christian history feeds and research portal

Are Christian writings evaluated fairly?

2011-11-26T13:24:00.001-08:00

The Ehrman Project Blog addresses a question I've often wondered about; whether or not historical Christian documents are evaluated by the same standards of writings from other religions. The Ehrman Project is an evangelical site dedicated to providing answers- not to general critisms of New Testament reliability- but rather to Bart Ehrman's critique of New Testament scriptures. The site doesn't target Ehrman himself but is a response to be a media personality cult built around him. An inquirer poses this question:

"... Irish legends dating back to the middle ages tell of magical and powerful races that inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Gaels. Scholars consider this to be how that culture "remembered" historical waves of migration on the island. Also stories of Mesopotamian gods and patriarchs (such as Cain and Abel) record the rivalry between the farmer and the herder. In other words it seems to be generally accepted that the mythological stories so important to ancient cultures have some basis in historical fact, thought the details may be lost.

The exception seems to be New Testament scholarship. Stories such as the Magi, the census in Luke, and the resurrection are seen as simple fabrications... The assumption seems to be that the Gospels have cobbled together a series of fabrications, unless of course the exact details are found in other (preferably) non-Christian sources... Are early Christian writings really evaluated by a different standard than writings from other cultures and other religions?

The Ehrman Project objects to the inquirer's implication that New Testament accounts are "on the same level" as cultural legends, this is, merely embellishments layered over kernels of truth. I honestly do not see how the people at the Ehrman Project drew that conclusion. The inquirer is simply drawing a contrast between two widely different forms of literature and how they are treated. The entire first section of the response preaches to the choir, trying to convince the inquirer of something he is already convinced of- that the New Testament is fundamentally different in nature from cultural legends. (Paul, too, insists that the core events of the Christian message—the death, burial, resurrection, and reappearance of Jesus of Nazareth—are not only significant; they are also verifiably true.) But the Ehrman Project continues with a response that should be very interesting to believers who intend to enter academia and those who casually read best sellers by pop-experts:

Many New Testament scholars do indeed seem to have a bias against New Testament “history” as being unworthy of that name. They seem to hold the New Testament documents to a different standard of reliability than they hold classical documents to. F.F. Bruce, professor of New Testament at the University of Manchester in England... did see a bias in the evaluation of the New Testament documents in Religion Departments at universities that he did not see in Classics or History Departments. By the standards employed in the latter departments, the New Testament documents come off looking much stronger in their claims to historical reliability than the accepted documents of ancient Greek and Roman history, and yet no one disputes the basic trustworthiness of these sources for conveying the gist of what happened.

Full post can be read here

Bart Ehrman and the Authenticity of Christian Scripture

2011-10-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

Mike Heiser, Bibilical scholar, writes concerning Bart Ehrman:

My contention with Bart is that he’s a fundamentalist — someone who is unwilling to process an issue in any other way than the black-and-white, either-or fallacy that he himself has framed. I’m sympathetic to him only in the sense that some acute personal suffering appears to be behind his fundamentalism. While I wish there was something I could do to help in that regard, I also have to be honest and say that it seems quite clear that Bart’s personal pain has skewered his scholarship. He’s human.

My greater irritation is the way the masses (aided and abetted by a pathologically ignorant media) swallow whatever Bart says as though its some grand, now self-evident discovery, or think that no one can be looking at the same data and still believe in the reality of the Christ of the gospels. Wrong on both counts. There are many scholars who do what Bart does (textual criticism, New Testament studies) who draw conclusions contrary to Ehrman’s and, more importantly, are capable of judging his method and scholarship.

To illustrate this point regarding Bart Ehrman and popular culture Heiser discusses a recent topic in textual research; whether or not the phrase "Son of God" originally appeared in Mark's Gospel, the oldest New Testament book. Ehrman typically argues that the authentic texts of the early Christians did not describe Christ in divine terms, and any descriptions of Christ as being divine (phrases such as "Son of God" etc) were added by later generations by "orthodox" scribes who sought to alter scripture in order to make it support their newer, inauthentic, paternalistic theology.

Textual critic Tommy Wasserman takes quite a different stance. I had originally stated that Wasserman showed there is far more historical and manuscript evidence to support traditionally accepted view. This however would not be the most faithful explanation of his point. It would be more accurate to say the balance of probabilities is in favor of the long reading. Thank you to Dr. Wasserman for pointing this out. I recommend reading Dr. Wasserman's paper. It can be downloaded here:

www.orebromissionsskola.se/personal/wasserman
(scroll down to the article on Mark 1:1).

With this object lesson in mind, Mike Heiser continues:

... the issue is that there is more than one way to look at New Testament manuscript data. Ehrman isn’t discovering something new and unknown to scholars. He isn’t putting forth unassailable arguments that make the faithful run for the hills. He’s arguing his position based on how he sifts the data — i.e., his views are simply interpretations, nothing more — and other professionals in his own field might conclude other interpretations are more reasonable.

Entire article here:
http://michaelsheiser.com/TheNakedBible/2011/10/bart-ehrman-vs-the-son-of-god-in-mark-11-a-response/

Free online class in Biblical Hebrew

2011-09-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Saint Stylianos Orthodox Children’s Charities Inc. in Clarkesville, GA is sponsoring an online class in Biblical Hebrew. The class is free and scheduled to begin on Saturday, October 1st at 6:00 PM Central Standard Time. The class will continue once weekly for two hours per week, for twelve weeks total. To join the Intro to Biblical Hebrew class, sign up here:

http://ststylianos.org/learning/

The director of the class plans to offer a Syriac course (with tuition) in the future.

Free class online: Intro to Biblical Hebrew

2011-09-17T08:06:00.001-07:00

Oxford helps you get experience transcribing ancient manuscripts

2011-09-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Between 1897 and 1907, seven hundred boxes of papyri were discovered on the site of the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus and shipped to the University of Oxford. To date only a small percentage of the "Oxyrhynchus Papyri" has been edited by scholars. Lack of personnel and funds means that about two million segments of ancient papyri are still waiting to be studied, or even read, for the first time.

The task is too big for the Oxford research team so people across the world are invited to help translate the ancient documents. The ingenious part is that no knowledge of classical Greek is required. About 200,000 segments of the ancient Oxyrhynchus papyri have been uploaded to www.ancientlives.org and using character-recognition tools you can assist in the transcription process. Oxford has developed software that allows users to match Greek letters with the symbols on the papyri. The software then translate the words and stores them on a searchable database.

Read about project at Ancientlives.org or get started now by going directly to the transcription tutorial here: http://www.ancientlives.org/tutorial/transcribe

I beheld the Codex Climaci Rescriptus with mine own eyes

2011-07-23T09:02:00.001-07:00

As most of the Biblioverse knows, the Codex Climaci Rescriptus was purchased by Steven Green, owner of Hobby Lobby, and placed within a larger collection entitled Passages which is currently on the first leg of its tour in Oklahoma City.

