Christianity in Lycia: From its beginnings to the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”

Year 2015, Issue: 18, 255 - 288, 01.06.2015

Jülian Bennett

Abstract

In his seminal article on the churches of Lycia, R. M. Harrison opined that the relative lack of information about Christianity in that region during the Imperial period was “probably accidental”, basing his observation on the belief that the coastal cities of the region, ‘in close commercial contact’ with the Levant and Egypt, were likely to be as “receptive to the new religion as were other, better documented parts of Asia Minor”1. The reality is, though, that a broad range of evidence does exist to suggest that some of Lycia’s inhabitants were receptive to the “new religion” from as early as the Apostle Paul’s first missionary journey to Anatolia in c. 46/48. The principal purpose of this article, then, is to identify and elaborate on these items regarding early Christianity in Lycia as a means of correcting this rather one-sided opinion. In addition, however, the opportunity is taken to explore here a greatly neglected topic: namely the reaction of the Lycian Church to the various Christological debates that repeatedly divided the early Church from the sole reign of Constantine I and the First Ecumenical Council in 325, to the regency of Theodora and the Synod of Constantinople in 842 and its celebration of the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”, marking the final defeat of iconoclasm and so also the genesis of the modern Eastern Orthodox Church. This excursus, though, will naturally necessitate some basic analysis of the underlying issues to elucidate their substance and so better understand the controversies they generated and how these impacted on the wider Church. The picture that emerges with specific regard to Lycia is a mixed but interesting one, for it suggests that up to at least the 7th century, members of the Lycian Church were often attracted to and embraced dogmas and doctrines that were denounced as heretical by the mainstream Church.

Lykia’da Hıristiyanlık: Başlangıcından ‘Ortodoksluğun Zaferi’ne Kadar

Abstract

Lykia’da Hıristiyanlığın kökeni ciddi bir şekilde incelenmemiştir. Bunun başlıca sebebi Aziz Paulos’un M.S. 46/47-57 yılları arasında Anadolu’daki misyoner etkinliğinin Lykia’ya ulaşmadığı, ve böylece Lykia halkının 325 yılında İznik’te toplanan Konsil’de Hıristiyanlığa imparatorluk desteği verilmesi öncesi yeni dine geçişinin yavaş olduğu şeklindeki genel kanıdır. Benzer şekilde 843 yılındaki Constantinopolis Synodu’na kadar bu eyalette dinin gelişimine çok az dikkat edilmiştir. Aslında bu, modern Doğu Ortodoks Kilisesi’nin doğumuna giden kilit aşamalardan biridir, çünkü aynı yıl 11 Mart Pazar günü İkonoklazmanın kesinlikle lanetlenmesini, yani bugün ‘Ortodoksluğun Zaferi’ olarak kutlanan olayı anma amacıyla özel bir ayin içerir. Ne var ki, bu makalede gösterileceği gibi, M.S. 1. yy.’ın ortasından 9. yy.’ın ortasına kadar geçen 800 yıllık sürede Hıristiyanlığın kökeni ve yayılımını izlememizi ve bu döneme damgasını vuran çeşitli doktrinlere karşı Lykia Kilisesi’nin tepkisi değerlendirmemizi sağlayacak yeterli veriye sahibiz.

