Misplaced Pages

#986013

103-600: They are first mentioned in the 370s by Ephrem the Syrian , Epiphanius of Salamis , and Jerome , and are also mentioned by Archbishop Atticus , Theodotus of Antioch , and Archbishop Sisinnius . They were first condemned as heretical in a synod of 383 AD ( Side , Pamphylia ), whose acta was referred to in the works of Photius . Their leader was supposedly a man named Peter who claimed to be Christ . Before being stoned to death for his blasphemies, he promised his followers that after three days he would rise from his tomb in

206-481: A human nature and a divine nature can co-exist in one person. The study of the inter-relationship of these two natures is one of the preoccupations of the majority tradition. Teachings about Jesus and testimonies about what he accomplished during his three-year public ministry are found throughout the New Testament . Core biblical teachings about the person of Jesus Christ may be summarized that Jesus Christ

309-689: A "herdsman" ( ܥܠܢܐ , ‘allānâ ), to his bishop as the "shepherd" ( ܪܥܝܐ , rā‘yâ ), and to his community as a 'fold' ( ܕܝܪܐ , dayrâ ). Ephrem is popularly credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis , which, in later centuries, was the centre of learning of the Church of the East . In 337, Emperor Constantine I , who had legalised and promoted the practice of Christianity in the Roman Empire, died. Seizing on this opportunity, Shapur II of Persia began

412-809: A famous proclamation of faith among Christians since the 1st century, said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Most Christians now wait for the Second Coming of Christ when they believe he will fulfill the remaining Messianic prophecies . Christ is the English term for the Greek Χριστός ( Khristós ) meaning " the anointed one ". It is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ ‎ ( Māšîaḥ ), usually transliterated into English as Messiah . The word

515-658: A head over the persons of the Godhead and their relationship with one another. Christology was a fundamental concern from the First Council of Nicaea (325) until the Third Council of Constantinople (680). In this time period, the Christological views of various groups within the broader Christian community led to accusations of heresy , and, infrequently, subsequent religious persecution . In some cases,

618-608: A person experienced the essence of God they were freed from moral obligations or ecclesiastical discipline. They had male and female teachers, the "perfecti", whom they honored more than the clergy. The condemnation of the sect by John Damascene and Timothy of Constantinople , expressed the view that the sect espoused a sort of mystical materialism . Their critics also accused them of incest , cannibalism and "debauchery" (in Armenia , their name came to mean "filthy") but scholars reject these claims. Gelbert (2013, 2023) suggests that in

721-492: A point of reference for all other Christologies. Most of the major branches of Christianity— Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy , Anglicanism , Lutheranism , and Reformed —subscribe to the Chalcedonian Christological formulation, while many branches of Eastern Christianity— Syrian Orthodoxy , Assyrian Church , Coptic Orthodoxy , Ethiopian Orthodoxy , and Armenian Apostolicism —reject it. According to

824-468: A popular source of inspiration throughout the church. There is a huge corpus of Ephrem pseudepigraphy and legendary hagiography in many languages. Some of these compositions are in verse, often mimicking Ephrem's heptasyllabic couplets. There is a very large number of works by "Ephrem" extant in Greek. In the literature this material is often referred to as "Greek Ephrem", or Ephraem Graecus (as opposed to

927-491: A rich variety of symbols and metaphors. Christopher Buck gives a summary of analysis of a selection of six key scenarios (the way, robe of glory, sons and daughters of the Covenant , wedding feast, harrowing of hell , Noah's Ark /Mariner) and six root metaphors (physician, medicine of life, mirror, pearl, Tree of life , paradise ). Ephrem's meditations on the symbols of Christian faith and his stand against heresy made him

1030-477: A sect's unique Christology is its chief distinctive feature, in these cases it is common for the sect to be known by the name given to its Christology. The decisions made at First Council of Nicaea and re-ratified at the First Council of Constantinople , after several decades of ongoing controversy during which the work of Athanasius and the Cappadocian Fathers were influential. The language used

1133-551: A series of attacks into Roman North Mesopotamia . Nisibis was besieged in 338, 346 and 350. During the first siege, Ephrem credits Bishop Jacob as defending the city with his prayers. In the third siege, of 350, Shapur rerouted the River Mygdonius to undermine the walls of Nisibis. The Nisibenes quickly repaired the walls while the Persian elephant cavalry became bogged down in the wet ground. Ephrem celebrated what he saw as

