Aphrahat

This book discusses the occurrence of angelic imagery in early Christian discourse about the Holy Spirit. Taking as its entry-point Clement of Alexandria s less explored writings, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, and Adumbrationes, it shows that Clement s angelomorphic pneumatology occurs in tandem with spirit christology, within a theological framework still characterized by a binitarian orientation. This complex theological articulation, supported by the exegesis of specific biblical passages (Zech 4: 10; Isa 11: 2-3; Matt 18:10), reworks Jewish and Christian traditions about the seven first-created angels, and constitutes a relatively widespread phenomenon in early Christianity. Evidence to support this claim is presented in the course of separate studies of Revelation, the Shepherd of Hermas, Justin Martyr, and Aphrahat.

Are the genealogies of Jesus (Mt 1.1-17 and Lk 3.23b-38) present or absent in Tatian’s Diatessaron? On the basis of the testimony of Theodoret of Cyrrhus, most scholars advocate that Tatian removed them. Is this testimony, however, compatible with the textual data? The purpose of this paper is to draw up an inventory of sources (Ephrem’s quotations and the fifteen most important harmonies), then to investigate in turn the evidence for the absence and for the presence of the genealogies. In our view, Tatian did not eliminate them but harmonized them into a single list and the central issue is not so much the presence or absence of the genealogies as their harmonization or non-harmonization. The most disturbing point is no doubt that he reversed the order of one of the genealogies in order to have a single order. In conclusion, if the presence of a harmonized genealogy in Tatian’s Diatessaron is accepted, then it means that several positions adopted in Diatessaronic studies need to be reconsidered, given that its absence has been taken for granted since the 19th century.

""Inhaltsverzeichnis

Miscellanea Orientalia Christiana

Von den Herausgebern

SYRIACA

Yulia Furman
Der erste Schöpfungstag und die „ersten Naturen“ in der „Geschichte der zeitlichen Welt“ von Johannes bar Penkaye

Evgeny Barsky, Maksim Kalinin
„Werdet nicht wie die Kinder“: Adam im dritten Band von Isaak dem Syrer

Grigory Kessel
Isaak von Ninive. Zwei Traktate aus der neugefundenen Sammlung

Yury Arzhanov
Aristotelische Naturphilosophie in der syrischen Schule

Nikolai Seleznyov
Sieben Kanones und neun Zeichen: Der doktrinäre Teil des liturgischen Poems „Deutung der Geheimnisse“ von Johannes bar Zoʿbi

Mikhail Tolstoluzhenko
„Hier ist die Stiftshütte des Gottes des Jakobus“: Spitznamen als Argument in der interkonfessionellen Polemik

CAUCASIANA

Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev
Rückkehr zur Geburtshöhle: das Gedächtnis der erstgeschaffenen Menschheit in der armenischen „Schrift über die Kindheit des Herrn“ und in den verwandten Quellen

Tamara Pataridze
Gibt es Übersetzungen aus der syrischen in die georgische Sprache?

Dmitri Korobeinikov
Am Vorabend von Manzikert: Ein armenisches Kolophon aus dem Jahr 1067

COPTICA & AETHIOPICA

Anton Voytenko
Eine koptische Legende über Eudoxia als eine „alternative Geschichte“ der Regierung von Konstantin dem Großen

Dmitri Bumazhnov
Unbekannte christliche Parallelen zum Gespräch Jesu mit einem Schädel

Alexey Gudkov
Der äthiopische Buchschreiber (anhand der Miniaturmalerei von 14.–18. Jh. und der Feldforschungen vom Ende des 20.–Anfang des 21. Jh.)

