Does anyone know where on the web I can find digitized collections i.e. quality images of Melkite Syriac manuscripts?
This ancient text sheds light on an aspect of the Nativity often taken for granted. Yet the ROM in no way stamps "solved" upon the story of the Wise Men. Just the opposite, it (happily for bibliophiles) raises more questions and suggests relationships with early Christian hymnody and other sources.
A more traditional interpretation might look at it from another perspective enshrined within the ubiquitous iconographic theme of "Christ Pantokrator"; that various religious traditions are echoes of the truth, and Christ, with His unending love for all humankind will at any time abruptly appear in time and space to anyone for the purpose of affirming His identity rather equating it to all other iconic identities within the world's religious milieu. A traditional perspective doesn't necessitate that other religions have all sprung from demonic influence.
by Dirk Bakker, Leiden Institute for Religious Studies
Editions etc. of the Book of the Laws of the Countries
Roger Pearse, translator singularis, has uploaded the 1923 version of Isaac Of Nineveh's Mystic Treatises (aka the Ascetical Homilies) translated by Arent Jan Wensinck. This first series of treatises was very translated from Syriac into Greek and several other languages. (A second series of mystical treatises in Syriac was recently discovered and translated by Sebastian Brock). Patrik Hagman's forthcoming book on Isaac mentions the Wensinck translation:If you like old books- I mean reeeaallly old books- you might remember that last year Westminster College in Cambridge, England auctioned off the Codex Climaci Rescriptus with the help of Sotheby's. I first read the news on Steve Caruso's Aramaic Blog (his post here). The announcement on Forbes can be viewed here. And I posted a frustrated note here.
Just as a reminder, the Codex is a 6th century document and an important manuscript witness to the Greek text of the Gospels. It includes the Palestinian Aramaic Old and New Testament and a Syriac copy of writings by St. John Climacus, one of the most important spiritual authors in the Eastern Church. It is thought by some that the Syriac translation was copied directly from the saint's autograph. Based on the combination of languages (Greek/Syriac/CPA) and its original home (St. Catherines monastery on Mt. Sinai), someone could assume the Codex originates from within the Antiochian patrimony.
The Sixth North American Syriac Symposium will be organized at Duke University on June 26-29, 2011. Held every four years since 1991, the North American Syriac Symposium brings together university professors, graduate students, and scholars from the United States and Canada (more than half of the participants) as well as from Europe, the Middle East, and India, in particular from the State of Kerala. 
Father John D'Alton has an interesting post on his Syriac Spirituality & History Explorations blog regarding Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Theodoret's use of agona (struggle/war) is translated as "jihad". This is especially interesting given that Theodoret favors metaphors that are martial or physical in nature when describing the great spiritual achievements of the Syrian monks. Read the post here.I have copied in toto a blog post from Fr. John Whiteford, Orthodox priest. He touches on the topic of academic integrity, which is an important issue for the author of xianhistory.blogspot.com...
The White Horse Inn is a Protestant radio show that often says many things that I would take issue with, but they recently have done a series of shows in which they have Christian scholars answering the skeptics, and these discussions will be very helpful. In our time we have many people who attack the Christian Faith on the basis of historical nonsense that get's passed off as fact. These discussions lay out the facts, and are well worth a listen (click on the links):
Jesus and Modern Scholarship: a discussion on the historical Jesus with New Testament scholar Craig A. Evans, author of Reinventing Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels, and the Holman QuickSource Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Corroborating Evidence: A discussion about extra-biblical, 1st century evidence for Jesus Christ, with Paul L. Maier, author of In The Fullness of Time, and editor of Josephus: The Essential Works.
Religion on Trial: a discussion on Christian Apologetics with Craig Parton author of Religion on Trial and The Defense Never Rests: A Lawyer's Quest for the Gospel.
Christianity -- A Faith Founded on Facts: a discussion with Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, author numerous books including History & Christianity, and Faith Founded on Fact.