SECTION 10

#1732772150987

1236-637: Is "eternally begotten of the Father", indicating that their divine Father-Son relationship is not tied to an event within time or human history. In Christianity , the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally , as a mutual indwelling of three Persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus), and the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). Since earliest Christianity, one's salvation has been very closely related to

1339-478: Is a further concept of infallibility, by suggesting that current biblical text is complete and without error, and that the integrity of biblical text has never been corrupted or degraded. Historians note, or claim, that the doctrine of the Bible's infallibility was adopted hundreds of years after the books of the Bible were written. The authority of the Bible can also be linked to the principle of sola scriptura ,

1442-533: Is a trinity in God's single being, the meaning of which has always been debated. This mysterious "Trinity" has been described as hypostases in the Greek language ( subsistences in Latin ), and "persons" in English. Nonetheless, Christians stress that they only believe in one God. Most Christian churches teach the Trinity, as opposed to Unitarian monotheistic beliefs. Historically, most Christian churches have taught that

1545-435: Is a worldwide religion . Christian theology varies significantly across the main branches of Christian tradition: Catholic , Orthodox and Protestant . Each of those traditions has its own unique approaches to seminaries and ministerial formation. Systematic theology as a discipline of Christian theology formulates an orderly, rational and coherent account of Christian faith and beliefs. Systematic theology draws on

1648-450: Is called "Father" in a more literal sense, besides being the creator and nurturer of creation, and the provider for his children. The Father is said to be in unique relationship with his only begotten ( monogenes ) son, Jesus Christ , which implies an exclusive and intimate familiarity: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." In Christianity, God

1751-757: Is celebrated on 28 January and on the Saturday of the Venerable Fathers ( Cheesefare Saturday), which is the Saturday before the beginning of Great Lent . On 5 October 1920, Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Ephrem a Doctor of the Church ("Doctor of the Syrians"). The most popular title for Ephrem is Harp of the Spirit (Syriac: ܟܢܪܐ ܕܪܘܚܐ , Kenārâ d-Rûḥâ ). He is also referred to as the Deacon of Edessa,

1854-406: Is defined by an antiphon , or congregational refrain (ܥܘܢܝܬܐ, ‘ûnîṯâ ), between each independent strophe (or verse), and the refrain's melody mimics that of the opening half of the strophe. Each madrāšâ had its qālâ (ܩܠܐ), a traditional tune identified by its opening line. All of these qālê are now lost. It seems that Bardaisan and Mani composed madrāšê , and Ephrem felt that the medium

1957-759: Is not in doubt. The church historian Sozomen credits Ephrem with having written over three million lines. Ephrem combines in his writing a threefold heritage: he draws on the models and methods of early Rabbinic Judaism , he engages skillfully with Greek science and philosophy, and he delights in the Mesopotamian/Persian tradition of mystery symbolism. The most important of his works are his lyric, teaching hymns (ܡܕܖ̈ܫܐ, madrāšê ). These hymns are full of rich, poetic imagery drawn from biblical sources, folk tradition, and other religions and philosophies. The madrāšê are written in stanzas of syllabic verse and employ over fifty different metrical schemes. The form

2060-717: Is often misunderstood to be the surname of Jesus due to the numerous mentions of Jesus Christ in the Christian Bible . The word is in fact used as a title , hence its common reciprocal use Christ Jesus , meaning Jesus the Anointed One or Jesus the Messiah. Followers of Jesus became known as Christians because they believed that Jesus was the Christ, or Messiah, prophesied about in the Old Testament , or Tanakh . The Christological controversies came to

2163-571: Is the creator and preserver of the universe . God is the sole ultimate power in the universe but is distinct from it. The Bible never speaks of God as impersonal. Instead, it refers to him in personal terms – who speaks, sees, hears, acts, and loves. God is understood to have a will and personality and is an all powerful , divine and benevolent being. He is represented in Scripture as being primarily concerned with people and their salvation. Many Reformed theologians distinguish between

SECTION 20

#1732772150987

2266-564: Is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament , as well as on Christian tradition . Christian theologians use biblical exegesis , rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to: Christian theology has permeated much of non-ecclesiastical Western culture , especially in pre-modern Europe, although Christianity