TURCICA

Anton Pritula
Syroturcica: Ein zweisprachiges Strophengedicht aus der Mongolenzeit

ARABICA

Alexander Treiger
Die Christologie des „Briefes von den Christen Zyperns“

Nikolai Seleznyov
„Passio secundum Ibn al-Akfānī“: Die Lehre der christlichen Konfessionen über die Kreuzesleiden in der traditionellen arabisch-islamischen Religionswissenschaft

Konstantin Pantschenko
Gedenken an die Vergangenheit: Der antiochenische Patriarch Makarius III. az-Zaʿīm als Historiker

Dmitry Morozov
Eine neue Arbeit zur Frühgeschichte der Bibeltexte in der arabischen Sprache

Unsere Autoren
"

Table of Contents :: Editorial :: SYRIACA :: Yulia Furman, The first day of the Creation and "the first natures" in the History of the Temporal World of John bar Penkaye :: Evgeny Barsky, Maksim Kalinin, "Do not be like children": Adam in the Third volume of Isaac the Syrian :: Grigory Kessel, Two treatises from the newly discovered collection of Isaac of Nineveh :: Yury Arzhanov, Physica of Aristotle in the Syriac school :: Nikolai Seleznyov, Seven canons and nine signs: Doctrinal part of the liturgical poem of John bar Zo'bi Explanation of the Mysteries :: Mikhail Tolstoluzhenko, "Here is the tabernacle of God of Jacob": the nickname as argument in the inter-denominational polemics :: CAUCASIANA :: Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, Return to the Cave of the Nativity: the memory of the first created humanity in the Armenian "Writing about the Childhood of the Lord" and the related sources :: Tamara Pataridze, Do the translations from Syriac into Georgian exist? :: Dimitri Korobeinikov, Before Mantzikert: An Armenian Colophon of 1067 :: COPTICA et AETHIOPICA :: Anton Voytenko, The Coptic legend on Eudoxia as an "alternative history" of the reign of Constantine the Great :: Dmitrij Bumazhnov, Unknown Christian parallels to the Muslim legend on the dialog between Jesus and the skull :: Alexey Gudkov, The Ethiopian Scribe (with reference to the miniature painting of the 14th-18th century and the field research from the late 20th-early 21st century) :: TURCICA :: Anton Pritula, Syroturcica: Bilingual poem from the Mongol time :: ARABICA :: Alexander Treiger, The Christology of the Letter from the People of Cyprus :: Nikolai Seleznyov, Passio secundum Ibn al-Akfani: the doctrine of Christ’s Passions on the Cross in the traditional Muslim religious studies :: Constantin Panchenko, To recall the past: Patriarch Macarius of Antioch as historian :: Dmitry Morozov, A new book on the early history of the text of the Arabic Bible. [Review of Sidney H. Griffith, The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the "People of the Book" in the Language of Islam]."

Published in: C. Baffioni, R. Bianchi Finazzi, A. Passoni Dell'Acqua, E. Vergani (eds.), Storia e pensiero religioso nel Vicino Oriente. L'età bagratide - Maimonide – Afraate (Orientalia ambrosiana), Biblioteca Ambrosiana-Bulzoni editore, Milano-Roma 2014, pp. 191- 235.

The aim of this paper is to place the XIV Exposition by Aphrahat in the crisis caused in Persia by the progressive institutionalization of the church hierarchy, in particular in the authoritarian evolution of the monarchical episcopate and the formation of metropolitan structures in an area that has experienced the most archaic forms of organization of the Christian communities. While the most recent scholarship has interpreted this letter on the backdrop of the anti-Christian persecution that began in the Sassanid Empire in 341, which led the primate of Seleucia - Ctesiphon to negotiate between Christian communities and the state, here the proposal is made to understand the most famous expressions by Aphraates in reference not to the behaviour of the bishop of Seleucia, but to the structure of the church, and as a severe criticism of the figure of the bishop and metropolitan which is emerging in the context of the Persian church. This polemical attitude in not intended as a defense of a charismatic leadership of the Church, or as a propotion of the urban ascetics known as “bnay qyāmā “, but seems to be rxpressed in view of an old ideal of the Christian leader , able to moderate his power, to accept differences of ideology , to exercise judgment and forgiveness , to exert his episcopal ministry in collaboration with his peers and the presbytery , according to a conservative model of Church leadership in decline in the fourth century. This reading of the Exposition XIV is based on a close comparison of the most important statements by Aphrahat with both the Didascalia Apostolorum, a true manifesto of the monarchical episcopate, and the synodical letter written about Paul of Samosata by the bishops gathered in the council fo Antioch of 268, partially preserved by Eusebius of Caesarea (h.e., VII , 30, 2-17)

