man of wide culture.
He died (according to the patriarch Michael) in 222.

For our knowledge of Bardai[s.][=a]n's doctrine we are mainly dependent on
the hostile witness of St Ephrem, and on statements by Greek writers who
had no acquaintance with his works in their original form. His teaching had
certain affinities with gnosticism. Thus he certainly denied the
resurrection of the body; and so far as we can judge by the obscure
quotations from his hymns furnished by St Ephrem he explained the origin of
the world by a process of emanation from the supreme God whom he called
"the Father of the living." On the other hand the dialogue known as the
_Book of the Laws of the Countries_, which was written by a disciple and is
quoted by Eusebius as a genuine exposition of the master's teaching--while
it recognizes the influence of the celestial bodies over the body of man
and throughout the material sphere and attributes to them a certain
delegated authority[2]--upholds the freedom of the human will and can in
the main be reconciled with orthodox Christian teaching. On this M. Nau has
based his effort (see _Une Biographie inedite de Bardesane l'astrologue_,
Paris, 1897; _Le Livre des lois des pays_, Paris, 1899) to clear
Bardai[s.][=a]n of the reproach of gnosticism, maintaining that the charge
of heresy arises from a misunderstanding of certain astrological
speculations. It must be admitted that it is impossible to reconstruct
Bardai[s.][=a]n's system from the few fragments remaining of his own work
and therefore a certain verdict cannot be given. But the ancient testimony
to the connexion of Bardai[s.][=a]n with Valentinianism is strong, and the
dialogue probably represents a modification of Bardesanist teaching in the
direction of orthodoxy. The later adherents of the school appear to have
moved towards a Manichean dualism.

The subject is exhaustively discussed in Hort's article "Bardaisan" in
_Dict. Christ. Biog._, and a full collection of the ancient testimonies
will be found in Harnack's _Altchristliche Litteratur_, vol. i. pp. 184 ff.

(N. M.)

[1] The _Book of the Laws of the Countries_, referred to below, is the work
of a disciple of Bardai[s.][=a]n.

[2] Even Ephrem allows that Bardai[s.][=a]n was in principle a monotheist.

BARDILI, CHRISTOPH GOTTFRIED (1761-1808), German philosopher, was born at
Blaubeuren in Wuerttemberg, and died at Stuttgart. His system has had
little influence in Germany; Reinhold (_q.v._)