2369-722: Is the essence of eternal life . God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit (the first and third persons of the Trinity). God the Son is co-eternal with God the Father (and the Holy Spirit), both before Creation and after

2472-464: Is the revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious through active or passive communication with God, and can originate directly from God or through an agent, such as an angel . A person recognised as having experienced such contact is often called a prophet . Christianity generally considers the Bible as divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired. Such revelation does not always require

2575-486: Is the term given to Latin translations of "Ephrem Graecus". None is by Ephrem the Syrian. "Pseudo Ephrem Latinus" is the name given to Latin works under the name of Ephrem which are imitations of the style of Ephrem Latinus. There has been very little critical examination of any of these works. They were edited uncritically by Assemani, and there is also a modern Greek edition by Phrantzolas. Soon after Ephrem's death, legendary accounts of his life began to circulate. One of

2678-741: Is venerated as a saint by all traditional Churches. He is especially revered in Syriac Christianity , both in East Syriac tradition and West Syriac tradition , and also counted as a Holy and Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted monk) in the Eastern Orthodox Church , especially in the Slovak tradition. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church in 1920. Ephrem is also credited as

2781-468: The Cave of Treasures , can be attributed to Ephrem, but later scholarly analyses have shown that the work in question was written much later ( c. 600) by an unknown author, thus also showing that Ephrem's original works still belonged to the tradition unaffected by exonymic (foreign) labeling. One of the early admirers of Ephrem's works, theologian Jacob of Serugh (d. 521), who already belonged to

2884-546: The Acts of the Apostles and Pauline Epistles . He also wrote refutations against Bardaisan , Mani , Marcion and others. Syriac churches still use many of Ephrem's hymns as part of the annual cycle of worship. However, most of these liturgical hymns are edited and conflated versions of the originals. The most complete, critical text of authentic Ephrem was compiled between 1955 and 1979 by Dom Edmund Beck, OSB, as part of

2987-612: The Angel of the Lord spoke to the Patriarchs, revealing God to them, some believe it has always been only through the Spirit of God granting them understanding, that men have been able to perceive later that God himself had visited them. This belief gradually developed into the modern formulation of the Trinity , which is the doctrine that God is a single entity ( Yahweh ), but that there

3090-405: The Bible as authoritative and as written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit . Some Christians believe that the Bible is inerrant (totally without error and free from contradiction, including the historical and scientific parts) or infallible (inerrant on issues of faith and practice but not necessarily on matters of history or science). Some Christians infer that

3193-563: The Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium . Ephrem is attributed with writing hagiographies such as The Life of Saint Mary the Harlot , though this credit is called into question. One of the works attributed to Ephrem was the Cave of Treasures , written by a much later but unknown author, who lived at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century. Ephrem's writings contain

Euchites - Misplaced Pages Continue

3296-564: The Father , the Son ( Jesus Christ the Logos ), and the Holy Spirit . The Trinitarian doctrine is considered by most Christians to be a core tenet of their faith. Nontrinitarians typically hold that God, the Father, is supreme; that Jesus, although still divine Lord and Saviour, is the Son of God ; and that the Holy Spirit is a phenomenon akin to God's will on Earth. The holy three are separate, yet

3399-686: The Ginza Rabba ( Right Ginza 9.1), the Mandaic term minunaiia ("Mnunaeans" or "Minunaeans") is actually a reference to the Messalians or Euchites. Ephrem the Syrian Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: Ephrem

3502-513: The Incarnation , the relationship of Jesus's nature and person with the nature and person of God, and the salvific work of Jesus. As such, Christology is generally less concerned with the details of Jesus's life (what he did) or teaching than with who or what he is. There have been and are various perspectives by those who claim to be his followers since the church began after his ascension. The controversies ultimately focused on whether and how

3605-464: The Son of God through incarnation . The exact phrase "God the Son" is not in the New Testament. Later theological use of this expression reflects what came to be standard interpretation of New Testament references, understood to imply Jesus's divinity, but the distinction of his person from that of the one God he called his Father. As such, the title is associated more with the development of

