Osroene, a kingdom established in 132 BCE by the Nabataeans or Arab tribes from North Arabia, is arguably the first state to have a Christian king when Abgar IX is thought to have accepted Christianity under the guidance of Bardaisan.

Bardaisan had been born in Edessa, a metropolis of Osroene in Assuristan (Assyria).

To indicate the city of his birth his parents called him "Son of the Daisan", the river on which Edessa is situated.

On account of his foreign extraction he is sometimes referred to as "the Parthian" (by Sextus Julius Africanus), or "the Babylonian" (by Porphyrius); and, on account of his later important activity in Armenia, "the Armenian", (by Hippolytus of Rome), while Ephrem the Syrian calls him "philosopher of the Arameans".

His parents, Nuhama and Nah 'siram, must have been people of rank, for their son had been educated with the crown-prince of the Osrhoenic kingdom, at the court of Abgar VIII bar Manu.

Sextus Julius Africanus says that he saw Bardaisan, with bow and arrow, mark the outline of a boy's face with his arrows on a shield which the boy held.

Owing to political disturbances in Edessa, Bardaisan and his parents had moved for a while to Hierapolis (Mabug), a strong center of Babylonianism.

Here the boy had been brought up in the house of a priest, Anuduzbar, learning in this school all the intricacies of Babylonian astrology, a training that will permanently influence his mind and prove the bane of his later life.

At the age of twenty-five, he had happened to hear the homilies of Hystaspes, the Bishop of Edessa, received instruction, was baptized, and even admitted to the dioconate or the priesthood.

"Priesthood", however, may merely imply that he ranked as one of the college of presbyters, for he had remained in the world, had a son called Harmonius, and when Abgar IX, the friend of his youth, ascended the throne in 179, he took his place at court.

He was clearly no ascetic, but dressed in finery "with berylls and caftan", according to Ephrem the Syrian.

According to Michael the Syrian, Bardaisan had besides Harmonius two other sons, called Abgarun and Hasdu.

According to tradition, during his youth he shared the education of a royal prince who afterwards became King of Edessa, perhaps Abgar X bar Manu (reigned Osroene 202-217).

He is said to have converted the prince to Christianity, and may have had an important share in Christianizing the city.

Epiphanius of Salamis and Barhebraeus assert that he was first an orthodox Christian and afterwards an adherent of Valentinus.

His acceptance of Christianity was perfectly sincere; and later stories, that he left the Catholic Church and joined the Valentinian Gnostics out of disappointed ambition, do not deserve much credit.

His royal friend becomes (probably after 202, i.e.

after his visit and honorable reception at Rome) the first Christian king; and both king and philosopher labor to create the first Christian State.

Bardaisan shows great literary activity against Marcion and Valentinus, the Gnostics of the day.

Bardaisan mixes his Babylonian pseudo-astronomy with Christian dogma and originates a Christian sect, which is vigorously combated by St. Ephrem.

Various opinions have been formed as to the real doctrine of Bardesanes.

As early as Hippolytus (Philosoph., VI, 50) his doctrine was described as a variety of Valentinianism, the most popular form of Gnosticism.

Adolf Hilgenfeld in 1864 defended this view, based mainly on extracts from St. Ephrem, who devoted his life to combating Bardaisanism in Edessa.

The strong and fervent expressions of St. Ephrem against the Bardaisanites of his day are not a fair criterion of the doctrine of their master.

The extraordinary veneration of his own countrymen, the very reserved and half-respectful allusion to him in the early Church Fathers, and above all the "Book of the Laws of the Countries", suggest a milder view of Bardaisan's aberrations.

He cannot be called a Gnostic in the proper sense of the word.

Like the Early Christians, he believes in an Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, whose will is absolute, and to whom all things are subject.

God endowed man with freedom of will to work out his salvation and allowed the world to be a mixture of good and evil, light and darkness.

All things, even those we now consider inanimate, have a measure of liberty.

In all of them the light has to overcome the darkness.

After six thousand years this earth shall have an end, and a world without evil shall take its place.

However, Bardaisan also thinks the sun, moon and planets are living beings, to whom, under God, the government of this world is largely entrusted; and though man is free, he is strongly influenced for good or for evil by the constellations.

Bardaisan's catechism must have been a strange mixture of Christian doctrine and references to the signs of the Zodiac.

Led by the fact that "spirit" is feminine in Syriac, he seems to have held unorthodox views on the Trinity.

He apparently denies the Resurrection of the Body, but thinks Christ's body was endowed with incorruptibility as with a special gift.

The Romans under Caracalla, taking advantage of the anti-Christian faction in Edessa, capture Abgar IX and send him in chains to Rome.

Thus the Osrhoenic kingdom, after 353 years' existence, comes to an end.

Though he is urged by a friend of Caracalla to apostatize, Bardaisan stands firm, saying that he fears not death, as he would in any event have to undergo it, even though he should now submit to the emperor.

Bardaisan is forced at the age of sixty-three to take refuge in the fortress of Ani in Armenia, where he tries to spread the Gospel, but with little success.

He will die five years later, either at Ani or at Edessa.

Bardaisan apparently was a voluminous author, and though nearly all his works have perished, we find notices of the following: • Dialogues against Marcion and Valentinus.

• Dialogue "Against Fate" addressed to an Antoninus.

Whether this Antoninus is merely a friend of Bardaisan or a Roman emperor and, in the latter case, which of the Antonini is meant, is matter of controversy.

It is also uncertain whether this dialogue is identical with "The Book of the Laws of the Countries".

• A "Book of Psalms", one hundred and fifty in number, in imitation of David's Psalter.

These psalms will become famous in the history of Edessa, their words and melodies living for generations on the lips of the people.

Only when St. Ephrem composes hymns in the same pentasyllabic meter and has them sung to the same tunes as the psalms of Bardaisan, will the latter gradually lose favor.

• Astrologico-theological treatises, in which his peculiar tenets were expounded.

• A "History of Armenia", a history of the Armenian kings.

• "An Account of India".

Bardaisan obtained his information from the Indian Sramana (wandering monks) ambassadors to the Roman Emperor Heliogabalus.

A few extracts are preserved by Porphyry and Stobaeus.

• "Book of the Laws of the Countries".

Against a questioning disciple called Abida, Bardaisan seeks to show that man's actions are not entirely necessitated by Fate, as the outcome of stellar combinations.

From the fact that the same laws, customs and manners often prevail among all persons living in a certain district, or though locally scattered living under the same traditions, Bardaisan endeavors to show that the position of the stars at the birth of individuals can have but little to do with their subsequent conduct, hence the title "Book of the Laws of the Countries."