I am not sure what I expected, but I thought perhaps I would see the codex highlighted and surrounded by a few other items shown on the Passages website. This was not the case. Whether by lack of marketing were whether by intentional understatement, the extent and quality of the collection is both surprising and overwhelming to the degree that the Codex Climaci Rescriptus is almost swallowed up.

The one weakness of this exhibit is that there was no master list of display items. Had this been available I think the collection would have made a bigger splash; not necessarily for you academic types, but moreso for local pastors and knowledgable lay people who are aware of manuscript, translation, and printing history but have seen historical items only as photos in textbooks or on the internet. It is wonderful to find a high resolution scan of an ancient codex, but it is another thing altogether to read words on the living page.

In the absence of an official exhibit list, I offer here my own incomplete and hastily written list of items on display at the Passages exhibit. Judge for yourself whether the Codex Climaci has found a worthy home. But be aware, my list represents only about a third of the actual exhibit...

"Evanis" Gospel illumination

Circular menorah hewn from a single stone. Most likely used in the 2nd temple, according to the display.
Multiple medieval Torah scrolls- Yemenite, Sephardic
Dead Sea Scroll fragment (was not able to get detail, maybe later)
Bodmer papyrus XXIV
Evanis Gospels, Greek, c. 1000.( illuminated on parchment. One of the earliest and smallest examples of calligraphic minuscule.)
Multiple Greek papyri- 2nd-5th centuries
Codex Climaci Rescriptus- only two leaves on display, one showing the underlying Greek text (with a handwritten "5" in the corner), the other showing the CPA palimpsest (the rest of the Codex is stored off site, in the possession of the Green family).

"St. Cecilia" Latin Bible

van Hattem Bible (Latin)
St. Cecilia Bible (Latin)
Several Vulgates from 1200s (handwritten margin notes in Latin visible :) )
Greek parchment "Letter from Theon", 3rd cent.
Coptic papyrus Psalms 112 (111 in Protestant/Masoretic reckoning), 4th cent.

Khabouris Codex, (open to show the Acts of the Apostles, ch 3) 11th cent.
Multiple medieval French and German Bibles & prayer books
Rosebery Rolle Bible
Anglo Saxon printed gospels 1573
Conveyance document (transfer of property title), signed by John Wycliffe's brother Robert and including his seal. 1393
1454 Gutenberg "noble fragment" of Romans
The Anti-Christ and 15 Signs of the Doomsday
1462 Gutenberg Bible printed by apprentice Peter Schöffer, 1 of 4 surviving copies.
1480 Latin Bible with papal seal, taken by Napoleon
The Anti-Christ and 15 Signs of the Doomsday (Der Antichrist und die fünfzehn Zeichen). Block-book. Nuremberg: Hans Sporer, 1470. Only surviving copy.

1493 Nuremberg Chronicle
1470 edition of "Antiquity of Jews and the Jewish Wars" by Josephus (Latin)
1471 edition of "Postilla Litteralis super Bibliam" by Nicholas de Lyna
1476 Venetian edition of "Summa Contra Gentiles" by Thomas Acquinas
"The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis, 1st edition. c 1418.
Genoa Polyglot Psalms, 1516 (Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin, Arabic). Psalm 19 includes a margin reference to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World and the prophetic character the Gospel being carried around the world: Et in fines mundi verba eorum, Saltem teporibus nostris ... mirabili ausu Christophori Columbi genuensis, alter pene orbis repertus est christianoremus cetui aggregatus.

Johannes Frobens "Poor Man's Bible" 1491 (Latin)
Last Will and Testament, Martin Luther, Oct. 1518.
"Babylonian Captivity of the Church" by Martin Luther, 1520.
Papal Bull Condemning Martin Luther, Pope Leo X, 1520.
Papal Bull Condemning Martin Luther, Pope Adrian VI, 1523.
a 1525 indulgence
1522 Erasmus' Commentary on his Latin paraphrase of the NT
1516 Erasmus Greek NT (the one that was rushed to print)
1521 Erasmus Greek NT
Complutensian Polyglot, Vol IV, NT (whose typeface begat some of our modern Greek PC fonts)
1525 Daniel Bomberg Pentateuch (Hebrew text including Aramaic targum and Rabbinic commentary)
Martin Luther NT 1524 illustrated/painted/gilded
Tyndale Pentateuch 1530
Tyndale NT 1536
Coverdale Bible 1535
Coverdale NT English/Latin 1538
Taverner (Coverdale revision) 1539
Geneva NT 1557
Geneva Bible 1560
"Bishop's Bible" 1568
Rheims NT 1582
1611 1st edition KJV

relief book cover by Salvador
Dali (click on photo to enlarge)

several KJV folio editions
Stephanus Greek NT 1551
multiple KJVs from 1600s
"Wife Beater" Bible 1551
"Child Killer" Bible 1795
"Wicked Bible" 1631
"Vinegar Bible" 1717
multiple illustrated and engraved Bibles.
10th cent. Greek Psalter from Constantinople
Psalterium Gallicannus Ferriatum (?) 1420
Illustrated Psalter, Master of Jacques de Besancon 1480
Speculum Humanae Salvationis, 1370, Tyrol
Metal relief book cover by Salvador Dali for Sigmund Freud's Moïse et Monothéisme

See the NY Times "Passages image slideshow

Metaphysics and the Division of Christendom

2011-05-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS, University of Cambridge) organized a Colloquium on Professor David Bradshaw's book: Aristotle East and West: Metaphysics and the Division of Christendom, in December 2008. More than 5 researchers in Orthodox Theology and Philosophy took part discussing at length the main themes of the book. A related publication on Divine Essence and Energies with contributions from key scholars is currently under preparation by IOCS.

See the videos on the IOCS site.

Codex Climaci Rescriptus found

2011-04-02T09:46:00.001-07:00

You might remember two years ago Westminster College auctioned off the Codex Climaci Rescriptus with the help of Sotheby's. The Codex is a 6th century document and an important manuscript witness to the Greek text of the Gospels. (The leaf shown at right, linked from the exhibition site, is upside down) It includes a Palestinian Aramaic Bible and Syriac works by St. John Climacus. The Codex will be touring Oklahoma City, New York, and the Vatican. See the official website here:

Passages: A Worldwide Traveling Exhibition

http://explorepassages.com/

Thanks for Fr. Mark Wallace for bringing this to my attention.

Defending Constantine

2011-03-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

With the release of Defending Constantine by Peter Leithart, there has been some discussion related to Constantine's contribution to the historic "Church and State" issue.

Robert Joustra reviews Defending Constantine and concludes "This book balances rather than exhausts Christian political theology... and sympathetically reads the plight of struggling Christians to make good..." The Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist blog asks for discussion here.

Perhaps my review of Life of Constantine by Eusebius would be a timely contribution to the discussion...

Review: Eusebius. Life of Constantine. Trans. Averil Cameron and Stuart Hall. Oxford: Clarendon Ancient History Series, 1999.