At eighty words, Codex Bezae's variant text of the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-31 presents one of the longest variations in the gospels. Yet the resulting genealogy, while essentially harmonized to Matthew's names, is no mere assimilation to Matthew, but reflects in several respects the editor's touch, for example, including Old Testament kings lacking in Matthew's list, adapting Matthew's list to Luke's phraseology, and rearranging the names to follow Luke's Christ-to-Adam sequence. The end result is a text that betrays little apparent interest in reproducing a putative "original," but rather reveals a process of development within the community or communities that superintended its growth.

"Both Aphrahat and the early Augustine emphasised a “lived eschatology” (Hester) that valued ascetic practice as the life of the angels lived in the present. However, the Pelagian controversy reversed Augustine’s perspective and the West lost a valuable point of hope. This paper explores key themes in the “Resurrection asceticism” of Aphrahat and how his emphasis on a more mystical asceticism questions the modern context. Aphrahat’s approach to sexuality especially challenges current preoccupations, and his Eastern understanding of spiritual struggle is more hopeful than Western views. By his strong linkage of inaugurated eschatology and asceticism, Aphrahat inspires joy and hope.
"

“Assembled as one”: the origins and early meaning of the term “Monk” in the East according to the documents from II to IV c. A.D. Part II: Syriac sources

This article deals with the problem of identity and the origin of monasticism. To address this issue, the author applies a linguistic approach; he examines different contexts of the early use of the concept “Monk” according to Greek, Coptic and Syriac sources, in the dioceses of Egypt and Syria from the 2nd to the 4th century A.D. The Greek term μοναχός and its Coptic transliteration "monahos", as well as the Coptic term "oua ouwt" (“single one”), and the Syriac terms ihîdayâ and qyamâ are analyzed.

Finally, the phenomenon described by the term “monk” in the early Christian milieu, did not come from nowhere; originally it was part of a wider ascetic movement of the Early Church. This fact may modify the cherished notions regarding the origin of monasticism and its authentic identity. The phenomenon of monasticism in the Orthodox Church results from a long process of assimilation, unifcation and later interpretation of early Christian ascetic doctrines and experience during the Byzantine era.

המנוחה בשבת, מנוחת האל ומנוחת האדם, היא עיקרה ומהותה של מצוות השבת. אך מה משמעותה של מנוחה זו? מדוע נצטווה האדם לנוח, ומה משמעות הדבר שהאל נח בשבת? בהרצאה זו אעקוב אחר גלגוליהם של פתרונות פרשניים ודרשניים לשאלות אלה בין עולמות יהודיים ונוצריים ואבחן את דרכי שילובן בתוך הקשרים ספרותיים ומגמות רעיוניות שונות ולעתים מנוגדות.

The rest of God and man on the Sabbath is the essence of this holy day. However, what is the meaning of this rest? Why was the People of Israel given a commandment to rest on Sabbath, and what does God's rest on this day signify and imply? In this lecture I present several answers given to those questions by ancient interpreters alongside their evolution and development throughout different Jewish and Christian milieus, in order to demonstrate how they function in various contexts and serve different, sometimes contradicting, agendas.

[NB: This is only an extract from the published version.] In studies of Pauline reception, most scholars limit themselves to works in the second or early third century (often ending with Irenaeus or the Acts of Paul) and to material from the Latin West and Greek East. Although later Syriac sources are rarely engaged, those who do work on this material have long recognised the importance of Paul's letters for that material. The present argument aims to help broaden the dominant discourse on Pauline reception by attending to early Syriac sources, principally the work of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. I focus in particular on his discussion of baptism and marriage in Dem. 7.18–20, which has confounded scholars over the years. This passage displays a kind of Pauline 'logic' indebted to  Cor 7.20, which can be discerned among other early Christian applications of that passage in similar contexts, in both East and West.

