Aphrahat

Aphrahat (in Syriac, Aphrahat) was a Christian writer who wrote in Syriac and lived in the Sasanian Empire, in Persia, during the third and fourth centuries. Together with Ephrem the Syrian, he is one of the leading figures of the golden age of Syriac literature, and he is known as "the Persian Sage". His importance lies in showing how Christianity was understood and practised beyond the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire.

Little is known about his life. He is usually placed around 270 to 345, though these dates are approximate. He was probably of Iranian origin and may have come from a family with Zoroastrian roots, though it is unclear whether he himself converted. He belonged to the so-called sons of the covenant, ascetics who lived in the world and vowed celibacy after baptism. Later sources connect him with the monastery of Mar Mattai near Mosul and with the episcopate, but these claims are hard to verify. He preferred that his writings, rather than his life, be remembered.

His main work is the Demonstrations, twenty-three homilies or expositions written in prose that often takes on a poetic rhythm. Each addresses a point of faith or practice, and the first twenty-two open with successive letters of the Syriac alphabet. They were composed in three stages: the first ten around 337, dealing with Christian life and church order; the next group around 344, during the persecution under Shapur II; and the last shortly after. Four of the later texts address Judaism, responding to members of his community who were drawn to Jewish practices such as circumcision, Passover and the Sabbath. His theology is Trinitarian and Christological, built largely on biblical symbolism. His tone is calm and hopeful, with a strong emphasis on humility.

His legacy lies chiefly in the window he opens onto the faith of the Syriac church before the Arian controversies reshaped it. His texts spread early into Armenian, Georgian and Ge'ez, and some passages were wrongly attributed to Ephrem. Today he is studied as a key voice of Eastern Christianity.