Episcopal Authority, Hierarchy, and Monasticism in Early Syriac Sources as a Context for Denys the Areopagite’s Ecclesiastical Hierarchy

Abstract In this paper, I intend to discuss three early Christian Syriac sources in relation to the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy (Περὶ ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱεραρχίας) of Saint Denys the Areopagite ( floruit cca 500), with particular regard to the concept and nature of “hierarchy” appearing therein, as well as to the monastic virtues and especially the relationship between monasticism and the institutional Church, more precisely the grace-mediating authority of the bishop. My source texts are the Acts of Judas Thomas ( cca 200); a 4th-century Syriac ritual handbook, editorially titled De ordinationibus ; and Homily 12 of the anonymous collection known as the Liber graduum , the Syriac Book of Steps (4th century). With this short investigation, then, I would like to reinforce the historical and philological argument for Denys’ Syrian background. (This paper is a revised and substantially upgraded version of a short article I first published in Hungarian, Vassányi 2023).