July 11

Bardaisan was a prominent 2nd-century Syrian scholar, philosopher, and astrologer. He is remembered for his efforts to harmonize astrology with Christian theology, creating one of the earliest Gnostic systems. His surviving works, including dialogues and hymns, influenced later theological debates and mystical traditions. Bardaisan founded a school in Edessa that became a center of learning, attracting students across the Roman East. Although much of his writing survives only in fragments, his reputation endured through references by later theologians. His intellectual legacy marks a unique fusion of Hellenistic astrology and Semitic religious ideas.

Carl Schmitt was a German jurist and political theorist born in 1888. He developed concepts such as the 'state of exception' and critiqued liberal parliamentary democracy. Schmitt's writings on sovereignty, decisionism, and political theology shaped 20th-century legal and political thought. He briefly served under the Nazi regime, a period that later complicated his intellectual legacy. Despite controversy, his theories continue to provoke debate among scholars of law, politics, and philosophy.