Bardesanes (redirected from Bardaisan)

Bardesanes (bärdəsā`nēz), 154?–222?, Christian philosopher and poet of Syria, missionary among the Armenians. Conflicting traditions report him both as defender of the faith against various Gnostic sects and as a heretic and founder of Bardesanism.

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Bardesanes

 or Bardaisan

(born July 11, 154, Edessa, Syria—died c. 222, Edessa) Syrian Gnostic Christian and speculative thinker. He converted to Christianity in 179 and became a missionary. He attacked the fatalism of the Greek philosophers and, showing the influence of Gnosticism, ascribed the creation of the world, the Devil, and evil to a hierarchy of gods rather than to the supreme God. His chief written work, The Dialogue of Destiny, is the oldest known example of Syriac literature. He is also remembered for his Syriac hymns.