Peter the Iberian

Peter the Iberian
Full name
Murvan Nabarnugios Peter
Dynasty Chosroid dynasty
Father King Bosmarios of Iberia
Born 411
Kingdom of Iberia
Died 491
Yavne-Yam
Burial Gaza
Religion Georgian Orthodox Church

Peter the Iberian (Georgian: პეტრე იბერი, Petre Iberi) (c. 411-491) was a Georgian royal prince, theologian and philosopher who was a prominent figure in early Christianity and one of the founders of the Christian neoplatonism. Some have claimed that he is the author of the works written under the pen name Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.[1]

His accomplishments include founding the first Georgian monastery in Bethlehem and becoming the bishop of Gaza near Majuma.

Life

The oldest Georgian inscription found in Bethlehem dated 430 AD mentions Peter and his father.

He was born into the royal Chosroid dynasty of the Kings of Kingdom of Iberia and was initially named Murvan (alternatively, Nabarnugios), Prince of Iberia (Kartli). His father, King Bosmarios of Iberia, invited noted philosopher Mithradates from Lazica to take part in Murvan’s education. In 423, the prince was sent as a political hostage to Constantinople, where he got a brilliant education under a personal patronage of the Roman empress Aelia Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II.

Eventually, the young prince, together with his mentor Mithradates, left the palace and escaped to make a pilgrimage to Palestine, where he became a monk at Jerusalem under the name of Peter. In 430, he founded his own monastery at Bethlehem (later known as the Georgian Monastery of Bethlehem). In 445, he was consecrated priest. Accompanied by Mithradates (now called John), he traveled across several countries of the Near East and finally settled in Majuma near Gaza.

In 452, he served as bishop of Majuma for six months before some Christians were banished by the decree of the local ruler. Peter escaped to Egypt but returned to Palestine a decade later. He gained numerous followers and disciples. According to the medieval sources, he was an author of several famous religious works. However, none of them survived to be written under the name of Peter.

He died at Yavneh-Yam, port of ancient Iamnia, in 491 and was buried in his monastery near Gaza.[2]

Various eastern Churches think that he may have deviated from the Chalcedonian doctrine.[3]

Biographies

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sh. Nutsubidze. "Mystery of Pseudo-Dionys Areopagit (a monograph), Tbilisi, 1942; E. Honigmann, Pierre l'Iberian et les ecrits du Pseudo-Denys l'Areopagita. Bruxelles, 1952.
  2. ↑ Horn, Cornelia; Phenix, Robert (2008). John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 1-58983-200-0.
  3. ↑ These Churches (Armenian, Coptic, etc) believe that Peter the Iberian was a Monophysite and an anti-chaldeonian, whereas this view is not shared by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Although his biographies do not discuss this issue, some of the scholars who side with the Armenian sources accept the idea that he was an anti-chaldeonian, while others do not. For example, David Marshall Lang believes in the possibility that he was a monophysite (see Lang, D M. "Peter the Iberian and his biographers." Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 1951: 158-168), while Shalva Nutsubidze (Georgia, 1942) and Ernest Honingmann (Belgium, 1952) believe that he was a neoplatonic philosopher. (Horn (2006), p. 167.)

References

Further reading