Eznick

FIFTH CENTURY. An Armenian writer and bishop, he was born at Kolb and was a disciple of the patriarch Isaac and of Mesrob. Besides Armenian, he understood Persian, Greek, and Syriac and was familiar with the theological literature of those languages. As bishop of Pakrewand in the province of Airerat he took part in the synod of Artashast in 450 which rejected the Persian demand that the Armenians adopt Zoroastrianism. He also took part in translating the Armenian version of the Bible and according to tradition wrote a number of homilies, all of which are now lost. His best-known work, however, is the Refutation of the Sects, which is still preserved in the Armenian original. It consists of four books, the first dealing with the pagan idea of the eternity of matter, the second with Zoroastrianism, the third with Greek philosophy, and the fourth with the Gnostic sect of the Marcionites. The latter book is particularly interesting in that it reveals a number of later developments in Marcionite ideas.