THE GREAT DEBATE

Timothy I, Patriarch of the Nestorian Church in the late eighth and early ninth centuries,

was a key character in the history of the Eastern Church. Historians within Western Christianity

often pass over the Nestorian Church and do not mention Timothy in any of their chapters. This

is an unfortunate oversight because the Nestorian Church in the late eighth century represented a

significant portion of Christianity and Timothy I was its leader from 779-823 CE.1 Timothy was

patriarch during height of the Abbasidian Empire, which had both positive and negative

repercussions. Because of the Islamic sympathies of the Abbasidians, the church faced

persecutions of many types. Christianity was no longer growing in the Middle East, and Islam

suppressed the church into remission. Being in a position of relative influence gave Timothy the

opportunity to have religious dialogue with Caliph Al-Mahdi, the religious and political leader of

the Abbasidians. Timothy I debated with Caliph Al-Mahdi effectively and engaged Islamic

rhetoric at its center, thus the accounts of these debates were instrumental in the preservation of

the Nestorian Church in the late eighth century CE, providing Christians with a model for public

dispute and audacity when discussing faith.

TIMOTHY AND THE NESTORIAN CHURCH IN CRISIS

The advent of Islam brought numerous challenges to the church in Middle East during

first millennium CE. Mohammed’s faith unified the Arabian tribes with the goal of universal

conversion to Islam. The Arabs quickly accomplished what the Byzantines had not in hundreds

of years, which was defeat the Sassanid Empire.2 The Zoroastrian Sassanid lords were far less

1 Samuel Hugh Moffet, A History of Christianity in Asia Volume 1: Beginnings to 1500, Maryknoll: Orbis, 1998, 349.

2Moffet, 335.

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benevolent to Christianity than the new Islamic Abbasidians, but the lack of religious unity

among the Sassanid people curtailed its ability to execute suppressive persecutions. Despite the

slaughter of thousands of Christians, Zoroastrianism could not achieve religious dominance in

Persian. Islam brought greater religious unity to the Middle East than what the Zoroastrians ever

achieved. The new Abbasidian rulers respected Christianity more than the Sassanians and did not

violently persecute Christianity to the degree of the Sassanians. However, somewhat

inexplicably the new forms of persecution that the Abdisidians brought, which were primarily

financial,3 were able to suppress the expansion of Christianity in that region of the world. While

Zoroastrians and Christians engaged in intellectual polemics, these arguments were less

significant than religious debates would between Islam and Christianity. Islam was a more potent

debate partner with Christianity than Zoroastrianism, thus the Nestorian Christians had to create

new lines of argument to protect itself from the intellectual pressures that Islam brought.4

Crisis of Faith in the Nestorian Church

The Abrahamic faiths have a unique characteristic in common, which the other great

eastern religions do not share. Each of the Abrahamic religions is deeply concerned with specific

historical events and the progression of history. Judaism is concerned with the Israelite Exodus,

Christianity is concerned with the death and resurrection of Jesus, and Islam is concerned with

the special revelation of the Quran to Mohammed along with other events. Christianity, being

established on the foundation of Judaism, concerns itself with the act of remembering history. In

Israelite worship, one remembered the acts of God as a way of ensuring that God was still active

in the present history of the people.5 If God were active in the history of a people, then he is

3Moffet, 337.4Moffet, 348-57 5 Harry Nasuti “Historical Narrative and Identity in the Psalms.” In Horizons of Biblical Theology Vol. 23

(2001), 135.

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likely still involved. The act of remembrance in specifically Christian contexts relates to the

giving of the Eucharist. The Eucharist was a way to participate continually in the salvation of

Christ until his return. (1 Cor 11:26) Nestorian Christians and Abbasidian Muslims had a high

view history and this played a significant role in their dialogue and debates.

