Narsai was foundational for the development of theology in the Church of the East. At the School of Nisibis, the intellectual center for the Church of the East, his writings supported theologians whose dyophysite Christological formulations were at odds with the Chalcedonian and miaphysite positions regnant within the territories of the Roman Empire. Thus the need arose to defend Narsai against his detractors.

The long-lived Narsai – he died a nonagenarian ca. 500 – was a poet and teacher at both the School of Edessa and the School of Nisibis. His thought and works were foundational for the development of theology in the Church of the East. Steeped in Syriac literary traditions, principally the writings of Ephrem the Syrian, Narsai was also among the first generation of Syriac authors to be shaped by the theology and interpretative strategies of Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428) through translations of the Greek into Syriac. The work of translating Theodore’s works was centered at the School of Edessa and coincided with the fateful events around the Council of Chalcedon and the resulting strife surrounding the Christological debates. Narsai’s poetry displays his dynamic reception of both Ephrem and Theodore’s theological and interpretative programs. Working in the aftermath of Council of Ephesus, Narsai became embroiled in the Christological controversies, often reflected in his poetry. At an uncertain date prior to the closure of the School of Edessa in 489, Narsai and his colleagues departed from Edessa, leading to the formation of the School of Nisibis within the Persian Empire.