or Bardaisan
born July 11, 154, Edessa, Syria
died с 222, Edessa
Syrian Gnostic Christian and speculative thinker.
He converted to Christianity in 179 and became a missionary. He attacked the fatalism of the Greek philosophers and, showing the influence of Gnosticism , ascribed the creation of the world, the Devil, and evil to a hierarchy of gods rather than to the supreme God. His chief written work, The Dialogue of Destiny , is the oldest known example of Syriac literature. He is also remembered for his Syriac hymns.