This special interest in History gave significant advantage to the Muslims over the

Christians. Islam had quickly taken over the region with a seemingly unstoppable advance. If one

believed that God favored a people group because of its religious convictions, it would be

difficult not to see God favoring the Abbasidian Muslims. Many empires across the landscape of

human history have claimed divine election, and as long as one empire continued to have

sustained military victories, it would be difficult to persuade people that God did not favor that

empire. Timothy’s account with Caliph Al-Mahdi does not mention a debate about the Islamic

conquest being proof of God’s favor towards Islam. It is possible that Timothy omitted such

section from his apology or that Caliph Al-Mahdi did not consider this argument productive for

his cause. The problem was not as significant when the Sassanians were in power because

despite the more horrendous persecution, Christianity continued to grow. This was not the case

after the advent of Islam. This was a clear problem the Nestorian Church. Other Nestorians

solved the issue of Muslim lordship similarly to the Hebrew prophets’ resolving the issue of

foreign empires conquering Israel.6 Isaiah 10:5 describes Assyria, the conquerors of the Northern

Israelite kingdom, as the rod of God’s wrath. For the Nestorians, casting Islam as the rod of

God’s wrath was the easiest way to cope with the problem.7

Christianity as a Matter of Faith

6 Sidney Griffith “Griffith, Sidney “Disputing With Islam In Syriac: The Case Of The Monk Of Bêt Lê Anda Muslim Emir” Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, Vol. 3 (2000), 34.

7 Griffith, “Disputing with Islam,” 49.

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For many denominations, Christianity was fundamentally intellectual. One did not need

to have high intellectual capacity in order to be a Christian, but the rationale to be a Christian

played a large role in the endurance of one’s Christian faith. Christianity did not arise as an

indigenous faith that was specific to an ethnic group, but it relied on gaining converts through

persuasion. Various Christian groups identified themselves as orthodox, which means correct

thinking, highlighting what was important within those groups. One way to bolster the rationale

to be a Christian is to make Christianity appear more intellectually viable than the alternative,

namely Islam. Writing and disseminating accounts of debates with alternative faiths was one way

church leaders sought to accomplish this task. The church leaders needed to provide the church

with sound arguments and reasons for their Christian faith. Timothy I, the Patriarch of the

Nestorian Christians from 779-823 CE,8 was one of the famous interlocutors of eighth-century

Islam, who had the audacity to debate publicly within the burgeoning Abbasidian Empire.9 In his

work, The Apology of Timothy I,10 Timothy openly debated Caliph Al-Mahdi about Islam,

Christianity and why he refused to acknowledge Mohammed as a prophet from God.

Al-Mahdi and many other Islamic polemicists claimed that Mohammed had equal

credibility to all the other prophets11 from either the Hebrew Bible or New Testament, thus

Timothy should have acknowledged his authority. Timothy argued vehemently that Christianity

was the true religion and the Mohammed was not a true prophet. The positive result of these

debates was not the conversion of the Caliph or any Muslim to Christianity, but it was the

8 Moffet, A History of Christianity in Asia, 349.9 Timothy was not the first person to debate Islam in the Abbasidian Empire, although he became the most

famous. See Griffith “Disputing with Islam in Syriac,” 41.10 Also known as The Apology of Patriarch Timothy I, Timothy’s Apology, and The Apology of Timothy I

before Caliph Al-Mahdi.11 This group of prophets includes Jesus

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support of oppressed Christians in their faith. Patriarch Timothy I’s work gave Christians reasons

to continue to be Christians in a world that was increasingly hostile towards Christianity.

TIMOTHY I AND AL-MAHDI

The Nestorian Church remembers Timothy fondly, but the beginning of his patriarchate

was clouded with controversy. In order to become patriarch, Timothy implied that some heavy

sacks were full of money and that he would give them to the electorate if elected. The electorate

voted for Timothy and he became Patriarch Timothy I of the Nestorian Church, but the sacks

were not full of money.12 Timothy would have many chances throughout his life to exhibit his

quick wit and capability as a diplomat, a feature that was important in his dialogues with the

Caliph.13 Timothy began his patriarchate in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, but with the increasing

importance of Baghdad, his seat moved there. It was in Baghdad that the famous debates took

place between Timothy and Al-Mahdi.

Timothy and Caliph Al-Mahdi, had much in common. Both people were well-educated

people. They both had interest in Aristotelian philosophy,14 which influenced each of their

thinking. Each of these men was a religious leader of a significant group of people, but their

respective groups were experiencing opposite phenomenon. Islam, Al-Mahdi religious group,

was experiencing unprecedented success, while the Timothy’s Nestorian Church was struggling

to stay alive. Al-Mahdi belonged to the faction that had political power and therefore had more

influence over the time and place of the conversations than Timothy, but Timothy had a larger

12 Moffet, 352.13 Timothy’s dialogue with Caliph Al-Mahdi was of great importance and garnered the most fame, but as he

was patriarch for many years, he interacted with five Caliphs. 14 Sidney Griffith “The Syriac Letters of Patriarch Timothy I,” Pages 103-32 in Orientalia Lovaniensia

Analecta 170, Syriac Polemics: Studies in Honour of Gerrit Jan Reinink, Ed. Wout Jac. Van Bekkum, Jan Willem Drijvers and Alex C. Klugkist, Paris: Peeters, 2007, 105.

