Blackwell Reference Online

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In addition to the early legendary martyr Babai or Babay ( Acts of Sharbil, Babai and Barsamya : early fifth century?), several persons important in the history of the church of the east are known by this name: (1)The catholicos Babai (or Baboway), originally a Zoroastrian, martyred by the Sasanian King Pērōz in 484 after a letter he wrote to the Roman Emperor Zeno was intercepted. A surviving letter addressed to a Zoroastrian convert to Christianity was later ascribed to Babai. According to later tradition the Metropolitan of Nisibis, Barṣawmā, intrigued against him because of his ‘ monophysite ’ views. (2) The Catholicos Babai II (497–502), the first to assume the title ‘patriarch of the East’. He summoned a synod of his church in 497 which, among other decisions, explicitly allowed all clergy to marry. (3) Babai the Great, head c. 620–8 of the monastic community founded by Abraham of Kashkar on Mount Izla and effective leader of the Church of the East during an interregnum, but refusing the office of catholicos when an election was allowed. He wrote many theological works, according to ‘Abdīšō’ of Nisibis’ Catalogue of Books , including a systematic account of the Church of the East's view of Christology. (4) Babai bar Nṣībnāyē, an active eighth-century reformer of the chant of the Church of the East. ... log in or subscribe to read full text