3708-643: The Syriac language . The city was rich with rivaling philosophies and religions. Ephrem comments that orthodox Nicene Christians were simply called "Palutians" in Edessa, after a former bishop. Arians , Marcionites , Manichees , Bardaisanites and various gnostic sects proclaimed themselves as the true church. In this confusion, Ephrem wrote a great number of hymns defending Nicene orthodoxy. A later Syriac writer, Jacob of Serugh , wrote that Ephrem rehearsed all-female choirs to sing his hymns set to Syriac folk tunes in

3811-488: The communicable attributes (those that human beings can also have) and the incommunicable attributes (those which belong to God alone). Some attributes ascribed to God in Christian theology are: Some Christians believe that the God worshiped by the Hebrew people of the pre-Christian era had always revealed himself as he did through Jesus ; but that this was never obvious until Jesus was born (see John 1 ). Also, though

3914-524: The sect had reached Bohemia and Germany and, by a resolution of the Council of Trier (1231), was condemned as heretical. Michael Psellos , a Byzantine monk, accused Bogomils and Euchites of orgiastic practices, incest , and homosexuality . Furthermore, he argued that children born from these promiscuous activities were brought before a Satanic assembly after eight days, offered up to Satan and then cannibalistically eaten. This cannibalistic act

4017-472: The "traditional" interpretation; Daniel B. Wallace calls the alternative "probably not the best translation." Some modern English versions of the Bible renders theopneustos with "God-breathed" ( NIV ) or "breathed out by God" ( ESV ), avoiding the word inspiration , which has the Latin root inspīrāre - "to blow or breathe into". Christianity generally regards the agreed collections of books known as

4120-634: The 16th-century Protestant Reformation certain reformers proposed different canonical lists of the Old Testament. The texts which appear in the Septuagint but not in the Jewish canon fell out of favor, and eventually disappeared from Protestant canons. Catholic Bibles classify these texts as deuterocanonical books, whereas Protestant contexts label them as the Apocrypha . In Christianity , God

4223-568: The 27-book canon of the New Testament that all use). A definitive list did not come from any early ecumenical council . Around 400, Jerome produced the Vulgate , a definitive Latin edition of the Bible, the contents of which, at the insistence of the Bishop of Rome , accorded with the decisions of the earlier synods. This process effectively set the New Testament canon, although examples exist of other canonical lists in use after this time. During

Euchites - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-597: The 3rd century, Tertullian claimed that God exists as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the three personae of one and the same substance. To trinitarian Christians God the Father is not at all a separate god from God the Son (of whom Jesus is the incarnation) and the Holy Spirit, the other hypostases (Persons) of the Christian Godhead . According to the Nicene Creed, the Son (Jesus Christ)

4429-398: The Bible cannot both refer to itself as being divinely inspired and also be errant or fallible. For if the Bible were divinely inspired, then the source of inspiration being divine, would not be subject to fallibility or error in that which is produced. For them, the doctrines of the divine inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy, are inseparably tied together. The idea of biblical integrity

4532-428: The Bible than his Father, had to be a secondary, lesser, and therefore distinct god. For Jews and Muslims , the idea of God as a trinity is heretical – it is considered akin to polytheism . Christians overwhelmingly assert that monotheism is central to the Christian faith, as the very Nicene Creed (among others) which gives the orthodox Christian definition of the Trinity does begin with: "I believe in one God". In

4635-632: The Bible, the second Person of the Trinity, because of his eternal relation to the first Person (God as Father), is the Son of God . He is considered (by Trinitarians) to be coequal with the Father and Holy Spirit. He is all God and all human : the Son of God as to his divine nature, while as to his human nature he is from the lineage of David. The core of Jesus's self-interpretation was his "filial consciousness", his relationship to God as child to parent in some unique sense (see Filioque controversy). His mission on earth proved to be that of enabling people to know God as their Father, which Christians believe

4738-627: The Christian era, during the reign of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes . Modern scholarship has also questioned whether a coherent heretical movement existed behind these condemnations, and has emphasised instead the friction in the Eastern Church caused by Messalianism's " ascetical practices and imagistic language far more characteristic of Syriac Christianity than of the imperial Church centred on Constantinople". The sect's teaching asserted that: Messalians taught that once