And before his mansion he created a throne, which was huge and was upon a four-faced chariot called "Cherubin". Now the Cherubin has eight shapes per each of the four corners, lion forms and calf forms and human forms and eagle forms, so that all the forms amount to sixty-four forms - and seven archangels that stand before it; he is the eighth, and has authority. All the forms amount to seventy-two. Furthermore, from this chariot the seventy-two gods took shape; they took shape so that they might rule over the seventy-two languages of the peoples. And by that throne he created other, serpent-like angels, called "Seraphin", which praise him at all times
Congratulations to my teacher (and I would venture to say friend) Steve Caruso. His team has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to translate and publish the Mandaean Book of John into English. He will be working with scholars Dr. Charles Häberl of Rutgers University, Dr. James McGrath of Butler University, and the renowned Dr. April DeConick of Rice University.
A scholar at Oxford’s Bodleian Library has discovered a “new” Antiochian liturgy. The 12th century extant records in Palestinian Aramaic a Chalcedonian liturgy which apparently fell out of use and out of memory. Details are forthcoming. I will post a link when more information is available.
The reading of Scripture is manifestly the fountainhead which gives birth to prayer.
The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (by James C. VanderKam 2nd Ed. Eerdmans, 2010) includes a critique of the proposal that Sadducees resided at Qumran. Here is an excerpt from pages 120-121 (thanks to Stephen Goranson):
The Sadducees and the Essenes may well have agreed with one another on many laws or other points; they presumably did not disagree about everything. from a historical perspective, one would expect Sadducees and Essenes to share some views because both had deep priestly roots. The Qumran group may have been founded and led by priests who called themselves [though not the whole group-- SG] sons of Zadok..., while the term _Sadducee_ seems to be derived from the name Zadok....Both parties opposed what they understood to be the Pharisaic tendency to soften some laws and to modify the related penalties. [p. 121] That is, one reason why they shared some legal views is that both were conservative on matters relating to the law. The nature of the data from the Mishnah... hardly matches the amount and character of the earlier information from Josephus, Pliny, and others that has led many to identify the Qumranites as Essenes.[reposted with permission]
Saint John of Damascus the Gold-Streaming- A Historical Study
Ο Αγιος Ιωάννης του Δαμασκηνου Ο Χρυσορρόας
القديس يوحنا الدمشقي دفـّاق الذهب
(A.D. 655-749)
Secondary Source:
Rustum, Dr. Asad – The Church of the Great City of God Antioch, Volume II – A.D. 634-1453, Chapter 32: John of Damascus, the Gold Streaming, pp. 63-78, Manshurat El-Nour (The Light Publications), Beirut, Lebanon – Arabic
الدكتور أسد رستم – كنيسة مدينة الله أنطاكية العظمى – الجزء الثاني – 634-1453 م، الفصل الثاني والثلاثون: يوحنا الدمشقي دفـّاق الذهب، ص. 63-78، منشورات النور، بيروت، لبنان
Primary Sources: Quoted in the Footnotes
Translated from the Arabic to English by: Rev. Charles Baz
Translator’s Note:
The present historical work is an analysis prepared by the official historian of the Apostolic Church of Antioch, Dr. Asad Rustum (1879-1965) of blessed memory. The analysis presented—to whom all credit is due—is entirely the work and copyright of Dr. Rustum, published in Lebanon in Arabic over half a century ago. Due to its rare existence, the need for presenting it in English for Western readers cannot be undermined, especially to students of history and theology who may find it beneficial. Since there are several extant Vitae/Synaxaria concerning our Saint, consequently, some of these disagree among themselves on certain historical facts. A vita belongs to the field of hagiology which can be influenced by local customs and traditions, hence the probable cause of some variations among the different Vitae. Our Saint lived during a tumultuous period in Church history, a period which experienced the early rise of Islam, and, Iconoclasm. Only a solid historical presentation of our Saint, such as the one rendered by Dr. Rustum, can vilify the errors and speak plainly to us, especially today, when these two issues are again confronting Christianity. The defense of Orthodoxy, as rendered by Saint John of Damascus, was valid in the Eighth Century, and due to the current circumstances, it should be valid today as well. Any errors in translation are strictly mine, and I beg the reader’s forgiveness. It is ultimately to God that we owe our limited knowledge and our very existence, to Whom be the glory, forever, and ever, amen...