The value in this edition of Eusebius' Vita Constantini lay in the copious endnotes that accompany the new translation. The translators tell us in the introduction that Eusebius's Vita is the most important source for understanding Constantine's official relation to Christianity. I can certainly see its value. Still, as I read through the text, it becomes apparent that it is best understood when the reader is familiar with Eusebius' other works. This has me at a disadvantage, for I have not read them.

At the outset I should say I disagree with one point in the book summary provided by Facebook. It is a stretch to argue "much of what Eusebius wrote is false." Rather, the work is a mixture of Constantine's letters and Eusebius' selective explanation of the events surrounding those letters.

Whether Constantine's letters are embellished or the authentic work of an imperial scribe is an issue I will not attempt to solve here. It is enough that they are attributed to him. The Vita, or Life, was not written in the fashion of a news report. Like all public writers of the classical world, Eusebius used highly polemic and rhetorical language to describe the political opponents of Emperor Constantine and the fledgling Church.

Perhaps because of this, there is a general sense in modern culture that the official Church suppressed everyone else and tampered with the Scriptures in order to secure its dominance. Therefore, writings by “official” Christians are little more than propaganda, while writings by the “victims” tell us the real story. The Life of Constantine is problematic for this view. Eusebius held Arian views and as a result he was once declared a heretic by a synod of Greek-Syrian bishops. So does that mean we take him at face value? For a heretic he did a good job of painting Constantine as a valiant champion, sweeping into the empire, righting wrongs and fighting evil.

The translators say Eusebius has been judged too harshly, not for reasons of accuracy but out of a sheer academic bias against Christianity (p.5). What previous scholars assumed were interpolations, the translators argue, were actually edits made later by Eusebius himself.

Why would Eusebius go back and edit a previous work? There was a clear political interest. Constantine's sons (Crispus, Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans) were set to inherit different regions of the empire, some Romans already addressing them with the honorific "Augusti". The translators argue that Eusebius edited his Vita in such a way that framed Constantine’s relation to the Church in such a way to characterize him as heroic and working in the interests of order and imperial unity.

By painting pro-Christian policy as an advance against political foes and sinister forces in general, Eusebius’ motive was to influence the emperor’s sons, knowing they would have a desire to walk in their father’s legacy. This was Eusebius’s effort to ensure the state's favor toward Christianity and, with multiple interests working against the cohesiveness of the empire, mitigate the possibility that a future emperor would sponsor another religion and send Christianity back to the catacombs.

Obviously there is much rhetoric concerning the older pagan society in the Life of Constantine, but there is a thread of consistency with other non-Christian writers such as Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, and it made me consider the possibility- a very politically incorrect one- that removing pagan practice from public life was a move towards a more stable and peaceful society. Laws regarding Jews and pagan temples seem oppressive to us but taken in context with the history of Imperial Rome, these were better than what existed before. Pagan practice wasn’t just another religious alternative (as it is in our culture), rather, its culture promoted blood-sports and a carefree attitude toward pedophilia(ref. Marcus Aurelius “Meditations”).

For the general good of the world and of all mankind I desire that your people be at peace and stay free from strife. Let those in error, as well as the believers, gladly receive the benefit of peace and quiet. For this sweetness of fellowship will be effective for correcting them and bringing them to the right way. May none molest another; may each retain what his soul desires, and practice it. …To us belongs the shining house of your truth, which you have given in accordance with nature. This we pray also for them, that by means of the general concord they too may enjoy what they desire. - Book II, Chapter 56

Christianity extended more benefit to pagans that it had received from them.

With Christianity now representing most of the population and with moral standards closer to the Stoic ideal than the Romans could have ever achieved, Constantine saw an opportunity to transform his empire and give patronage to a religion that offered a greater degree of imperial cohesiveness. Constantine would have preferred to remove all pagan temples but according to the letters provided, he felt restraint was necessary:

However let no one use what he has received by inner conviction as a means to harm his neighbor. …some persons are saying that the customs of the temples and the agency of darkness have been removed altogether. I would indeed have recommended that to all mankind, were it not that the violent rebelliousness of injurious error is so obstinately fixed in the minds of some, to the detriment of the common weal. - Book II, Chapter 60

Eusebius also gives us an account of the Council of Nicea, where long-standing doctrinal issues were allowed to surface after the removal of 300 years of oppression. Yes, Christianity offered political cohesion- but only if they could solve their disagreements. And if the bishops were not able, Constantine would make it happen himself.

I offer my modest services as a peaceful arbitrator between you in your dispute. (Book II, ch. 68)

In common parlance Constantine was saying, “Don’t make me come down there!” Well, he did. And what ideally should have been an internal matter was brought into the public square. We can decipher from the rhetoric that Constantine felt it imperative to press the Church into resolving its disputes.

… so many of God’s people, who aught to be subject to the direction of your minds, are at variance because you are quarreling with each other about small and quite minute points. (Book II, ch 71)

It could have been that he didn’t understand the theological implications of the disagreements of Nicea, but that didn’t matter to the emperor. He was not a theologian but a military man. Church division stood in the way of his success. We might paraphrase Constantine’s words to the bishops in this way:

“I don’t understand this theological hair-splitting. And I really don’t really care. I gave you guys a chance, so you better get your act together and speak with a common voice. Because if you don’t, not only will I lose face, but it will be that much harder for me to hold this unstable empire together. So I’m calling a council, and I’m going to sit there and watch you until you figure it out.”

I would like to re-read Constantine’s letters apart from Eusebius’ text. I believe that if Constantine’s letters are taken by themselves we might get an entirely different impression of the Emperor. But as it stands his letters are interspersed within the larger narrative, and that influences our perception of Constantine- exactly what Eusebius intended.

There is much more that could be said (and has been by legions of academics) about the “Life of Constantine” however I will close with my favorite passage attributed to Constantine (Book II, ch 72). It is almost poetic and seems out of character for a hard-bitten military man, who brought the empire together through toil and sweat, yet it rings true of a man who saw more than his share of violence:

Give me back therefore peaceful days and undisturbed nights, so that I too may still have some pleasure left in the clear light and happiness of a quite life. Otherwise I must weep and constantly break down in tears, and not even the face the rest of my life with equanimity.

Philosophical Investigation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Talmud and Midrash

2011-02-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

The ongoing neglect of the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, and Midrash by philosophers is especially striking given the rapidly growing interest in theological questions in philosophy departments throughout the English-speaking world. Over the last generation, Christian philosophers have labored successfully to introduce “philosophical theology” into philosophy departments at leading universities. ...[P]hilosophical theology has until now continued the larger pattern of academic neglect of the ideas of the Hebrew Scriptures and other Jewish sources. This has also meant that philosophical theology has been of only very limited relevance to Jews, whose tradition of philosophical and theological speculation is largely text-based.

The Department of Philosophy, Political Theory and Religion (PPR) at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem is sponsoring an interdisciplinary conference on “Philosophical Investigation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Talmud and Midrash,” to be held in Jerusalem on June 26-30, 2011.

