A rather baffling reference to “Ephraem the Syrian, Contra Haereses 79″[1] turns out to be a reference to Hymns against Heresies 22, 4, which, by happy chance, was translated for us a while back here. Here’s the relevant section:
4D
The Arians, because they added and erred;
The Aetians, because they were subtle;
The Paulinians, because they acted perversely;
The Sabellians, because they acted with guile;
The Photinians, because they were cunning;
The Borborians, because they were defiled;
The Katharaites, because they kept themselves pure;
The Audians, because they were ensnared;
The Mesallians, because they were unrestrained.Response: May the good one turn them to his fold!
(This stanza has no main verb: it seems to be a list of why these groups are considered heretics.)
This does not tell us much. But it would seem that this was written before Epiphanius wrote the Panarion, as Ephraim died on 9th July 373 AD,[2] and the Panarion was written as a continuation of the Ancoratus (374 AD), and was in progress in 375 and completed in 377.[3] If so, it must be independent of it.
The same source also refers to “Pseudo-Ephraim, Testament 58″. I have not been able to discover what this text is, unfortunately.
- [1]Everett Ferguson, Encyclopedia of early Christianity, 2nd ed.↩
- [2]S. Brock, A brief outline of Syriac literature, Moran Etho 9, Kottayam:SEERI, 1997, p.22. One wonders how so precise a date is known.↩
- [3]Panarion 1, 2; Panarion 66, 20; Quasten, Patrology III, 386 and 388. I do not know how the Anchoratus is dated, however.↩
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