References

• Alkan 2011 M. Alkan, “Parerga to the Stadiasmus Patarensis (8): On the named places in the journeys of sacrifice recorded in the Vita of Saint Nicholas of Holy Sion”, Gephyra 8, 2011, 990-124.
• Asano 2010 K. Asano (ed.), The Island of St. Nicholas. Excavation and Research of Gemiler Island Area, Lycia, Turkey (2010).
• Anrich 1913-1917 G. Anrich, Hagios Nikolaos: der heilige Nikolaos in der griechischen Kirche, 2 vols. (1913-1917)
• Barnes 1968 T. D. Barnes, “Legislation against Christians”, JRS 58, 1968, 32-50.
• Bennett 2011 J. Bennett, ‘Why did Claudius annex Lycia?”, Adalya 14, 2011, 119-136.
• Bonwetsch 1917 G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius (1917).
• Bowersock 1994 G. W. Bowersock, Martydom and Rome (1995).
• Çevik et al. 2010 N. Çevik – Ö. Çömezoğlu – H. S. Öztürk – İ. Türkoğlu, “A Unique Discovery in Lycia: The Ancient Synagogue at Andriake, Port of Myra”, Adalya 13, 2010, 335-366.
• Delehaye 1902 H. Delehaye (ed.), Synaxarium ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae: e Codice Sirmondiano nunc Berolinensi, adiectis synaxariis selectis (1902).
• Elliot 2005 J. K. Elliot, The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation (2005).
• Esler 2000 P. F. Esler (ed.), The Early Christian World (2000).
• Fedalto 1988 G. Fedalto, Hierarchi ecclesiastica orientalis 1 (1988).
• Foss 1994 C. Foss, “The Lycian Coast in the Byzantine Age”, DOP 48, 1994, 1-52.
• Frend 2000 W. H. C. Frend, “Martyrdom and Political Oppression, in: P. F. Esler, (ed.), The Early Christian World (2000) 815-839.
• Gelzer et al. 1898 H. Gelzer – H. Hilgenfeld – O. Cuntz, Patrum Nicaenorum nomina Latinae, Graece, Coptice, Syriace, Arabice, Armeniace (1898).
• Hatlie 2007 P. Hatlie, The Monks and Monasteries of Constantinople, ca. 350-850 (2007).
• Haenchen 1971 E. Haenchen, The Acts of the Apostles. A Commentary (1971).
• Hanson 1988 R. P. C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 AD (1988).
• Harrison 1963 R. M. Harrison, “Churches and Chapels of Central Lycia”, AnatSt 13, 1963, 117-151.
• Harrison 2001 R. M. Harrison, Mountain and Plain. W. Young (ed.) (2001)
• Hellenkemper 1994 H. Hellenkemper, “Early Church Architecture in Southern Asia Minor”, in: K. Palmer (ed.), Churches built in ancient times (1994) 213-238
• Klutz 2000 T. Klutz, “Paul and the Development of Gentile Christianity’, in: P. F. Esler, (ed.), The Early Christian World (2000) 168-197.
• Lackner 1980 W. Lackner, “Eine unedierte Passion der Märtyrer Nikandros und Hermaios (BHG 2295)”, JbÖByz 29, 1980, 99-131.
• Le Quien 1740 M. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus I (1740).
• Mansi 1758-1798 G. D. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collection, 31 vols. (1758- 1798 repr. 1900-1927).
• Novak 2001 R. N. Novak, Christianity and the Roman Empire: Background Texts (2001).
• Menze 2008 V. L. Menze, Justinian and the Making of the Syrian Orthodox Church (2008).
• Mitchell 1995 S. Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men and Gods in Asia Minor: The Rise of the Church, vol. 2 (1995).
• Musurillo 1972 H. Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs (1972).
• Patterson 1997 L. G. Patterson, Methodius of Olympus: Divine Sovereignty, Human Freedom, and Life in Christ (1997).
• Percival 1994 H. R. Percival (ed.), Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series. 14: The Seven Ecumenical Councils (1994).
• Reynolds – Tannenbaum 1987 J. Reynolds – R. Tannenbaum, Jews and Godfearers at Aphrodisias (1987).
• Schultze 1926 V. Schultze, Altchristliche Städte und Landschaften II: Kleinasien (1926)
• Ševčenko - Ševčenko 1984 N. Ševčenko - I. Ševčenko, The Life of St. Nicholas of Sion (1984).
• Woods 1994 D. Woods, “St. Christopher, Bishop Peter of Attalia, and the Cohors Marmaritarum: a Fresh Examination”, Vigiliae Christianae, 48/2, 1994, 170-186