In this paper I discuss the evolution of traditions concerning the Sabbath’s rest within and between Jewish, Christian and Pagan communities of Late Antiquity through a close study of a homily on the Sabbath by Aphrahat, a prominent Syriac Christian writer of the fourth century CE. Aphrahat’s homily is composed as a direct attack against Jewish observance and understanding of the Sabbath and exhibits a broad range of exegetical, polemical and theological traditions. I examine the broader contexts of Aphrahat’s homily, pointing out its relations to Jewish authors of the second Temple period, Rabbinic traditions and early Christian writers. Thus, a close reading of Aphrahat’s homily will shed light on the evolution and development of traditions concerning the Sabbath’s rest as they are incorporated, reshaped and reinterpreted in multiple literary and cultural contexts.

Review of Tanios Bou Mansour, Le ministère sacerdotal dans la tradition syriaque primitive: Aphraate, Ephrem, Jacques de Saroug et Narsaï, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 156 (Leiden: Brill, 2020). Journal of Early Christian Studies 29, no. 2 (2021): 298–300.

Dans Le ministère sacerdotal dans la tradition syriaque primitive, Tanios Bou Mansour présente une analyse du sacerdoce chrétien chez quatre auteurs syriaques, Aphraate, Éphrem, Jacques et Narsaï, en l’éclairant par le sacerdoce du Christ et en le plaçant dans la continuité du sacerdoce de l’Ancien Testament. L’originalité et l’actualité de nos auteurs résident dans leur conception de l’élection, de la succession apostolique, de traits “sacerdotaux” attribués aux femmes dans la Bible, et surtout du prêtre qui, mandaté par l’Eglise, exécute l’action du Christ et de l’Esprit.

In Le ministère sacerdotal dans la tradition syriaque primitive, Tanios Bou Mansour analyzes the Christian priesthood in four Syriac writers: Aphraate, Ephrem, Jacob of Sarug and Narsaï. Their conception of priesthood is illuminated by the Priesthood of Christ and contextualized within the continuity of the priesthood of the Old Testament. These authors’ originality and actuality lies in their conception of election, of apostolic succession, of “sacerdotal” traits attributed to women in the Bible, and especially of the priest who, commissioned by the Church, executes the action of the Christ and the Spirit.

A Sea of Symbols: Noah in the Syriac Tradition

The story of Noah and the Flood in the Syriac historical as well as exegetical tradition shows many similarities with Jewish interpretations and yet a strikingly original trend. Through the means of poetry —one of the main features of Syriac literature—, the exegesis of Noah’s story is unique in presenting the father of nations, paradoxically, as proto-ascetic and the arch not only as a type of the Church —as in other Christian traditions— but as a prototype of the church as building. This article aims at making at least some of these symbols and typological interpretations emerge from the sea of Syriac texts devoted to the story of Noah.

