PO.Vol. 21 (1930).
TheodoretiHE —Historia Ecclesiastica. Kirchengeschichte/ Ed. L. Parmentier — F. Scheidweiler (Berlin, 1954).
TheodoretiHR —Theodoreti Cyrrhensis «Histona religiosan, PG.Vol. 82 (1859).
Theophanes Continuatus — Theophanes Continuatus, Ioannes Cameniata, Symeon Magister, Georgius Monachus (Bonnae, 1838).
Theophanis — TheophanisChronographia/ Ed. C. de Boor. Vol. 1 (Leipzig, 1883).
TM — Travaux et memoires (Paris).
Trimingham,Christianity—J. Spencer Trimingham,Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre‑Islamic Times(London — New York, 1979).
Trombley, Hellenic Religion — F. Trombley, Hellenic Religion and Christianization, c. 370—529).Vol. II (Leiden — New York — Koln, 1994).
ΕΕΒΣ— Έπετηρις Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών (Αθηναι).
Can a «Barbarian» Be Turned Into a Christian? Cultural History of Byzantine Missionary Activities
Summary I
Christianity is a missionary religion by definition. Even the word «apostolic», when applied to the Church, refers to this initial impetus to expansion. However, Jesus Christ in New Testament repeatedly underlines that he addresses «only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel». The situation changes when Jews reject the Gospel‑Jesus, after his resurrection, appeals to his disciples with the famous words «Go and teach all nations!» «Barbaric» nation of Scythians appears for the first time in the Epistle of St. Paul to Colossians, where he insists that for God there is no difference between Greeks and «barbarians». The apologists of the early Christianity liked to praise «barbarians» at the expense of their pagan compatriots — they insisted that «primitive nations» are wiser and more eager to convert to the true religion than heathen Romans. Meanwhile, we know next to nothing of the first two centuries of mission. Whether the first Christians ever volunteered to preach to «real barbarians», remains unclear. It does not mean that the latter were unaware of the new religion: information spread through mercenaries, who returned home from the Empire, through merchants travelling to «barbaric» lands and, most importantly, through hostages and redeemed captives who happened to live in the foreign milieu for considerable time. From this group originate famous «apostles» like Wulfilas (Goths), Nino (Georgia), Gregory (Armenia), Frumentius (Ethiopia) etc. Although such people happened to be missionaries, this was not their initial intention, and their activities do not indicate that the imperial Church had missionary ambitions.
The conversion of the Roman Empire changed the situation. Christian emperors of the 4