4841-460: The End (see Eschatology ). So Jesus was always "God the Son", though not revealed as such until he also became the "Son of God" through incarnation . "Son of God" draws attention to his humanity, whereas "God the Son" refers more generally to his divinity, including his pre-incarnate existence. So, in Christian theology, Jesus was always God the Son, though not revealed as such until he also became

4944-475: The Father has a special role in his relationship with the person of the Son, where Jesus is believed to be his Son and his heir. According to the Nicene Creed , the Son (Jesus Christ) is "eternally begotten of the Father", indicating that their divine Father-Son relationship is not tied to an event within time or human history. See Christology . The Bible refers to Christ, called " The Word " as present at

5047-453: The Father's relationship with humanity is as a father to children—in a previously unheard-of sense—and not just as the creator and nurturer of creation, and the provider for his children, his people. Thus, humans, in general, are sometimes called children of God . To Christians, God the Father's relationship with humanity is that of Creator and created beings, and in that respect he is the father of all. The New Testament says, in this sense, that

5150-494: The Incarnation of Christ as fully human and divine. Ephrem asserts that Christ's unity of humanity and divinity represents peace, perfection and salvation; in contrast, docetism and other heresies sought to divide or reduce Christ's nature and, in doing so, rend and devalue Christ's followers with their false teachings. The relationship between Ephrem's compositions and femininity is shown again in documentation suggesting that

5253-428: The Son and the Holy Spirit are still seen as originating from God the Father. The New Testament does not have the term "Trinity" and nowhere discusses the Trinity as such. Some emphasize, however, that the New Testament does repeatedly speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to "compel a trinitarian understanding of God." The doctrine developed from the biblical language used in New Testament passages such as

SECTION 50

#1732772150987

5356-666: The Sun of the Syrians and a Pillar of the Church. His Roman Catholic feast day of 9 June conforms to his date of death. For 48 years (1920–1969), it was on 18 June, and this date is still observed in the Extraordinary Form. Ephrem is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on June 10. Ephrem is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 9 June . Christian theology Christian theology

5459-536: The Syrian ( / ˈ iː f r əm , ˈ ɛ f r əm / ; c.  306 – 373 ), also known as Saint Ephrem , Saint Ephraim ( / ˈ iː f r i əm / ), Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis , was a prominent Christian theologian and writer who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity . He was born in Nisibis , served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa . Ephrem

5562-510: The Trinity teaches the unity of Father , Son , and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead . The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons , or in the Greek hypostases , but one being. Personhood in the Trinity does not match the common Western understanding of "person" as used in the English language—it does not imply an "individual, self-actualized center of free will and conscious activity." To

5665-696: The Trinity, is a mark of Catholicism , Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy as well as other prominent Christian sects arising from the Protestant Reformation , such as Anglicanism , Methodism , Lutheranism , Baptist , and Presbyterianism . The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes the Trinity as "the central dogma of Christian theology". This doctrine contrasts with Nontrinitarian positions which include Unitarianism , Oneness and Modalism . A small minority of Christians hold non-trinitarian views, largely coming under

5768-401: The ancients, personhood "was in some sense individual, but always in community as well." Each person is understood as having the one identical essence or nature, not merely similar natures. Since the beginning of the 3rd century the doctrine of the Trinity has been stated as "the one God exists in three Persons and one substance , Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Trinitarianism, belief in

5871-496: The baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19 and by the end of the 4th century it was widely held in its present form. In many monotheist religions, God is addressed as the father, in part because of his active interest in human affairs, in the way that a father would take an interest in his children who are dependent on him and as a father, he will respond to humanity, his children, acting in their best interests. In Christianity, God

5974-411: The beginning of God's creation., not a creation himself, but equal in the personhood of the Trinity. In Eastern Orthodox theology, God the Father is the "principium" ( beginning ), the "source" or "origin" of both the Son and the Holy Spirit, which gives intuitive emphasis to the threeness of persons; by comparison, Western theology explains the "origin" of all three hypostases or persons as being in

6077-440: The birth of Jesus. One variety of the madrāšê, the soghyatha , was sung in a conversational style between male and female choirs. The women's choir would sing the role of biblical women, and the men's choir would sing the male role. Through the role of singing Ephrem's madrāšê, women's choirs were granted a role in worship. Ephrem also wrote verse homilies ( ܡܐܡܖ̈ܐ , mêmrê ). These sermons in poetry are far fewer in number than