This will be the first in a series of three annual conferences. For the 2011 conference, the organizing committee will give priority to papers exploring metaphysics and God’s nature. This topic is intended to address questions of what human beings can know about the fundamental nature of reality. Subjects for discussion will include the nature of reality and being, and the relationship of this reality with truth and with goodness. Particular attention will be paid to the question of what can be known about God, including questions of whether God can in fact be considered to be in some sense a being, his attributes, and his relationship to the world.

More information can be found on the Society For Ancient Greek Philosophy blog.

Conference papers will be considered for publication in a forthcoming anthology of papers. Please direct correspondence to Kate Deutsch, kated@shalem.org.il

Revelation of the Magi: Magi reduced?

2011-01-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

This gets a little detailed and really doesn’t fit on my personal blog, so I will throw my breadcrumb out to the web from here and see if anything returns.

In the English translation of Revelation of the Magi there is a noticeable change in the story at the point where the people of Shir eat the Magi's food. Dr. Brent Landau discusses the very real possibility that the Judas Thomas episode was added in order to bring the Magi closer into the fold of Church tradition. For example we see in chapter 29 that it becomes necessary for the Magi's experience to be validated through their contact with an apostolic figure and through participation in recognizable Christian worship.

I wondered; if the appended, 3rd person story treats Christ in a different manner than the original, then is it possible the addition also treats the Magi differently? After all, it is not until the appended story that the Magi are referred to as "nobles" in a more civic sense (rowrboneh) as opposed to being religious leaders or mystics.

Not that "nobles" isn't used at all, but if we start in the original story we see in section 17:2 the word "nobles" (, rowrbonih) is used when the Magi arrive in Jerusalem and their presence disturbs the city (see Matthew 2:1-23) but it is used here to describe Jerusalem's civic leaders, not the Magi: "And its nobles and rulers were disturbed and troubled..."

In Section 21:2 (also in the original story) the word appears again in a different form (). I'm not sure but I think it means "mighty things", referring to the mysterious events the Magi heard and saw.

Then we get to the appended story. In section 28:4, the new author uses the word d-rowrboneh () to refer to the generic nobles of the East: "And there was great joy in the entire land of the East, and the nobles, and the poor, and the women and children from the entire land were gathered together in the love of our Lord before those nobles were called Magi (p.81)." This last reference is the very first time the Magi are directly called nobles with a civic or at least a generic connotation.

In the following chapter the Magi become aware of the arrival of Judas Thomas. "And when the nobles had heard that Judas had gone there, as the light that appeared to them had said..." (29:2) Again the Magi are referred to as nobles (, rowrboneh). This is the last instance of the word. That doesn’t give us much of a sampling of words to compare across the original and the appended stories. So what about the use of the word magi itself?

By my reckoning "magi" (magoshe) appears only seven times. (By the way, there is an interesting footnote regarding the word magi in the dissertation version). The appended Judas Thomas story uses the word only two out of those seven instances. The last instance was added by the eighth-century author who compiled the Chronicle of Zuqnin ("The story about the Magi and their gifts has finished."[32:4]).

So the only time the word Magi us used by the author of the appended story is in the following verse:

"And there was great joy in the entire land of the East, and the nobles, and the poor, and women, and children from the entire land were gathered together in the love of our Lord before those nobles who were called Magi." (28:4). If the author of the appended section considered the Magi to be important religious mystics , then why this awkward wording all of a sudden? Its almost as if they are being introduced as Magi for the first time.

I simply thought it would be interesting to compare how words were used to describe the Magi across the two sections, the original and the appended. On the other hand, maybe this isn't significant at all. Perhaps my amateurism is causing me to see something that is not there. I still wonder if- in rectifying the Magi's experience with the Church's tradition- this slight change in terminology was one way for the second author to reduce the religious importance of the Magi.

digitized Melkite Syriac

2010-12-18T12:20:00.001-08:00

Does anyone know where on the web I can find digitized collections i.e. quality images of Melkite Syriac manuscripts?

Syriac scholar Brent Landau and "The Revelation of the Magi"

2010-11-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

Oklahoma has been hiding one of its most interesting secrets for two years, namely its very own Syriac scholar. Dr. Brent Landau, graduate of Harvard Divinity School, is Assistant Professor at University of Oklahoma's Religious Studies Program.

Dr. Landau is noted for providing the first English translation of what has been named the "Revelation of the Magi", a Christian apocryphal work and the most extensive Magi account from the ancient world. The Syriac narrative is preserved in a longer work comprising Vaticanus Syriacus 162, a codex housed in the Vatican Library.

Landau estimates the original "Revelation of the Magi" (ROM) was composed in the late second or early third century and was written from the perspective of the Magi themselves. It was then redacted in the third or fourth century to include the Apostle Thomas in a third-person account. The Vatican manuscript used by Landau for his English translation is from the 8th century.

With the Nativity approaching it is no accident that Harper Collins has released Landau's research entitled Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to Bethlehem, based on his dissertation and edited for the wider audience in mind. The press releases and articles begin with the usual dramatic titles about lost scrolls and Christian origins. My favorite is...

an Ancient Manuscript Lost for Centuries in the Vatican Library Reveals Eyewitness Account of the Christmas Story

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.

Among the more surprising aspects is the notion that the star of Bethlehem followed by the Magi is far more than an astronomical event. Landau points out the star is actually the pre-existent Christ himself, "a literal representation of St. John's 'light of the world'”. The Johannine connection is certainly a strong one from our 21st century point of view. But when we also take into account that the original author equates the Wise Men's title "magi" with "silent prayer", the star-as-Christ motif seems to imply that the account is more than just legend and perhaps set (and read aloud?) within a larger theological context.

Landau recognizes within ROM similarities with Syriac baptismal hymns. I wonder if more light can be shed on these mysterious aspects if it were compared to other existing liturgical material. I cannot immediately recall if the Magi are mentioned in On the Mother of God by Jacob of Serug (trans. Mary Hansbury). If so, it might prove to be an interesting comparison.

When scholars speak of "tampering" and "interpolations" we may get the impression that Christianity has been inventing its own stories or making things up as it goes along. Indeed, popular culture reinforces this. I know from first hand experience that the art community insists upon it. However, when a text- or a set of pericopae covering similar topics- regardless of their origin, are reiterated together it is likely they are considered to have spiritual value along a common theme. These in turn may be further redacted or transmitted in altered forms in the same way scripture readings and hymns are re-set together in lectionaries. ("Apocryphal" doesn't necessarily describe the historic Church's treatment of extra-biblical texts so much as it describes modern scholars' and modern Christianity's treatment of them). I wonder if this is the case with ROM.

If you are interested in seeing the Syriac text (nicely vocalized) and a more technical treatment of the ROM, Landau's dissertation can be downloaded here at Academia.com.

The Sages and the Star-Child: An Introduction to the Revelation of the Magi, An Ancient Christian Apocryphon

A critical edition will be available to the scholarly community when Landau publishes the Syriac text as part of Brepol's Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum.