An undeniable historical fact is that the governance of Shapur II didn’t spare to show a certain sympathy towards the Christian community that existed in Persian Empire around the early 4th century. Christians were the victims of perpetual persecutions carried out by pagan Roman Emperors. Thus Persia appeared as a haven of refuge. But when Constantine assumed the reins of government in Roman Empire, Christian faith took a quite obvious advantage over paganism. So Shapur became suspicious of his Christian subjects. The occasion for such a suspicion was, in any case, reinforced through prophecies by prominent Christians like the wise Aphrahat, who forecasted an obliteration of Persia as a result of a triumphal Roman victory. Moreover, Constantine sent a letter to his adolescent peer in order to express his concerns about the Christians who lived under Shapur’s reign. Some researchers though, detected in that letter a covert threat, on Constantine’s behalf, that reflected an ulterior intention for an invasion to the Persian Empire. Having, on the one hand, the article of 1985 by Timothy D. Barnes, Constantine and the Christians of Persia, and on the other hand, the article of 2001 by David Frendo, Constantine’s Letter to Shapur II, Its Authenticity, Occasion and Attendant Circumstances, as indicators, this paper disserts how defensible is the theory of Constantine planning to ivade Persia. Actually it is about a theory that has its roots in the mid-19th century and was revitalized in 1930s. Supporters of this theory were historians like O. Seeck, G. Ostrogorsky and F. Dölger, among others. According to that, the new Christian Roman Empire in Constantinople inherited the claims of the old pagan Roman Empire for a universal dominance. Using Constantine’s letter to Shapur as a “litmus test”, this paper examins how sound this theory can be. Ultimately it seems that Shapur took not so much under serious consideration Constantine’s exhortation for taking care of his Christian subjects, and so he effected a wide persecution against them which begun in 339-340 and peaked in 344-345. The paper concludes with a referation to the disputed question on the authenticity of Constantine’s epistle to Shapur.

The earliest Syriac writers interpreted in a particular manner the various strands of the biblical and apostolic traditions regarding divine indwelling. In this article I demonstrate that Aphrahat, by building upon this foundation, developed a more nuanced and broader notion of divine indwelling that is entirely Christological. For Aphrahat, being a Christian and living the Christian life means nothing other than being indwelt by Christ. I first examine the notions of divine indwelling as found in two important sources for the earliest Syriac Christianity: Tatian and the Acts of Thomas. In both of these sources, divine indwelling pertains solely to individuals who are morally pure. Next I discuss how Aphrahat was influenced by this earlier tradition and developed from it a notion of Christ’s indwelling in four modes: by faith, by baptism, by prayer, and by knowledge of God. Placing Aphrahat within the context of the preceding tradition demonstrates both his traditionalism and originality. Aphrahat enlarged the traditional notion of indwelling dependent on purity by linking it to faith, baptism, and prayer. Yet what distinguishes Aphrahat most from the antecedent tradition is his emphasis upon the indwelling of Christ and his development of a fourth mode of indwelling independent of purity, that of knowledge of God.

Comparison and Transposition of Metaphors
in Baha’i and Syriac Christian Conceptual Systems

by Christopher Buck

Submitted to
Professor Donald Wiebe

REL 1000Y
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion

15 April 1992

Centre for the Study of Religion
University of Toronto

ABSTRACT

This study invites formal comparison of doctrinal metaphors found in the two most widely-diffused religions of the world: Christianity and the Baha’i Faith. The paper is an exercise in comparison and not an attempt at dialogue, as modern forms of Christianity are purposely excluded from purview. The most metaphorically-rich form of Christianity for comparative purposes was found to be fourth-century Syriac Christianity. This determination was of a practical nature with the interests of data selection in mind, and did not constitute a definitive position on the literary claim made on that data. Saint Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373) was arguably the greatest poet of the patristic era, living in what could be considered the most formative period of Christian history beyond the witness of the New Testament itself.

The use of figurative language across the metaphoric-symbolic continuum will be considered in the Baha’i and Syriac Christian perspectives. These motifs will be organized in relation to the structurally-important concepts they undergird. Thus, metaphors will be paired with doctrinal concepts. Some of these metaphors will be considered to be functionally equivalent if they are found to “work” in each other’s system. Considerable space will be devoted to a discussion of the problems and prospects of the comparative enterprise itself as prolegomenal to that exercise. The significance of this study is to be assessed on the merits of its theoretical contribution to the phenomenology of religion.

The methodological rehabilitation and refinement of what used to be commonly referred to as “comparative religion” is of particular interest, for it is as method­ologically challenging as it is unfashionable and represents, at the same time, an attempt to come to terms with some of the “larger issues” always raised in the course of teaching world religions. This study closes with fifteen theses prolegomenal a to future comparative study of religion.