6180-742: The claim that by scripture alone that the authority of the Bible is more important than the authority of the Church. The content of the Protestant Old Testament is the same as the Hebrew Bible canon , with changes in the division and order of books, but the Catholic Old Testament contains additional texts, known as the deuterocanonical books . Protestants recognize 39 books in their Old Testament canon, while Roman Catholic and Eastern Christians recognize 46 books as canonical. Both Catholics and Protestants use

6283-554: The community. Jacob of Nisibis is recorded as a signatory at the First Council of Nicea in 325. Ephrem was baptized as a youth and almost certainly became a son of the covenant , an unusual form of Syriac proto- monasticism . Jacob appointed Ephrem as a teacher (Syriac malp̄ānâ , a title that still carries great respect for Syriac Christians). He was ordained as a deacon either at his baptism or later. He began to compose hymns and write biblical commentaries as part of his educational office. In his hymns, he sometimes refers to himself as

SECTION 60

#1732772150987

6386-426: The concept of a triune God, although the Trinitarian doctrine was not formalized until the 4th century. At that time, the Emperor Constantine convoked the First Council of Nicaea , to which all bishops of the empire were invited to attend. Pope Sylvester I did not attend but sent his legate . The council, among other things, decreed the original Nicene Creed. For most Christians, beliefs about God are enshrined in

6489-444: The divine nature, which gives intuitive emphasis to the oneness of God's being. Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature, person, and works of Jesus Christ , held by Christians to be the Son of God . Christology is concerned with the meeting of the human ( Son of Man ) and divine ( God the Son or Word of God ) in the person of Jesus . Primary considerations include

6592-466: The doctrine of Trinitarianism , which holds that the three persons of God together form a single God. The Trinitarian view emphasizes that God has a will and that God the Son has two wills, divine and human, though these are never in conflict (see Hypostatic union ). However, this point is disputed by Oriental Orthodox Christians, who hold that God the Son has only one will of unified divinity and humanity (see Miaphysitism ). The Christian doctrine of

6695-443: The doctrine of the Trinity than with the Christological debates. There are over 40 places in the New Testament where Jesus is given the title "the Son of God", but scholars don't consider this to be an equivalent expression. "God the Son" is rejected by anti-trinitarians , who view this reversal of the most common term for Christ as a doctrinal perversion and as tending towards tritheism . Matthew cites Jesus as saying, "Blessed are

6798-423: The earlier "modifications" is the statement that Ephrem's father was a pagan priest of Abnil or Abizal. However, internal evidence from his authentic writings suggest that he was raised by Christian parents. Ephrem is venerated as an example of monastic discipline in Eastern Christianity . In the Eastern Orthodox scheme of hagiography, Ephrem is counted as a Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted monk). His feast day

6901-505: The effects of such inspiration on others. Besides the direct accounts of written revelation (such as Moses receiving the Ten Commandments inscribed on tablets of stone), the Prophets of the Old Testament frequently claimed that their message was of divine origin by prefacing the revelation using the following phrase: "Thus says the LORD" (for example, 1 Kgs 12:22–24;1 Chr 17:3–4; Jer 35:13; Ezek 2:4; Zech 7:9 ; etc.). The Second Epistle of Peter claims that "no prophecy of Scripture ...

7004-417: The forum of Edessa. In 370 he visited Basil the Great at Caesarea, and then journeyed to the monks of Egypt. As he preached a panegyrie on St. Basil, who died in 379, his own death must be placed at a later date. After a ten-year residency in Edessa, in his sixties, Ephrem succumbed to the plague as he ministered to its victims. He died in 373. Ephrem wrote exclusively in his native Aramaic language , using

7107-473: The foundational sacred texts of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine throughout history, particularly through the ecumenical councils of the early church (such as the First Council of Nicea ) and philosophical evolution. Inherent to a system of theological thought is the development of a method, one which can apply both broadly and particularly. Christian systematic theology will typically explore: Revelation

7210-462: The founder of the School of Nisibis , which, in later centuries, was the centre of learning of the Church of the East . Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose exegesis . These were works of practical theology for the edification of the Church in troubled times. Some of these works have been examined by feminist scholars who have analyzed the incorporation of feminine imagery in his texts. They also examine