John the Gold-Streaming:
Saint John of Damascus was by all standards a prolific writer, having composed a host of works in theology, philosophy, argumentative essays, monastic instruction, biblical exegesis, and liturgical hymns. Be it as it may, our Saint remains a Theologian par excellence, for all “what he wrote, what he composed, and all what he argued for were but to affirm the truth of the inspired and holy writ, to introduce it, to make an apology for it, and, to reveal its inherent mystical element” (46). He is most known for the following works: The Fountain of Knowledge (47); An Introduction to Dogmas (48); The True Faith (49); The Holy Trinity (50); and, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (51). Foremost among these is The Fountain of Knowledge, which is composed in three volumes: The Philosophical Chapters, the Book against Heretics, and, an Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. In his Introduction to this title, Saint John writes: “First, I will relate the best that the wise can offer, for that is a gift from God, then, I will discuss the madness of heretics, so that we may clinch to the Truth, and then, with God’s help, I will discuss the Truth which corrects errors and drives away madness.”
Saint John also strove to establish a link between philosophy and faith, such as when he said: “Since the Apostle charges us to ‘examine all things; and, hold to what is good,’ let us therefore examine the teachings of the wise among pagans, in hope that we may find in them something fruitful for the soul. Every craftsman needs his tools in order to accomplish his task, and likewise, every queen is in need for her maidens. Let us therefore gather those teachings which serve the Truth, after pruning from them the errors of falsehood blasphemy; let us not fail to be good, and likewise, let us not make use of the science of argumentation to mislead the simple ones. Even though the Truth has no need for different proofs, let us nonetheless make use of reason to expel madness and bring down the enemies of faith. In the end, it should suffice us to uphold what God has provided us, through His Son, His Prophets, and His Apostles, and we must be established in these, without changing or abandoning their eternal limitations” (52).
According to the Gold-Streaming John, the foundation of faith lies in the divine inspiration and not in human intelligence, for the soul is always in need of a teacher, and the Only Teacher who is free from error is Christ. Let us hear Him in the Scriptures. The soul which diligently knocks on the door on the garden of the Scriptures is like the singing of the Tree planted by the waters (53). John of Damascus was strict in upholding the Apostolic Tradition, since the Holy Scriptures affirm the same (54).
The heretics, on the other hand, attempted to uphold their false opinions through the philosophy of Aristotle, which caused John to shout at them: “Are you making a saint, or worse yet a thirteenth apostle, out of Aristotle? Do you dare consider the heathen one more important than the inspired writers?” (55). Then our Saint utilized the same method which the heretics adopted but instead reformed it with a Christian ethos, that is, he argued with them through the same philosophy of Aristotle. This task was not easy for John, in that the Aristotelian philosophy regarding supernatural powers stands at odds with the Church’s inspired doctrines, in matters such as the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. This led the Damascene to reform certain Aristotelian ideas such as those pertaining to natural theology, ethics, and the immortality of the soul. He drew a lot from Aristotelian definitions, and went farther by adding to them “distinctions” among nature, essence, and hypostasis. This reform by our Saint laid the foundation of theological definitions as distinct from philosophical doctrines, and at once delineated the field of theology from philosophy, which ultimately set theology free from previous episodes of arguments, factions, and schisms. Having succeeded in his reformation, our Saint, while cognizant of the might of Aristotle’s philosophy, yet at the same time, he was capable of snatching it from the heretics, thereby subduing it and baptizing it to be of service for later theologians, in the examples of Peter Lombard and Thomas Aquinas. Thus, Saint John of Damascus became worthy of the title of Founder of Scholastic Theology (56).
Within the History of Christian Thought, Saint John of Damascus is essentially considered a Theologian of the Mystery of the Divine Incarnation. We see this topic recurring constantly in most of his theological treatises. He succeeded in finalizing the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union and laying the foundation of all successive theological thought. He also substantiated his treatises with solid Scriptural references and previous Patristic teachings, thereby leaving no room for doubt in his writings.
Within the field of Apologetics, from an argumentative literary standpoint, our Saint wrote a host of letters which were solid in content to the point that contemporary heretics were left powerless. Most outstanding in this field were his composition of the Three Letters in defense of Icons (57). It is very likely that he composed these letters between the years 726 and 730. To date, these letters stand out as authoritative in the Church’s teaching regarding the Veneration of the Saints and of their Icons.