What does ROM's complex portrayal of the Wise Men tell us about early Christianity or at least about the Nativity itself? The appearance of the star-Child to the Magi is a clear statement of Christ's ability to reveal Himself to whomever He chooses. In other words, evangelization by humans is not always a necessary endeavor. ROM suggests the possibility that this revelation may be "but one of potentially many instances in which Christ has appeared to the people of the world". Indeed this is supported by the Acts of the Apostles. Beyond this, Landau proposes a more universal message, that the "revelatory activity of Christ as the primal cause of humanity’s religious difference." In other words, Christ could reveal himself in the person of Buddha, Mohammed, or as any religious identity.

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.

Though the message of the Magi as presented by Brent Landau is more ecumenist than many Christians would accept, he treats conservative and traditional Christian beliefs with great respect and sensitivity. I truly hope Brent Landau's expertise will be valued in a state where Christianity is so predominant.

I generally do not purchase pop culture books written by biblical scholars. But in this case I made an exception and was happy to do so, and for several reasons: it is a work by a recognized Syriac scholar in Oklahoma (the only one) and as an Oklahoman, I am intensely proud of this. Secondly, one gets the impression that the full value of ROM is yet to be discovered. The real story of the Magi will continue to unfold.

Bardaisan's "Book of the Laws of Countries" - a selective bibliography

2010-10-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

by Dirk Bakker, Leiden Institute for Religious Studies

Editions etc. of the Book of the Laws of the Countries

William Cureton, ‘Bardesan – The book of the Laws of Countries’ in Spicilegium Syriacum: containing remains of Bardesan, Meliton, Ambrose and Mara Bar Serapion, London: Francis and John Rivington, 1855. (Editio princeps)
A. Merx, Bardesanes von Edessa, nebst einer Untersuchung über das Verhältniss der clementinischen Recognitionen zu dem Buche der Gesetze der Länder, Halle 1863.
François Nau, Bardésane – Le Livre des Lois des Pays. Traduction Française, Paris 1899.
François Nau, ‘Bardesanes – Liber Legum Regionum’ in R. Graffin: Patrologia Syriaca I, 2, Paris 1907: 490–658.
François Nau, Bardésane – Le Livre des Lois des Pays. Texte Syriaque, Paris 1931.
H.J.W. Drijvers, The book of the laws of countries. Dialogue on fate of Bardaiṣan of Edessa, Assen 1965. (Reprint with introduction by J.W. Drijvers: Gorgias Press, 2007)
T. Krannich & P. Stein, ‘Das “Buch der Gesetze der Länder” des Bardesanes von Edessa’ in Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 8/2 (2005): 203-229.
Jerome Lund – The Book of the Laws of the Countries. A Dialogue on Free Will versus Fate. A Key-Word-in-Context Concordance, Piscataway, NJ 2007.

Backgrounds to Bardaisan and the Book of the Laws of the Countries

Peter Bruns, ‘Bardaisan, der “aramäische Philosoph” (154-222)’ in Das Christusbild Aphrahats des Persischen Weisen, Solingen 1990.
H.J.W. Drijvers, Bardaiṣan of Edessa, Assen 1966.
H.J.W. Drijvers, ‘Bardesanes’ in Theologische Realenzyklopädie 5 (1980): 206–212.
Tim Hegedus, ‘Necessity and Free Will in the Thought of Bardaisan of Edessa’ in Laval théologique et philosophique 59, 2 (June 2003): 333-344.
A. Hilgenfeld, Bardesanes, der letzte Gnostiker; Leipzig 1864.
T. Jansma, Natuur, lot en vrijheid: Bardesanes, de filosoof der Arameeërs en zijn images, Wageningen 1969.
Paul-Hubert Poirier, ‘Faith and Persuasion in the Book of the Laws of Countries: A Note on Bardaiṣanian Epistemology’ in Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 2 (2002): 21–29.
Javier Teixidor, Bardesane d'Édesse: la première philosophie syriaque. Paris 1992.

Isaac Of Nineveh Ascetical Homilies online

2010-10-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

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:

The First Part has been translated several times into many languages. A large number of these translations are based on the Greek text. The only complete translations of the Syriac text into modern languages are Wensinck's English translation from 1923, and Serafim Seppälä's translation into Finnish from 2005. Wensinck's translation is far from satisfactory, and the student of Isaac's text can profitably consult the partial translations made by Hansbury and Brock. Finally, the translation by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, although mostly done from the Greek translation, includes translations from Syriac of those parts of the First Part that are not included in the Greek text.

The downloadable file (PDF, 16 MB) can be found on Archive.org:

http://www.archive.org/details/IsaacOfNinevehMysticTreatises

Or open/download directly from this link:

http://www.archive.org/download/IsaacOfNinevehMysticTreatises/isaac_of_nineveh_mystical_treatises.pdf

To find out more about Roger Pearse, who has done a lot to bring ancient Christian texts to the internet for us regular folks, see his blog here:

http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/

Update on the Codex Climaci Rescriptus

2010-09-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

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.

Word quickly spread around the blogosphere and academic circles were afraid the lucky buyer would simply separate the leaves and resell them individually to wealthy dilettantes looking to impress their friends with historic wall hangings. You can see a discussion of the Codex at the Hugoye Syriac Studies group here.

Here is the update: Just last week I just came across this online article. Here are some excerpts:

Leaders of the Oklahoma-owned Hobby Lobby retail chain have acquired hundreds of Bible artifacts and are helping to open a museum. Portions of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, one of the earliest near-complete Bibles, will be featured in the National Bible Museum...

The museum is a nonprofit organization co-founded by historian Scott Carroll, a [former] professor at Cornerstone University in Michigan, along with D. Jonathan Shipman and Daniel Centurione...

Carroll said Wednesday the museum collections will include one of the earliest-known, near-complete Bibles, recently acquired by Hobby Lobby. He said items destined for the museum are being housed in Oklahoma City...

He said Hobby Lobby recently acquired several items for the museum, including portions of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, which he said is one of the earliest near-complete Bibles in the world.

("Oklahomans help acquire items for Bible museum" BY CARLA HINTON Oklahoman, Published: April 1, 2010)

Notice the article is several months old yet I am just now finding it. So the Codex Climaci Rescriptus is being safely kept somewhere within my home town, Oklahoma City. This relic and icon of the ancient church sits within a small radius of where I now sit, waiting for a museum to be built. I am tempted to go poking around local warehouses. I think of the final scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark

How would someone go about pulling the right strings so that people could view the this Codex? There is a handful of local academics, clergy, and readers of Greek and Syriac that would love to see it.

Reposted from Flow of Consciousness blog

Sixth North American Syriac Symposium

2010-09-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Theme: Syriac Encounters
This general theme allows us to highlight various kinds of diachronic and synchronic interaction and dialogue, formation of communal identity, construction of tradition, language contact, and religious conversation both within Syriac Christianity and between Syriac Christianity and other traditions, in particular Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and various forms of Western Christianity. The overall theme is not meant, however, to exclude topics that are not directly related to it.