7313-409: The generation that accepted the custom of a double naming of their language not only as Aramaic ( Ārāmāyā ) but also as "Syriac" ( Suryāyā ), wrote a homily ( memrā ) dedicated to Ephrem, praising him as the crown or wreath of the Arameans ( Classical Syriac : ܐܳܪܳܡܳܝܘܬܐ ), and the same praise was repeated in early liturgical texts. Only later, under the Greek influence already prevalent in

7416-495: The heading of Unitarianism . Most, if not all, Christians believe that God is spirit, an uncreated, omnipotent , and eternal being, the creator and sustainer of all things, who works the redemption of the world through his Son, Jesus Christ. With this background, belief in the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit is expressed as the doctrine of the Trinity , which describes the single divine ousia (substance) existing as three distinct and inseparable hypostases (persons):

7519-425: The heresies that threatened to divide the early church. He lamented that the faithful were "tossed to and fro and carried around with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness and deceitful wiles" (Eph 4:14). He devised hymns laden with doctrinal details to inoculate right-thinking Christians against heresies such as docetism . The Hymns Against Heresies employ colourful metaphors to describe

7622-546: The local Edessan ( Urhaya ) dialect, that later came to be known as the Classical Syriac . Ephrem's works contain several endonymic (native) references to his language ( Aramaic ), homeland ( Aram ) and people ( Arameans ). He is therefore known as "the authentic voice of Aramaic Christianity". In the early stages of modern scholarly studies, it was believed that some examples of the long-standing Greek practice of labeling Aramaic as "Syriac", that are found in

7725-532: The madrāšê were sung by all-women choirs with an accompanying lyre. These women's choirs were composed of members of the Daughters of the Covenant, an important institution in historical Syriac Christianity , but they weren't always labeled as such. Ephrem, like many Syriac liturgical poets, believed that women's voices were important to hear in the church as they were modeled after Mary, mother of Jesus, whose acceptance of God's call led to salvation for all through

7828-629: The madrāšê. The mêmrê were written in a heptosyllabic couplets (pairs of lines of seven syllables each). The third category of Ephrem's writings is his prose work. He wrote a biblical commentary on the Diatessaron (the single gospel harmony of the early Syriac church), the Syriac original of which was found in 1957. His Commentary on Genesis and Exodus is an exegesis of Genesis and Exodus . Some fragments exist in Armenian of his commentaries on

7931-435: The miraculous salvation of the city in a hymn that portrayed Nisibis as being like Noah's Ark , floating to safety on the flood. One important physical link to Ephrem's lifetime is the baptistery of Nisibis. The inscription tells that it was constructed under Bishop Vologeses in 359. In that year, Shapur attacked again. The cities around Nisibis were destroyed one by one, and their citizens killed or deported. Constantius II

8034-414: The nature of God is a mystery , something that must be revealed by special revelation rather than deduced through general revelation . Christian orthodox traditions (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant) follow this idea, which was codified in 381 and reached its full development through the work of the Cappadocian Fathers . They consider God to be a triune entity, called the Trinity, comprising

8137-543: The others, went first to Amida ( Diyarbakır ), eventually settling in Edessa (Urhay, in Aramaic) in 363. Ephrem, in his late fifties, applied himself to ministry in his new church and seems to have continued his work as a teacher, perhaps in the School of Edessa . Edessa had been an important center of the Aramaic-speaking world, and the birthplace of a specific Middle Aramaic dialect that came to be known as

8240-407: The pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. Scripture asserts that Jesus was conceived, by the Holy Spirit, and born of his virgin mother Mary without a human father. The biblical accounts of Jesus's ministry include miracles , preaching, teaching, healing , Death , and resurrection . The apostle Peter, in what has become

8343-429: The peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (5:9)." The gospels go on to document a great deal of controversy over Jesus being the Son of God, in a unique way. The book of the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of the New Testament, however, record the early teaching of the first Christians– those who believed Jesus to be both the Son of God, the Messiah, a man appointed by God, as well as God himself. This