If you make Fr. Charles your friend you can read the entire translated article here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/rev-charles-baz/a-historical-study/320274216283
If you want me to post the article in entirety, let me know.
Eric Jobe, graduate student of Early Rabbinic Judaism at the University of Chicago (and author of the now defunct Qatl Qitl Qutl blog) writes on one of the canons sung for Lent:
In the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, sung during the first week of Great Lent, the irmos of the first Ode is taken from the Septuagint (LXX) version of Exodus 15:2, the Song of Moses, "A helper and protector, He has become my salvation..."
I noticed last night while singing this ode, that, in Hebrew "A helper and protector" would form a wonderfully assonant (repetition of sounds) word-pair: ʿōzer wa-nōṣer. I made note of it with the intention of looking up the Hebrew when I returned home. To my surprise, the Hebrew (Masoretic. Unfortunately the Dead Sea manuscript begins at verse 5) does not read "a helper and a protector" but ʿōzī wa-zimrat-yah "My strength and song of Yah." Glancing over at the LXX, I notice that it does indeed contain "a helper and protector," βοηθὸς καὶ σκεπαστὴς. All of the other versions, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac Peshitta, and Targum Onqelos, follow the Hebrew.
So then, just how did this LXX reading come about? The first term is the easiest: the Hebrew ʿōzī "my strength" can easily become ʿōzer "a helper" if the tail of the letter yod at the end of ʿōzī is elongated, which was common in ancient manuscripts. The next term is a bit tricky and requires a bit of comparative Semitic work. The term in Hebrew is zimrat-yah "song of Yah." Zimrat, the construct of zimrah, is derived from the root zmr meaning "to sing" or "play music." However, this Hebrew root may be derived from two different proto-Semitic roots, *zmr or ḏmr (ḏ = th as in "this"). A glance at a Hebrew lexicon will reveal that there are in fact three different definitions of zmr. One is derived from the proto-Semitic *zmr, meaning "to sing," and another is derived from the proto-Semitic *ḏmr meaning "to protect." Aha! Now, we take the divine name yah tacked on to the end of the construct, and make it a part of the word, and we get a possible noun zmrtyh or zmrth which the translator could have taken to mean "protection."
This most likely came about because the translator expected two words that were roughly synonymous rather than semantically distinct. "A helper and protector" is more in keeping with typical Hebrew parallel repetition in poetry rather than two semantically distinct terms "my strength/a helper and song."
There is no judgment here about which one is "right" or "wrong." Both are theologically correct and meaningful. This note is only intended to illustrate just one more of the manifold ways that the LXX ends up with a different reading than the Hebrew, and how we end up singing what we do in church.
(reposted with permission)
Golitzin, Alexander. Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Chariot that Prophet Ezekiel Saw
Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug (d. 521) produced many narrative poems that have rarely been translated into English. Of his reported 760 metrical homilies, only about half survive. Part of a series of fascicles containing the bilingual Syriac-English editions of Saint Jacob of Sarug’s homilies, this volume contains his homily on the Chariot which the Prophet Ezekiel saw. The Syriac text is fully vocalized, and the translation is annotated with a commentary and biblical references. The volume is one of the fascicles of Gorgias Press’s Complete Homilies of Saint Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain all of Jacob’s surviving sermons. In Syriac and English. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Isaac of Nineveh was a native of Bet Qatraye near present-day Bahrain on the Persian Gulf. A teacher and monk, he was consecrated bishop (ca. 660-680), but preferred to live out his live as an anchorite. A Scriptural scholar, he studies Scripture so much that he became blind and had to dictate his writings. He died at an advance age and was buried in Rabban Shabur, where he spent most of his monastic life. St Isaac's monastic anthropology has a major influence on all of Byzantine spiritual literature. The way toward God, in his writing, was threefold: the way of the body, the way of the soul, and the way of the spirit. In the first stage, the person begins with a total preoccupation with the passions and moves toward God by means of bodily works: fasting, vigils, and psalmody. The next stage involves a struggle against thoughts foreign to the nature of the soul, turning from created objects to the contemplation of God's wisdom and a transformation within. As the person arrives at a total openness of the soul to the future hope, he proceeds to the final stage of unified knowledge, which is an attitude of wonder and praise in continual prayer to God, leading to the freedom of immortal life that is given after the resurrection. This translation, by Mary Hansbury, of St Isaac of Nineveh's work On the Ascetical Life is based on the Syriac text edited by P. Bedjan in Mar Isaacus Ninivita, De Perfectione Religiosa. |