6

history of interpretation to draw from to answer the arguments of the Caliph. The results from a

debate between two individuals as well educated and influential as Timothy and Al-Mahdi would

carry great weight for people all over the Abbasidian Empire. These debates were not two

random people having a conversation, but rather the heads of opposing religions having a debate.

The time of Caliph Al-Mahdi’s rule from 775-785 CE was comparatively peaceful,15 and

this resulted in one of the most peaceful times for Christians under Abbisadian rule. This allowed

this remarkable dialogue to take place that probably could not have happened at most other times

in history when Islam had complete power over the Christians. The Apology of Patriarch

Timothy I emerged at a critical time because the degree of Islam’s tolerance to Christianity was

rare in history and subsequent generations, which would not have the opportunity to produce a

similar work, could was able to benefit from it. Although Timothy could not prevent to later

persecutions, his work helped the Church endure those persecutions.

TIMOTHY I AND HIS APOLOGY

The primary source of information about Timothy’s encounters with Caliph Al-Mahdi

comes from Timothy’s Apology. Timothy’s Apology is not a formal transcript of the debates

between the Patriarch and the Caliph, but it is Timothy’s letter relating the events.16 Timothy

addressed the letters to Sergius and historians are not sure who this was,17 but Alphonse Mingana

speculates that this was likely Sergius, the contemporary Metropolitan of Elam, or another monk

well known for teaching.18 Timothy wrote the letters in Syriac as that was the liturgical language

and the language of the people who would likely read the letters; however, the conversations 15 H. Kennedy, “Al-Mahdi,” Pages 1238-39 in vol. 5 of Encyclopedia of Islam, edited by C. E. Bosworth,

E. Van Donzel, B. Lewis and Ch. Pellat, 12 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1986, 1238.16 Griffith “Disputing With Islam In Syriac:” 40.17 Griffith, Church in the Shadow, 7818 Alphonse Mingana, The Apology of Patriarch Timothy, Piscataway: Gorgias, 2009, 15.

7

between him and Al-Mahdi nearly certainly took place in Arabic.19 When the Abbasidians came

to power, Arabic became the lingua franca of the Middle East. The government conducted all of

its affairs in Arabic and the Caliph was at the center of the government. Timothy I was like

fluent in Arabic, but it is unlikely that Al-Mahdi knew Syriac. Arabic and Syriac are

linguistically related, which implies that Timothy’s translation of the conversation should not

have been difficult,20 but the letter’s Syriac composition likely colors the language of the

debate.21

The way in which Timothy depicts the debates seems to be an unlikely proceeding for the

dialogue. Over the course of two days, the Caliph asks a series of short questions, which

resemble a typical student’s question, and Timothy has little trouble answering. Timothy appears

as a calm interlocutor whom Al-Mahdi is unable to confound with his questions. With the

exception of a few questions, Timothy’s responses appear to satisfy Al-Mahdi. However,

Timothy maintained a high view of the Caliph and continuously identified him as the “God-

loving Lord.”22 The questions that the Caliph raises in Timothy’s account are stereotypical of

Islamic complaints and arguments towards Christianity in the period. It seems unlikely that

Timothy would fabricate the entirety of the discourse between himself and Al-Mahdi,23 but

apparently, Timothy tuned the letters to be of greater value to the Nestorian layperson than to

those who were engaging Islamic elites in debates. The epistolary format, which Timothy used

for this account, is the writing style of most of the surviving material from Timothy. This style

recalls the apostolic period in which Paul wrote letters to congregations intending for many to

19 Griffith, “Disputing With Islam In Syriac,” 40.20 The letter was later translated into Arabic from the Syriac in order circulate among a wide audience. See

Griffith “The Syriac Letters of Patriarch Timothy I,” 103. 21 Griffith “The Syriac Letters of Patriarch Timothy I,” 104. 22 Mingana, 16ff.23 Griffith, “Disputing with Islam in Syriac,” 40.

