The Hymn of the Soul

theological system as a whole, it is impossible to deny, first, that he was regarded by the orthodox as a dangerous heretic, and, secondly, that some at least of the heresies ascribed to him are such as other Gnostics Gnostics were early Christian-adjacent groups who believed that salvation came through secret "gnosis" (knowledge) of one's divine origin, rather than through faith or works alone. are known to have taught. Thus our principal authority on the question, Ephraim the Syrian¹ Ephraim Syrus (c. 306–373 AD), a prominent defender of orthodoxy who wrote hymns to combat the influence of Bardesanes., who lived about a century and a half after Bardesanes Bardesanes (A.D. 154–222), also known as Bardaiṣān, was a philosopher and poet at the court of Edessa., writes—"The woe which our Lord uttered came upon Bardesanes, who taught that there are Seven Essences īthyē; fundamental substances or elements in Bardesanes' system, and whom the iron of truth cut off and left to himself"². These last words imply that Bardesanes was, if not formally excommunicated by the ecclesiastical authorities, at least considered as one outside the pale of the orthodox Church.

Ephraim's accusations against Bardesanes fall under three principal heads—(1) that he denied the resurrection and regarded the separation of the soul from the body as a blessing³, (2) that he held the theory of a divine "Mother" who in conjunction with "the Father of Life" gave birth to a being called "the Son of the Living"⁴, (3) that he believed in a number of lesser "gods," that is to say, eternal beings subordinate to the supreme God⁵.

Now it is remarkable that these three "heresies" all appear distinctly in the Poem before us. There can be no doubt that the Egyptian garb In the "Hymn of the Soul," the protagonist's descent into Egypt represents the soul's descent into the material world or the physical body., which the prince puts on as a disguise and casts away as soon as his mission is accomplished, represents the human body. The emphatic declaration that the "filthy and unclean garb" is "left in their country" conveys an unmistakable meaning; it would be difficult, in an allegorical piece, to deny a material resurrection more absolutely. The true clothing of the soul, according to the poet, is the ideal form which it left behind in heaven and will reassume after death. As for the Father of Life,

¹ To the usual references in the writings of Ephraim add Commentary on the Epistles of Paul (on the apocryphal Third Epistle to the Corinthians), Armenian version, Venice 1836, translated into Latin by the Mechitarists, Venice 1893; a translation of this section, by Prof. Hübschmann, is given in Zahn's History of the New Testament Canon, 1890, vol. ii. pp. 595 and following.
² Complete Works of Saint Ephraim the Syrian (Roman ed.) vol. ii. p. 550.
³ This is the accusation most frequently and most vehemently urged—see Nisibene Hymns of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, ed. Bickell (Leipsic, 1866), hymns 46 and 51.
⁴ Roman ed. vol. ii. p. 557. Whether Hort F.J.A. Hort (1828–1892), a famous biblical scholar. be right in identifying the "Mother" with the Holy Ghost In early Syriac Christianity, the Holy Spirit was often treated as a feminine figure because the Syriac word for "Spirit" (ruḥa) is feminine., who, in the passage immediately following, is represented as giving birth to two daughters, I do not venture to determine.
⁵ Ibid. pp. 443, 554, 558.