Sixth North American Syriac Symposium
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
June 26-29, 2011
http://religiondepartment.duke.edu/sixth-north-american-syriac-symposium-2011

A number of sessions will be put together based on papers received. These may include some of the following:

Syriac Christianity in its Graeco-Roman context.
Syriac Christianity and Judaism.
The Syriac Bible: Old Testament, New Testament, and Apocrypha.
Ephrem and fourth-century Syriac Christianity.
Aphrahat and fourth-century Syriac Christianity in the Sassanid-Persian Empire.
Development of separate West-Syrian and East-Syrian traditions.
Syriac Christianity and Early Islam.
Syriac Christianity in the 11th-13th centuries and the “Syriac Renaissance”.
Syriac Christianity in the modern period and its contacts with the West.
Literary genres/biblical interpretation, historiography, poetry, philosophy.
Asceticism in the Syriac Christian context.
Syriac liturgical traditions.
Syriac in the Aramaic language family.
The study of Syriac manuscripts.
Syriac Christianity: continuity and transformation.
Syriac Computing

Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Jihad

2010-09-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Also note the layout of his blog. Very classy!

Academic Integrity of popular Skeptics

2010-07-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

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.

the 72 gods

2010-07-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

While reading the martyrdom of Mar Pinhas in Fr. Paul Bedjan's Acta martyrum et sanctorum syriace, Vol IV, a member of the Hugoye email list came across a reference to "the seventy-two gods." The Persian persecutor tells the saint to "worship the seventy-two gods with us" (p. 212).

Depending on the date the original was committed to writing (Mar Pinhas lived in the early centuries but the account may have been penned much later, with interpolations), might this be a veiled and polemic reference to Judaism? The Kabbalistic cosmology which emerged in the Middle Ages includes a set of names for God, totaling 72, called the "Shemhamphorasch".

One board member offers the following following from the gnostic text On the Origin of the World from the Nag Hammadi (whose translation??):

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 Steve Caruso

2010-06-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

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.

I assume this blog will be a journal of the project: mandaeanbookofjohn.blogspot.com

Interview with Sebastian Brock, Melthodhaye 2010 Annual Meeting in London

2010-05-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Antiochian Aramaic liturgy

2010-05-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

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.

from St. Isaac of Nineveh

2010-05-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

The reading of Scripture is manifestly the fountainhead which gives birth to prayer.

- Isaac of Nineveh (2nd Part, Homily 29)

Sadducees & Essenes

2010-03-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

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.

That Qumran views and those attributed to the Sadducees correspond for a few individual laws does not entail that the Qumran group was Sadducean in any sense in which that name is commonly employed today. After all, the Qumran manuscripts teach such prominent anti-Sadducean doctrines as the existence of multitudes of angels and the all-controlling power of fate. How could Sadducees develop such teachings, which are diametrically opposed to what ancient writers said about them? Also, the fact that an _early_ document such as the Cave 1 copy of the Rule of the Community... enunciates thoroughly Essene, anti-Sadducean theology makes it most improbable that the Qumran residents arose from Sadducean origins. If they did, they succeeded in reversing themselves in fundamental theological tenets within a few years--from nonpredestinarians to all-out determinists, to name just one example. Such a scenario is thoroughly implausible.

A review of VanderKam's first edition can be found here.

Recently translated from Arabic- Saint John of Damascus the Gold-Streaming

2010-02-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

[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.

Masoretic & LXX differences in the Song of Moses

2010-02-17T07:16:00.000-08:00

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)

Syriac "Lord have Mercy"

2010-02-11T00:06:00.000-08:00

In his "Syrian Rite" volume Archdale King spends much time comparing liturgical practices of the "Jacobites", Maronites, and Syrian Catholics but he makes scant reference to Eastern Orthodox. (Maybe he spends more time on this in the "Byzantine" volume?) He does make mention a Syriac alteration to the Trisagion: "who was crucified for us" (destlebt hlofeyn), which evidently expressed enough of a wrong theological conclusion that it caused riots. If the Orthodox Antiochian church was using an earlier Liturgy of St. James, they were at least cognizant of theological subtleties. This added phrase remains in the Syriac Trisagion btw.

The Syriac liturgy does use a lot of Greek. In the cycle of Syriac prayers, Lord have Mercy is rendered in both Syriac and Greek, but it seems to be repeated more often in Syriac, at least in the daily prayers. I see no problem with using Syriac as long as its a natural extension of the parish. For example, there is a Russian priest in Jerusalem that sometimes uses the Turoyo dialect. We've had a few syriac-knowledgeable Eastern Orthodox folks from Syria pass through our parish over the years too.

Despite this, and despite the fact it has been used for centuries in the Orthodox Church, some would see any Syriac use as 'suspect' or not organic enough. But in our Syrian/Anglo parish, there we stand singing Lord Have Mercy in Arabic, Greek, and Swahili.

Blogger highlight: Roger Pearse & Abu’l Barakat

2010-02-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

I came across an interesting blog post today regarding Abu’l Barakat, a medieval Arabic Christian. Abu’l Barakat devoted one of his works to listing all the Arabic Christian literature known to exist in the 13th century.

His list refers to stuff that no longer exists and tells us what undiscovered works might still be out there. It would be an important starting point for someone exploring patristic works in Arabic.

Hats off to Christian blogger Roger Pearse (maker of the Tertullian Project website) who recently commissioned the English translation of this work. The PDF can be found on Roger's blog at:

http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/?p=3551

or you can download it directly from this link:

http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Abu-l-Barakats-Catalog-trans.pdf

The Gospel of Matthew: The Torah for the Church

2010-02-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Gospel of Matthew: The Torah for the Church

~ Lawrence Farley (Author)

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Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism, Schiffman

2010-02-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism (Paperback)

~ Lawrence H. Schiffman (Author), Jon Bloomberg (Editor), Samuel Kapustin (Editor)

Price:

$29.50

Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Chariot that Prophet Ezekiel Saw, Golitzin

2010-02-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

Golitzin, Alexander. Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Chariot that Prophet Ezekiel Saw

Title:	Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Chariot that Prophet Ezekiel Saw
Subtitle:	Metrical Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug
Series:	Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 3
Availability:	In Press
Publisher:	Gorgias Press

	Fascicle 14
	Translation and Introduction by Alexander Golitzin
ISBN:	978-1-59333-735-3
Availability:	In_Press
Format:	Paperback, Black, 6 x 9 in

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.

Golitzin, Alexander. Jacob of Sarug's Homily on the Chariot that Prophet Ezekiel Saw
ISBN:	978-1-59333-735-3
Weight:	1 LBS.
Price:	$51.00

On Ascetical Life, St Isaac of Nineveh

2010-02-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

On Ascetical Life

St Isaac of Nineveh

Click to enlarge

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.

The Jews in the Works of the Church Fathers

2010-02-01T09:49:00.001-08:00

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.

Christian Writers on Judaism

2010-02-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

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.

Early and Later Jewish Influence on Christianity, Burkitt

2010-02-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

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.

Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society

2010-02-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society (The Biblical Resource Series) (Paperback)

~ Anthony J. J. Saldarini (Author), James C. C. VanderKam (Author) "Recent research on the Pharisees has paradoxically made them and their role in Palestinian society more obscure and difficult to describe..." (more)

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Price:	$29.47

Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135

2010-02-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135 : The Second Durham-Tubingen Research Symposium on Earliest Christianity and Judaism (Durham, September 1989 (Paperback)

~ Durham-Tubingen Research Symposium on Earliest Christianity and Judaism (3rd : 1994 : University of Durham) (Author), James D. G. Dunn (Editor) "When did Christianity and Judaism part company and go their separate ways?" is one of those deceptively simple questions which should be approached with great..." (more)

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Price:	$28.47

The Eucharist in the New Testament and in the Early Church, by Eugene Laverdiere

2010-02-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

The Eucharist in the New Testament and in the Early Church (Paperback)

~ Eugene Laverdiere (Author) "How did people refer to the Eucharist before it had a name?..." (more)

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My Life In Christ by St. John of Kronstadt

2010-02-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

My Life In Christ: Moments of Spiritual Serenity and Contemplation, of Reverent Feeling, of Earnest Self-Amendment, and of Peace in God by St. John of Kronstadt

St. John of Kronstadt (1829-1908), the great "Batiushka" of old Russia, recorded his reflections and meditations at the end of the day, on hundreds and hundreds of days, reviewing his sins, failures, insights and spiritual consolations. First printed in English in 1897, the subtitle of this book tells all: "Moments of Spiritual Serenity and Contemplation, of Reverent Feeling, of Earnest Self-Amendment, and of Peace in God" This volume is a treasure-house of Orthodox spirituality.

The Lives of the Saints of the Holy Land and the Sinai Desert

2010-02-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Lives of the Saints of the Holy Land and the Sinai Desert
[LOS-3-HLSinaiDesert] $28.00

The third edition of this collection of over one hundred lives of holy hierarchs, martyrs, confessors, ascetics, and hymnographers, has been brought back by popular demand. This book includes many of the full and newly expanded lives of all the great monastic fathers of the renowned Judean monasteries of Saints Hilarion, Euthymius, Theodosius, Savvas, Chariton, Gerasimus, Cyriacus, Dorotheos, the Chozevite fathers, and others. Learn of the intellectual life at Mar Savvas by reading the lives of the great hymnographers, Saints John of Damascus, Cosmas of Maiuma, Andrew of Crete, Theophanes the Poet, and Stephen the Melodist. Read about the glorious Hierarchs Cyril, Leontius, Sophronius, Hesychius, Modestus I and II of Jerusalem, Porphyrius of Gaza, Theodore of Edessa and John of Kolonia, to name a few. See how the martyrs of the first centuries boldly confessed Christ before the pagan world. Learn of the struggles, temptations and victories of the ascetics of the deserts of Sinai and Raithu through the lives of Saints John of the Ladder, Gregory the Sinaite, Neilus and many more. Learn about the lives of women ascetics and martyrs such as Mary of Egypt, Melanie, Parasceve the New, Mastridia, Ennatha, Theodosia, Thea, Valentina, Hermione, Susanna the deaconess, and many others. Learn how the Judean monasteries and the cenobitic life shaped Orthodox monasticism for centuries to come. Discover where, how and by whom the Church's hymnody, liturgical order and dogma were developed, and whose Typikon has continued through the centuries to take first place among the Typika which regulate the liturgical order of the Eastern Orthodox Church. When Egypt slipped into heresy or schism and the Athonite monasteries were far into the future, together with the baptism of Russia, it was the Lavra of St. Savvas, with the other surviving Judean monasteries, which established the teachings, traditions, and standards accepted by the Church today. Translated from the Greek of The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church. 585 pp., 55 icons, 2 maps and glossary.

The hardbound texts of this series are profusely illustrated with icons, sketches and maps. The hardbound titles of our Lives of the Saints Series are a series of gold-stamped burgundy covers, with acid-free pages.

A complete listing of all the Saints is below:

* List By Day of the Month

The Life of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos

2010-02-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Life of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos

Most complete text on the life of the Mother of God from her Conception to her Dormition and bodily translation, including her role in the Church, treated within the framework of Sacred Scriptures, Holy Tradition, Patristics and other ancient writings, together with the Liturgical and Iconographic Traditions of the Holy Orthodox Church. 640 pages, 300 icons, sketches, photos, and 4 maps.

The hardbound texts of this series are profusely illustrated with icons, sketches and maps. The hardbound titles of our Lives of the Saints Series are a series of gold-stamped burgundy covers, with acid-free pages.

The Paschal Fire in Jerusalem

2010-02-01T09:22:00.000-08:00

The Paschal Fire in Jerusalem
A Study of the Rite of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

by Bishop Auxentios of Photiki
Foreword by Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna

ISBN 0–9634692–0–7
213 pp.
$11.95

The history of the phenomenon of the Holy Fire is as obscure as it is unknown to most non-Orthodox Christians. Each year at Pascha, according to a living tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, a heavenly light comes down into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and ignites a lamp which has been placed in the tomb. This history should certainly arouse the curiosity of anyone who is not a believer; it should help expand the knowledge of non-Orthodox Christians; and it will provide Orthodox Christians with a better understanding of a phenomenon deeply embedded in the historical Church’s ties to the Eternal.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian

2010-02-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian
Translated by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian are sublime treatises on the life of prayer and stillness—hesychasm—and have been treasured by monastics and layman alike. These homilies have been translated from Greek and Syriac. The book includes other works attributed to Saint Isaac, and a history of the Church of Persia. A major work of scholarship.

Now available as a spiral-bound photocopy.

Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron

2010-02-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron

An English Translation of Chester Beatty Syriac MS 709 with Introduction and Notes

Translated with introduction and notes by Carmel McCarthy

ISBN13: 9780199221639ISBN10: 0199221634 Hardback, 392 pages

Dec 1993, In Stock

Price:

$84.00 (08)

Description

This is the first English translation of the commentary by fourth century A.D. theologian Ephrem the Syrian on the Diatessaron --a Gospel woven from the text of the four Gospels, which predates our earliest evidence of the official Syriac translation of the New Testament. The translation fills a gap in scholarship and will be appreciated by patristics and biblical scholars, hagiographers, and historians of Christianity.