8

hear.24 Whether Timothy I intended it or not, other people read his letters in the subsequent

generations.

Al-Mahdi and the Corruption of the Bible

Connected to the historical appreciations of Christianity is its love for the Biblical text.

Timothy and the Nestorian Church used a Syriac translation of Bible, known as the Peshitta, as

their Biblical text, but they were proud of the textual tradition.25 Christians and Muslims share a

deep devotion to their holy texts, the Quran and the Bible. However, the Christian tradition has

been more accommodating to other languages in its history. Early Christians translated the Bible

into many languages, including Syriac, in the early centuries of it existence, and the related

cultures viewed the translated texts as highly as their vorlagen. Islam was not as accommodating

to other languages. The question of the validity of texts proved to be one of the more contentions

points in Christian/Muslim relationships in the eighth and ninth centuries.

The Muslims claimed that the Christians had corrupted their scriptures26 and the text in its

pristine condition predicted the coming of Mohammed27 but did not contain the material

implying Jesus was divine. While corruption during the course of transmission is a reality, there

is little evidence that this type of corruption occurred. Regardless of material evidence, Al-Mahdi

and other prominent Muslims affirmed it.28 This belief came from the contradictions between the

Christian Bible and the Quran, which affirms the validity of the Bible. Muslims would have

propagated the idea that Christians had corrupted the Bible, and many of the Nestorian Christians

24 Sidney Griffith, The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. 78

25 Timothy might have had access to the Syro-Hexepla, which contained the Peshitta. See R. B. Ter Haar Romeny “Biblical Studies in the Church of the East: The Case of Catholicos Timothy I” Studia Patristica vol. 34 (2001), 505.

26 The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament27 Barbara Roggema, The Legend of Sergius Bahıra: Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in

Response to Islam, Leiden: Brill, 2009, 27.28 Mingana, 55.

9

would not have been able to answer adequately the questions of their Muslim neighbors.

Although Timothy’s response was circumstantial, it was logical. He said that Christians would

have had no reason to change the text prior to advent of Islam29 and that there would be

Christians awaiting the Mohammed figure, which he implied was not happening.30 On this point

Timothy answered adequately, but not decisively.

Al-Mahdi and the Interpretation of Scripture

In addition to trying to discredit the opposing party’s scripture, Timothy and Al-Mahdi,

along with their constituents, tried to co-opt each other’s texts. Islamic polemicists were

constantly looking for places within the Christian Canon to find references to Mohammed.

Proving that the Christian canon contained a prophesy of Mohammed would have been a

decisive blow to Timothy’s argument and would establish the authority of Mohammed. Once

Islam established Mohammed’s credibility as a prophet of God, Timothy and the Nestorian

Christians would likely convert to Islam.31 Caliph Al-Mahdi found the place in scripture that

seemed to predict the coming of Mohammed in Jesus’ words about the Paraclete.32 Timothy took

great pains to explain why Mohammed could not be the Paraclete. 33 Timothy used this point to

distinguish Mohammed from Jesus, saying that Isaiah and the prophets had predicted the work of

Jesus, a luxury that Mohammed did not have.34 Timothy demonstrated that Mohammed did not

have the proper characteristics to be the Paraclete, and it appears that he satisfied the Caliph.

One of the characteristics that Mohammed did not have that the Paraclete and other

authentic agents of God needed to have was the ability to do miracles. Timothy claimed that 29 Mingana, 36.30 Roggema, 28.31 Mingana, 36.32 Mingana, 33.33 The Gospel of John records Jesus talking about the Paraclete in John 14. “Paraclete” is a Greek word

meaning “helper” or “comforter.” Common Christian interpretation of this is the Holy Spirit.34 Mingana, 32-3, 35.

