la “vie” de S. Théodore d’Edesse’, Byzantino- slavica 10 (1949) 229-40 CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441155 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM 416 Theodore Abū Qurra A. van Roey, Nonnus de Nisibe. Traité apologétique, Louvain, 1948, pp. 3-22 A. Vasiliev, ‘The life of St. Theodore of Edessa’, Byzantion 16 (1942-43) 165- 225, pp. 212-16 H. Beck, Vorsehung und Vorherbestimmung in der theologischen Literatur der Byzantiner, Rome, 1937, pp. 40-43 W. Eichner, ‘Die Nachrichten über den Islam bei den Byzantinern’, Der Islam 23 (1936) 133-62, 197-244, pp. 136-38 et passim A. Tritton, ‘The Bible text of Theodore Abu Kurra’, Journal of Theological Studies 34 (1933) 52-54 P. Kraus, ‘Zu Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ’, RSO 14 (1933) 1-20, p. 3 n. 3 M. Jugie, ‘Quaedam testimonia Byzantinorum de glorificatione humanita- tis Christi a primo instanti conceptionis’, Angelicum 9 (1932) 469-76, pp. 473-75 G. Graf, ‘Christliche Polemik gegen den Islam’, Gelbe Hefte. Historische und politische Blätter für das katholische Deutschland 2 (1926) 825-42, pp. 827-28 A. Guillaume, ‘Theodore Abu Qurra as apologist’, Moslem World 15 (1925) 42-51 A. Guillaume, ‘A debate between Christian and Muslim doctors’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Centenary Supplement (1924) 233-44 L. Cheikho, Kitāb al-makhtụ̄ tạ̄ t al-ʿarabiyya li-katabat al-nasṛāniyya, Beirut, 1924, pp. 23-24 L. Mariès, ‘Epikoura = Aboukara’, Revue des études arméniennes 1 (1920-21) 439-41 L. Mariès, ‘Un commentaire sur l’évangile de saint Jean, rédigé en arabe (circa 840) par Nonnos (Nana) de Nisibe, conservé dans une traduction ar- ménienne (circa 856)’, Revue des études arméniennes 1 (1920-21) 273-96 I. Krachkovskiˇı, ‘Fė dor Abū-Ḳurra u musul´manskikh pisateleˇı IX-X bie͡ka’, Khristianskiˇı vostok 4 (1916) 302-9 C. Becker, ‘Christliche Polemik und islamische Dogmenbildung’, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 26 (1912) 175-95 C. Güterbock, Der Islam im Lichte der byzantinischen Polemik, Berlin, 1912, pp. 12-16 F. Nau, ‘Notice historique sur le monastère de Qartamin, suivie d’une note sur le monastère de Qennesˇré’, in Actes du XIVe congrès internatio- nal des orientalistes (Alger 1905), deuxième partie, Paris, 1907, 37-135, pp. 66-69 F. Nau, ‘Lettre du R. P. Constantin Bacha. Sur un nouveau manuscrit car- chouni de la Chronique de Michel le Syrien et sur Théodore Abu-Kur- ra’, Revue de l’Orient Chrétien 11 (1906) 102-4 H. Goussen, review of Bacha’s editions of works by Theodore, Theologische Revue 5 (1906) 148-49 N. Marr, ‘Arkaun, mongol´skoe nazvanie khrictian, v cvia͡zi s voprosom ob armia͡nakh-khalkedonitakh’, VV 12 (1905) 1-68, pp. 8-15, 28, 37 CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441166 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3300 PPMM Theodore Abū Qurra 417 G. Graf, Die christlich-arabische Literatur bis zur fränkischen Zeit, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1905, pp. 31-37 Works on Christian-Muslim Relations Maymar fī wujūd al-Khāliq wa-l-dīn al-qawīm, ‘Treatise on the existence of the Creator and the true religion’ Date Late 8th or early 9th c. Original language Arabic Description Since Cheikho’s edition of 1912, this work is generally referred to under the title given above. In the al-Shīr MS from which that edi- tion was made, however, the work is untitled. In the Shuwayr MS, the work is entitled, Fī ḥaqīqat wujūd Allāh wa-annahu muthallath al-aqānīm wa-ḥaqīqat al-dīn al-masīḥī wa-anna lā dīn fī l-ʿālam ghay- rahu qatṭ,̣ ‘On the truth of the existence of God and that he a Trinity of hypostases and on the truth of the Christian religion and that there is absolutely no religion in the world other than it’. This work consists of three (seemingly) independent treatises that have been joined together in the course of transmission. The first (ed. Dick, pp. 173-98) is an attempt to show what the human mind can and cannot discover about God and his attributes on the basis of natural reason alone. The second (ed. Dick, pp. 199-258) seeks to determine which of the religions of the early medieval Near East has the greatest claim to truth. The author begins by imagining that he grew up on a mountain alone and that he then descends to the world of civilization. After meeting adherents of the various religions, including Islam, the author tries to find a methodology to help him discover which of these religions are false, and for what reasons, and which one is true, and for what reasons. The third (ed. Dick, pp. 259-70) examines the various reasons that lead people to accept a religion, and argues that Christianity is true in that it alone was correctly propagated and attested by miracles. Significance This work is one of Theodore’s most systematic investigations of theological epistemology and one of his few works in Arabic to deal explicitly with the challenges of Islam. CCMMRR__ff1122__339966--554455..iinndddd 441177 33//1177//22000099 66::4411::3311 PPMM