Today, December 26, defense of the Master’s degree thesis in theology was held in Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary. Tengiz Batonisashvili, a student enrolled in the Master’s program in Theology defended his thesis on the topic: “An Anonimous Theological Source on the Trisagion Prayer and Its Distortion in Monophysitism”.
The scientific supervisor of the work is Doctor of Philology, Academician in Gelati Academy, Professor Maia Rapava, the reviewer is Doctor of Theology Irakli Orzhonia, the linguistic evaluation is provided by Doctor of Philology, Ketevan Mamasakhlisi.
The session of the defense was chaired by the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Doctor of Theology, Philology and Political Sciences, Professor, Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze. It was attended by the following members of the Commission: Archpriest Ioane Kvanchiani, Archpriest Besarion Tsintsadze, Archpriest Giorgi Gugushvili, Archpriest Bidzina Gunia, Archpriest Longinoz Suarishvili, Archdeacon Demetre Davitashvili, Prof. Gvantsa Koplatadze, Prof. Nino Melikishvili, Irakli Orzhonia. The defense of the Master’s thesis was also attended by the members of the Academic Council.
The Dean of the Theological Academy, Archpriest Ioane Kvanchiani addressed the audience with his welcoming speech and introduced the agenda.
Tengiz Batonisashvili presented the main aspects of his thesis to the Commission and the audience. “Our objective while working on the Master’s thesis was to study from a textological-philological and theological perspective the old Georgian translation of one of the writings of the unique monument “Dogmatikoni” – “Epistoleni” - composed by Saint Arsen of Ikalto.” The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part discusses the essence and significance of Saint Arsen of Ikalto’s “Dogmatikoni” in old Georgian literature and theology, the second deals with Georgian manuscripts containing translations of the epistles addressed to Peter of Antioch, and the third part provides theological analysis of the epistles.
We analyzed the personality of the epistles’ addressee - Peter of Antioch and displayed his heretical errors, which he revealed at different stages of his patriarchal incumbency. In particular, the distortion of the Trisagion Hymn, the compilation of a circular letter - an encyclical - and the signing of the “Henotikon”. We examined the history of the origin of the Trisagion Hymn and the Monophysitic error.
Although we did not have a possibility to compare the monument of our research with its Greek original, relying on Saint Arsenius’s literal, meticulous method of translation, we believe he translated the aforementioned epistles unaltered.
“Our philological research has revealed that the “Epistoleni” maintained in the Georgian texts do not differ from each other in terms of their editorial content. The differences are only minor. Each of them depends on the oldest manuscript S 1463, which dates back to the 11th-12th centuries,” noted the student.
The supervisor of the thesis, Mrs. Maia Rapava stated that Tengiz Batonisashvili is a student of outstanding courage, honesty and intelligence.
“Arsen of Ikalto’s “Dogmatikoni” is a significant monument in the history of Georgian culture, which, together with the Areopagite Corpus and the thoughts of Ioane Petritsi, created a background for the formation of the Georgian Renaissance. Mr. Tengiz Batonisashvili’s work fully meets all the conditions set for a Master’s thesis. I hope that this work will take its rightful place in the history of research carried out on the “Dogmatikoni”, - said Mrs. Maia Rapava.
The reviewer, Doctor of Theology Irakli Orzhonia, gave a high assessment to the work and noted that all the remarks he had regarding the issue had been taken into consideration by the graduate while working on the topic.
The master’s thesis was highly rated by the Head of the Department of Georgian Language and Literature, Doctor of Philology, Professor Lela Khachidze, and the Head of the TTAS Publishing House, Doctor of Philology, Professor Nino Melikishvili.
The Rector, who is well acquainted with the work, gave several significant remarks to the graduate and called for further clarification of some issues during further research of the issue. Father Giorgi especially noted Tengiz Batonisashvili’s personal qualities and expressed his hope that the graduate would continue to render worthy service to the Church in the future. In addition, Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Dean of the Academy, Archpriest Ioane Kvanchiani, the graduate, his scientific supervisor, the reviewer, the members of the Commission and the audience. He once again noted the immeasurable contribution of His Holiness the Patriarch, without which the Theological Academy and Seminary would not exist and, accordingly, our young people would not have the opportunity to receive higher theological education.
The Commission evaluated Tengiz Batonisashvili’s master’s thesis with the highest score. Father Giorgi also expressed special gratitude to the choirs of the Academy and Seminary and their conductors - Lekso Gremelashvili and Lasha Zaalishvili, whose participation enriches numerous services and events.