10

miracles of the apostles, prophets and Jesus confirmed the credibility of the Hebrew Bible and

the New Testament. A short sight in the argument, which Caliph Al-Mahdi did not take

advantage of, was that these works are the sole attestation of many of the miracles that Timothy

referred. This may only appear as a short sight to highly critical western thinkers, who are more

likely to doubt ancient texts and question their motives. Timothy compared Mohammed’s lack of

miracles and lack of any prophesy predicting his coming with the fulfillment of a prophesy about

Jesus’ birth encased in a miracle. Timothy quotes Isaiah 7, which claims that a virgin will give

birth to a child, and then describes Jesus’ miraculous and prophesied birth from the Virgin

Mary.35 It is on this point that Timothy provided one of his most decisive arguments. In the

context of this answer, Al-Mahdi had no rebuttal. The Caliph moved on very quickly to other

matters at this point in the conversation.36 The miracles and prophesy of Jesus’ birth would have

been ample evidence for a Nestorian layperson that Christianity was true. Reading or hearing of

this report where Timothy so adequately answered the questions of Islam would have augmented

the force of the argument for Nestorians. Islam needed to look for better arguments.

The divinity of Jesus was one of the most egregious beliefs of Christianity in the eyes of

Islam. A central point to Islam is that there is only one God, thus the Christian doctrine of the

trinity was incompatible with Islam’s strict monotheism. Similar to their use of the Christian

Bible to attempt to legitimate Mohammed as a true prophet of God, Muslims tried to

delegitimize the divinity of Jesus with the Bible. While the Nestorian Church did not accept all

of the ecumenical councils, it accepted the Council of Nicaea. The council of Nicaea, which

established the divinity of Christ, garnered a level of respect that rivaled Bible among Christians

35 Mingana, 56-7.36 Mingana, 59.

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before the Protestant Reformation.37 Attempting to deconstruct the divinity of Christ was a direct

attack on the Nestorian faith. While the Muslims may not have been the most robust exegetes,

they knew where to exploit the Christian texts to deconstruct the divinity of Jesus. The Caliph

used John 20:17 as proof for Christ’s subservience and lack of divinity,38 which reads, “I am

going to my father and your father and to my God and your God.” 39 The Caliph emphasized the

last part where Jesus identifies God as his God. The verse proved to the Caliph that Christ

considered himself a mere servant of God.40 Such an argument would not have been problematic

for an Arian Christian,41 but was a potent argument against Nestorians. John 20:17 became a

favorite of Muslims42 as a proof against Christianity.43

Timothy joined a host of other Christian exegetes who sought to solve this problematic

verse. Al-Mahdi was not the first Muslim to use this verse polemically against the divinity of

Jesus. Other famous church leaders who wrote about this verse include Lazarus of Beit-Qandasa,

Ishodad of Merv and Nestorius,44 the Nestorian church’s names sake. Timothy’s explanation of

the verse is not as compelling as that of other Christian exegetes. Timothy likely was familiar

with the work of these other church leaders, but chose not to give an explanation similar to any

of their conclusions. Timothy’s answer also reveals some of his dyophysite45 heritage when

37 For more on the Council of Nicaea, see Everett Ferguson, Church History, Volume One:From Christ to Pre-Reformation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005, 196-7.

38 Martin Accad, “The Ultimate Proof-Text: The Interpretation of John 20:17 in Muslim Christian Dialogue (Second/Eighth - Eighth/Fourteenth centuries)” Pages 199-214 in Christians at the Heart of Islamic Rule: Church Life and Scholarship in Abbasid Iraq. Edited by David Thomas, Leiden: Brill, 2003, 200.

39 Original translation taken from Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Gracea, 27th Edition.40 Accad, 207. 41 Arianism was a heretical branch of Christianity that claim that Jesus was not God.42 Accad, 207.43 The Gospel of John has been the source of evidence to both sides of Christological debates, although

proponents of Jesus’ total divinity tend to use it more than those try to disprove it.44 Accad, 203-4.45 The term “dyophysite” refers to the Nestorian Church’s belief that Christ had two natures (divine and

human), which was the major distinguishing factor between them and other Christians. This belief branded them as heretics to some Western Christians.

12

explains Christ being in his nature God, yet not his father, but also having the nature of a

human.46 Timothy’s answer was terser than others’ who commented on the passage, and perhaps

his letter does not give his full explanation to the Caliph and he was relying on the works of

others to supply adequate argumentation for his Nestorian audience.

Caliph Al-Mahdi and the Islamic polemists were not alone in their guilt of abusing their

opponents’ scripture. Timothy I and the Christians tried to prove that the trinity, a concept that

Al-Mahdi and most Muslims find deplorable, is a concept that Mohammed taught in the Quran.