Krauss, Samuel. The Jews in the Works of the Church Fathers
| Title: | The Jews in the Works of the Church Fathers |
| Subtitle: | Sources for Understanding the Agaddah |
| Series: | Analecta Gorgiana 67 |
| Availability: | In Print |
| Publisher: | Gorgias Press |
| By Samuel Krauss | |
| ISBN: | 978-1-59333-883-1 |
| Availability: | In_Print |
| Format: | Paperback, Black, 6 x 9 in |
In this stellar study of what the works of patristic authors such as Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Ephraem the Syrian and Jerome reveal about the ancient form of the Aggadah, Samuel Krauss offers a remarkably favorable reading of the sources. The author’s interpretations of the portrayal of the Jewish people in these writers are provocative and insightful. Students of Early Christianity and Rabbinic literature alike will be intrigued by the depth of understanding of both traditions and the adept utilization of the patristic sources to illuminate early Rabbinic literature.
Moore, George. Christian Writers on Judaism
| Title: | Christian Writers on Judaism |
| Subtitle: | Nineteen Centuries of Apologetics and Polemics |
| Series: | Analecta Gorgiana 49 |
| Availability: | In Print |
| Publisher: | Gorgias Press |
| By George Moore | |
| ISBN: | 978-1-59333-864-0 |
| Availability: | In_Print |
| Format: | Paperback, Black, 6 x 9 in |
Christian Writers on Judaism is a fundamental work which majestically traverses nineteen centuries of Christian literature regarding the Jews. The author begins with the apostle Paul in the fist century CE, Justin Martyr and Tertullian are other notable early authors addressed herein. In the medieval period Jewish converts to Christianity are of particular interest, beginning with Petrus Alfonsi in the twelfth century. Considerable attention is also given to Raimundus Martini. The discussion of the medieval authors takes the reader into the Reformation from which point this work makes a careful distinction between Protestant and Catholic approaches to Judaism. Finally this work concludes with the major thinkers of its author’s own day, notably F.C. Baur and Emil Schürer. Central to this discussion is the Christian conception of the literature of the Jews—the Jewish Scriptures; the Pseudepigrapha, Talmudic, Midrashic and Mishnaic literature; and Kabbalistic literature, especially the Zohar. Tracing the Christian responses to this literature and in turn to its readers Christian Writers on Judaism illuminates the developments within the Christian apologetic and polemic traditions throughout its history. This work is indispensable to the student of Jewish-Christian dialogue.
Burkitt, F. C. Early and Later Jewish Influence on Christianity 
Early and later Jewish influence on Christianity ties together the three essays of this volume. Featuring the work of F. C. Burkitt, Antoine Meillet, and Laurie Magnus, this collection of essays explores the influence of Jewish tradition and scriptures on European Christian communities in the patristic and modern eras. Based on his extensive knowledge of early Christianity, Burkitt’s essay reviews the influence of Jewish ideology on early Christian theology and delves into how the Old Testament was treated from the Church Fathers up until the nineteenth century. Meillet’s contribution explores the influence of the Hebrew Bible on European languages of the modern period. As a renowned linguistic scholar, his essay artfully examines individual words and concepts that entered into common European usage. Revisiting the same concept, but on the broader basis of literature, Magnus considers the influence of the Old Testament on European literary works. Together these three essays demonstrate at a glance the breadth of Jewish influence on Christianity in its earliest days and in post-Renaissance European usage.
Francis Crawford Burkitt (1864-1935) began his academic career as a student of mathematics. While at Cambridge University he moved to the study of Divinity, eventually becoming the Norrisian Professor. His interest in the text of the New Testament led him to study Syriac manuscripts and to publish widely in the field. He was a fellow of the British Academy.
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