THE EMERGENCE OF ADOPTIONISM AND ALCUIN’S ANTI-ADOPTIONIST ACTIVITIES

Year 2020, Volume: 15 Issue: 1, 25 - 33, 24.06.2020

Murat Tural

Abstract

Different opinions which began to appear in Christianity from very early centuries were regarded as deviance/heresy by the church, and then were tried to be suppressed through literary activities, and violence. At this point, defining an enemy as marginal served to increase the power of church. Considering the history of movements recognized as heretic is as old as the history of church, the approach that the church formed based on the fact that it defined its own Orthodox opinions as enemy comes to mind. One remarkable feature in the early history of church is that movements stigmatized as heretic generally have eastern origins. Eastern-originated heretic opinions have always had an energetic structure in the history of Christianity. For example, the Franks who were mentioned in the study struggled against Adoptionism; however, many people whom Franks are related persisted in the Arianism sect which had been stigmatized as heretic for a long time in the past. Arianism which appeared in Alexandria in the East attained real success in Europe, on the other hand, Nestorianism which was considered heretic chose Asia as its spreading area. From this point of view, Orthodox opinions as well as movements that were stigmatized as heretic affected the spread of Christianity throughout the history.

One of the Germanic tribes, the Franks’ close relations with the Papacy from the early times became their distinctive feature. In the eye of the church, the Franks took the privileged position that the Western Rome Empire once held in the political scene. The Franks undoubtedly dominated other societies with the power they received from the Papacy. During this era, uphill struggles took place with the Saxons in the North, and with Avars in the East. The church got involved in these issues because these people were heathens, and while wars were fight, missionary activities were also carried out. Movements such as Arianism, Nestorianism and Adoptionism were generally considered as incorrigible enemies because they arose from the Christianity. Therefore, the church’s attitudes toward heathens and groups labeled as heretics differed, and the latter were mostly addressed with literary activities and their re-acceptance into the church community were not approved. The method that the church preferred at this point was generally suppressing it immediately and narrowing its spreading area like fire-fighting. Since the church had previous experience with Arianism and Nestorianism, it eased the fight against future heretic movements. In this respect, the heresy of Adoptionism that the Franks struggled with was one of the shortest movements in the history of Christianity, and this movement was put down while sparks were spreading before it turned into a fire.

The archbishop of Toledo, Elipandus who is identified with Adoptionism emphasized that Jesus was “adopted”, thus, this opinion got reactions from the Papacy. However, rather than the Papacy, the Franks undertook the fight against Adoptionism. The Frank king Charlemagne’s closest advisor Alcuin put a great deal of effort in the annihilation of this heresy. According to Alcuin, God granted Charlemagne the authorization to maintain the true belief. As understood from the letters of Alcuin, Charlemagne assigned the duty to resolve this problem to Alcuin. Alcuin was undoubtedly one of the most productive people on writing letters in the middle ages. Alcuin’s letters the number of which is up to 300 are important for understanding the political life of Europe in the 8th century and the ideology that the Carolingians adopted.

People who wrote anti-Adoptionist scripts including Alcuin expressed their opinions on the origin of this heresy in the first place. Arianism, Nestorianism and Islam are listed as the first reasons that come to mind in this regard. The classic but inaccurate understanding of the Middle Ages, which tends to see Islam as a deformed derivation of Christianity, made it easier for Alcuin and others to interpret the Adoptionism. The fact that Adoptionism emerged in Spain, which was Muslim at that time, was undoubtedly effective in this. However, the fact that Adoptionism emerged in a Muslim area had negative results for this heretic movement. Because Elipandus who in a way passed his opinions from a safe harbor was unable to rally too many supporters in Spain. From this point of view, unlike Arianism, Nestorianism and Bogomilism which emerged in the East of Europe in the following centuries, Adoptionism lost its energy before turning into a sect due to the dismissal and then death of its founding father.

What should be remembered at this point is that this type of heretic movements are generally known in the way conveyed to us by their enemies. For example, it is clear that the Arianism which rejects the divinity of Jesus is a Christian sect that is closer to the Islamic understanding. Although the Adoptionism which interprets the second part of trinity in a different way emerged in a Muslim geography, it should be considered a Christian understanding further away from Islam since it does not reject the trinity. Therefore, the idea that the Adoptionism was created in a planned way to get Muslim closer to Christianity should be abandoned. Because, every reference to the Christianity in the Qur’an emphasizes that the understanding of trinity cannot be accepted. Additionally, it will easily be seen that the examples of the Islamized Christians in the history are far more than the Christianized Muslims.

ADOPTİANİZM’İN ORTAYA ÇIKIŞI VE ALCUİN’İN ADOPTİANİZM KARŞITI FAALİYETLERİ

Abstract

Frankların ikinci hanedanı olan Karolenjler, Avrupa’nın siyasi ve dini haritası üzerinde daha önce hiçbir Cermen kavminin yapmadığı kadar etkide bulunmuştur. Avrupalılarca, Karolenj hanedanının atası olarak kabul edilen Charles Martel’in 732 yılında Avrupa’daki İslam ilerlemesini durdurması nedeniyle, torunu Şarlman’ın ise 800 yılında papanın elinden taç giymesi ve henüz putperest olan kuzey halklarını zorla da olsa Katolik inanca dahil etmesi sebebiyle mezkûr kıtanın Hristiyan karakteri üzerinde kalıcı bir iz bıraktığına inanılmıştır. Ancak bu askeri ve siyasi başarı, dini hiziplerin meydana çıkışına engel olamamıştır. 8. yüzyılın son çeyreğinde İsa’yı Tanrı’nın evlatlığı olarak kabul eden Adoptianizm, kendisine Endülüs’te yani Müslüman arazisinde sağlam bir zemin bulmuş, bu hizbin Avrupa’nın siyasi ve dini birlikteliğine halel getireceğine inanan Şarlman ve özellikle onun başyardımcısı olan Alcuin ise askeri değilse de papalığın gücünden istifade ederek dini ve yazınsal faaliyetler ile bu görüşlerin bastırılması meselesiyle meşgul olmuşlardır. Sonuçta sapkınlık olarak damgalanan Adoptianizm bir çeyrek asırda sindirilirken, arkasında nereden neşet etmiş olduğu ve desteğini nereden bulduğu gibi birçok soru bırakmıştır.

Keywords

Franklar, Karolenjler, Alcuin, Adoptianizm

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