Timothy’s claims about the Quran were equally dubious as the claims Al-Mahdi made about the

Bible and its corruption.47 This section of the debate shows that trying to reinterpret another

religion’s scriptures is usually counterproductive to conversations between two religious groups.

Telling another religious group that it has failed to interpret its holy texts correctly is deeply

offensive and corrodes beneficial dialogue, as was the case with Timothy and Al-Mahdi.

Al-Mahdi on the Trinity and the Dyophysites

As mentioned above, Islam’s strong commitment to monotheism made the Christian

doctrine of the trinity egregious. Mohammed preached to the Arab people in order to free them

from idolatry and the deluge of gods in their pantheon, thus by Islamic understandings,

Christianity was a polytheistic religion.48 Muslims were not interested in the result of the

Christological debates among the Christian denominations in the first millennium, but the

apparent contradiction of the dyophysite convictions of the Nestorians was an attacking point

against the trinity.49 If the Caliph could deconstruct the divine nature of Christ, he could then

46 Mingana, 20.47 Norris, Frederick, “Timothy I of Baghdad, Catholicos of the East Syrian Church, 780–823: Still a

Valuable Model” Pages 133-36 in IBMR 30 (2006), 35.48 Moffet, 327-8.49 Accad, 199.

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break down the trinity.50 This point of the argument was familiar to Timothy. The Nestorian

church and its leaders had often received questions about its dyophysite beliefs from other

Christian sects. This point of the argument shows that Timothy may have been directing his letter

towards Nestorians who needed to hear good arguments to be a dyophysite. While this was not

Timothy’s strongest point of emphasis, his dedication to his particular sect appeared in his

arguments. Timothy argued satisfactorily on this point, but it would be unlikely that anyone

would change his or her mind based on this argument.

When debating about the metaphysical possibility of the Trinity, the two parties do not

seemed to answer each other adequately. Timothy provided a slew of metaphors expressing how

three can also be one, but none of these seems to have satisfied Al-Mahdi. On the second day of

the debate, the subject returned to the subject of Trinity, and Timothy used the same response as

he did the previous day.51 Timothy’s main metaphor is the sun having both light and heat, and

these things inseparability. Without its presence in the sky, the light it provides or its heat, the

sun would cease to be the sun. Similarly, he compares the trinity to a three denarii gold piece.52

The coin was both one and three. According to Timothy’s letter, Al-Mahdi considered Timothy

to be a worthy debate partner,53 but in this area, it appeared that Timothy did not give sufficient

answers to Al-Mahdi’s litany of questions. Timothy appeared to have been satisfied with his

answers, as the Timothy does not change his explanation after reflecting on the conversation of

the first day of the debate. Even if the two metaphors did not persuade the Caliph, they may have

been beneficial for the Nestorian layperson, which would have been Timothy’s primary goal.

50 Mingana 69-73.51 Mingana, 48, 69.52 Mingana 69.53 Mingana, 88.

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CONCLUSION

Timothy’s rhetoric was not potent enough to convert either the Caliph or any other

Muslim to Christianity, but that was not the central purpose. The Abbasidian Empire had laid

heavy penalties to anyone who converted from Islam to Christianity, so converting someone

would have taken extremely persuasive language. Timothy’s goal in recording his debates with

Caliph Al-Mahdi was to provide fellow Christians reasons not to leave their Christian faith, a

task that he did effectively. The Nestorian Church faced numerous difficulties, but without the

efforts of individuals like Timothy I, it is possible that Islam would have been able to eradicate

the last of the Christians in Mesopotamia. Timothy and other church leaders could not do much

to assuage the social pressures, but their efforts did help resolve some of the philosophical and

religious pressures of Islam. Although Timothy was not responsible for the peace that

Christianity enjoyed during the early period of his lifetime, he did take advantage of the

opportunity that Caliph Al-Mahdi afforded, and the Nestorian church benefited greatly from his

work.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bundy, David “Timotheos I” Pages 414-15 in Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, edited by Sebastian Brock, Aaron Butts, George Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay. Piscataway: Gorgias, 2011.

De Nicola, Angelo “Timothy I, Nestorian,” Page 840 in Vol. 2 of Encyclopedia of the Early Church, edited by Angelo Di Bernardio, Translated by Adrian Walford, 2 vols. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co., 1992.

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Roggema, Barbara. The Legend of Sergius Bahıra: Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in Response to Islam, Leiden: Brill, 2009.

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