Reviews

"The translation is serviceable and illuminating....the commentary offers a fascinating glimpse of the style. exegetical method, and theology of perhaps the most important person in the history of early Syriac Christianity, and thus is of interest to New Testament scholars, textual critics, church historians, and liturgical specialists."--Religious Studies Reveiw

The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian

2010-02-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian

by Hilarion Alfeyev

Published: 2000
321p, Paper

The writings of St. Isaac are ’’a wonderful revelation to the world.’’ Here is a saint whose tradition was officially (but not essentially) Nestorian; a saint who relied on several authorities -- Evagrios of Pontus, Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia -- who themselves were condemned by Councils at one time or another; a saint who believed in the finite duration of Gehenna, itself interpreted in terms of the love of God offered to those closed to it. A patchwork and problematic resume indeed! But you will look far to find a spiritual writer who is so universally loved, memorized, and clung to as this, by Orthodox and non-Orthodox, by monastics and layfolk. Look anywhere in his writings (which themselves have a tortuous manuscript history and only appear in English in fragmented fashion) and you will find the clear rivers of living water which our Lord promised would well up to eternal life. Like Olivier Clement did with the classic patristic period as a whole in The Roots of Christian Mysticism, the author of this book has given us a topical anthology of the essential teachings of St. Isaac, generous translations interspersed with helpful commentary. It’s one of those books (like the Bible? the Philokalia? Climacus’ Ladder?) to which the echo of words such as ’’take off your shoes, for you are standing on holy ground’’ seems to cling.

Price: $29.95

A Syriac Lexicon, Sokoloff, Michael

2010-02-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

Title:	A Syriac Lexicon
Subtitle:	A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum
Availability:	In Print
Publisher:	Gorgias Press & Eisenbrauns

	By Michael Sokoloff
ISBN:	978-1-60724-620-6
Availability:	In_Print
Language:	English and Syriac
Format:	Hardback, Black, 7 x 10 in
Pages:	1738

Sokoloff, Michael. A Syriac Lexicon

The second edition of Carl Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, published in 1928, is rightly considered to be the best dictionary of Syriac ever written. However, its Latin language and the ordering of words according to triliteral Semitic roots make its use difficult for most students and scholars. Moreover, the dictionary was composed in an extremely concise manner, which meant that references were given without citing any of the text. This often makes the glosses impossible even for someone who knows Latin.

In the 81 years that have passed since the book's publication, there have been great advances in both Aramaic and Semitic studies. Moreover, Syriac studies—especially the publication of the critical texts of classical authors, such as Ephrem—have greatly enhanced our knowledge of Syriac and have made the publication of a new and up-to-date dictionary imperative. However, because a new dictionary project does not yet exist and would take decades to complete, this edition of Brockelmann's work has been undertaken to make Syriac vocabulary more accessible to scholars, students, and Syriac speakers. Following are the changes introduced into the Syriac Lexicon in this revision:

The meanings are given in English, not Latin
The vocabulary is ordered alphabetically.
All text citations have been verified by consulting the original publications, and where new critical editions have appeared (e.g., those of E. Beck for the works of Ephrem), references have been changed to point to the new editions.
Text citations with partial or complete translations have now been provided.
All of the etymologies have been thoroughly revised.
Two electronic indexes (English-Syriac and Text References) have been prepared.

This dictionary is an essential tool for anyone working in Syriac studies, Semitic linguistics, and biblical studies.

Sokoloff, Michael. A Syriac Lexicon
ISBN:	978-1-60724-620-6
Weight:	1 LBS.
Price:	$149.50

Concerning Frequent Communion by Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite

2010-02-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Concerning Frequent Communion by Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite

NOW AVAILABLE:

The Second Volume in the Series: The Works of Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite

ORDER NOW through UNCUT MOUNTAIN SUPPLY!

CONCERNING FREQUENT COMMUNION OF THE IMMACULATE MYSTERIES OF CHRIST
by our Righteous God-bearing Father
Nikodemos the Hagiorite

PREFACE BY ARCHIMANDRITE CHRYSOSTOM MAIDONES

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day. (Jn. 6:54)

These words of our Lord Jesus Christ have been, since the moment
they were spoken, a “scandal” and stumbling block, and a point of
departure for all who could not see in them “words of eternal life”
(Jn. 6:58). The misconceptions and mis-interpretations continue to
exist today, as does the need for a patristic and pastoral response.
Just such a reply exists in Saint Nikodemos’ renowned work,
Concerning Frequent Communion. The pious reader will find therein
answers, combed from the entire patristic tradition, to such questions
as: How should I approach the Holy Mysteries? What preparation is
necessary? How often should I commune? And, what does it mean to
be “worthy” of Holy Communion? Based upon and gathered from the
teachings of the Holy Fathers of the Church, Concerning Frequent
Communion provides a much needed, comprehensive and “catholic
corrective” to the variety of one-sided approaches so prevelant today.

This, the second volume in the series The Works of Saint Nikodemos the
Hagiorite, includes a thorough explanation of the Lord’s Prayer, an
apology for frequent communion, answers to objections and clarifications
of misconceptions. This edition is further enriched with a brief
history of the book’s compilation and two appendices on the Divine
Eucharist from other works of Saint Nikodemos.

In Quest of the Historical Pharisees

2010-02-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

In Quest of the Historical Pharisees (Paperback)

~ Jacob Neusner (Author), Jacob Neusner; Bruce D. Chilton (Editor)
Key Phrases: agricultural taboos, priestly rations, cultic cleanness, Rabban Gamaliel, New Testament, Holy Things (more...)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a provocative and engaging study that invites the reader to wrestle with the complexity of the sources and to come to their own synthetic conclusions. In the hands of ordinary most-modernists, such a de-centered approach to a historical question might be counterproductive, but in the hands of the learned colleagues Neusner and Chilton have here assembled, the exercise becomes a very effective way of enabling contemporary students to wrestle with difficulties of the ancient sources. --Harry Attridge, Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Divinity School, Yale University

This is an important book in so many ways. It demonstrates eloquently that "what we can't show, we don't know" that much of what we assert about Pharisees is simply not supported by the evidence. But it also reminds us that "objective" description is not a matter of either choosing or amalgamating sources, but of realizing that how the Pharisees were perceived and presented is indeed also some part of who they were. We also see how interpretation reveals the interpreter as well as the text: in these assured and well-informed analyses, we also discern the moral and intellectual character of the scholar. Not least, we are confronted with those other Pharisees of Jewish and Christian mythology and contemporary critical controversy, who long outlived their historical counterparts but who still haunt and fascinate us. --Philip Davies, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield

Whether as parents, foils, or both, the Pharisees have always been a focus of interest for anyone interested in the genesis of Christianity or of rabbinic Judaism. This volume allows serious readers an opportunity to learn the sources, to follow the debates, and so to understand and assess a revolution in historical and theological scholarship. --Daniel R. Schwartz, Professor of Ancient Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Product Description

This work sketches the many portraits of the Pharisees that emerge from ancient sources. Based upon the Gospels, the writings of Paul, Josephus, the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and archeology, the volume profiles the Pharisees and explores the relationship between the Pharisees and the Judaic religious system foreshadowed by the library of Qumran. A great virtue of this study is that no attempt is made to homogenize the distinct pictures or reconstruct a singular account of the Pharisees; instead, by carefully considering the sources, the chapters allow different pictures of the Pharisees to stand side by side.

Wisdom of Isaac

2010-02-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

Someone who has actually tasted truth is not contentious for truth. Someone who is considered by people to be zealous for truth has not yet learnt what truth is really like; once he has truly learnt it, he will cease from zealousness on its behalf.

- Isaac of Nineveh (2nd Part, Kephalaia IV)