8446-496: The performance practice of all-women choirs singing his madrāšê, or his teaching hymns. Ephrem's works were so popular that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds of pseudepigraphal works in his name. He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac -speaking church tradition. In Syriac Christian tradition, he is considered patron of the Syriac Aramaic people. Ephrem

8549-495: The presence of God or an angel. For instance, in the concept which Catholics call interior locution , supernatural revelation can include just an inner voice heard by the recipient. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) first described two types of revelation in Christianity: general revelation and special revelation . The Bible contains many passages in which the authors claim divine inspiration for their message or report

8652-644: The real Ephrem the Syrian), as if it was by a single author. This is not the case, but the term is used for convenience. Some texts are in fact Greek translations of genuine works by Ephrem. Most are not. The best known of these writings is the Prayer of Saint Ephrem , which is recited at every service during Great Lent and other fasting periods in Eastern Christianity . There are also works by "Ephrem" in Latin , Slavonic and Arabic . "Ephrem Latinus"

8755-496: The recent times, even in scholarly literature, as a consequence of several methodological problems within the field of source editing. During the process of critical editing and translation of sources within Syriac studies , some scholars have practiced various forms of arbitrary (and often unexplained) interventions, including the occasional disregard for the importance of original terms, used as endonymic (native) designations for Arameans and their language (ārāmāyā). Such disregard

8858-580: The region of Nisibis included local polytheism , Judaism and several varieties of the Early Christianity . Most of the population spoke the Aramaic language , while Greek and Latin were languages of administration. The city had a complex ethnic composition, consisting of "Assyrians, Arabs, Greeks, Jews, Parthians, Romans, and Iranians". Jacob , the second bishop of Nisibis, was appointed in 308, and Ephrem grew up under his leadership of

8961-579: The same 27-book New Testament canon. Early Christians used the Septuagint , a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. Christianity subsequently endorsed various additional writings that would become the New Testament. In the 4th century a series of synods , most notably the Synod of Hippo in AD 393, produced a list of texts equal to the 46-book canon of the Old Testament that Catholics use today (and

9064-692: The scriptures have been known by Timothy from "infancy" (verse 15). Others offer an alternative reading for the passage; for example, theologian C. H. Dodd suggests that it "is probably to be rendered" as: "Every inspired scripture is also useful..." A similar translation appears in the New English Bible , in the Revised English Bible , and (as a footnoted alternative) in the New Revised Standard Version . The Latin Vulgate can be so read. Yet others defend

9167-571: The shape of a wolf , attracting the title of Lycopetrus or Peter the Wolf . Christians believed it was not Peter who would come out of the grave, but a devil in disguise. They continued to exist for several centuries, influencing the Bogomils of Bulgaria, who are called Lycopetrians in an abjuration formula of 1027. and, thereby, the Bosnian Church and Catharism . By the 12th century

9270-582: The source. Even when noticed and corrected by some scholars, such replacements of terms continue to create problems for others. Several translations of his writings exist in Classical Armenian , Coptic , Old Georgian , Koine Greek and other languages. Some of his works are extant only in translation (particularly in Armenian). Over four hundred hymns composed by Ephrem still exist. Granted that some have been lost, Ephrem's productivity

9373-529: The three "Persons"; God the Father , God the Son , and God the Holy Spirit , described as being "of the same substance" ( ὁμοούσιος ). The true nature of an infinite God, however, is commonly described as beyond definition, and the word 'person' is an imperfect expression of the idea. Some critics contend that because of the adoption of a tripartite conception of deity, Christianity is a form of tritheism or polytheism . This concept dates from Arian teachings which claimed that Jesus, having appeared later in

9476-413: The very idea of family, wherever it appears, derives its name from God the Father, and thus God himself is the model of the family. However, there is a deeper "legal" sense in which Christians believe that they are made participants in the special relationship of Father and Son, through Jesus Christ as his spiritual bride . Christians call themselves adopted children of God. In the New Testament, God

9579-428: The works of the middle fifth century author Theodoret of Cyrus , did it became customary to associate Ephrem with Syriac identity, and label him only as "the Syrian" ( Koinē Greek : Ἐφραίμ ὁ Σῦρος ), thus blurring his Aramaic self-identification , attested by his own writings and works of other Aramaic-speaking writers, and also by examples from the earliest liturgical tradition. Some of those problems persisted up to

9682-459: Was Hymns on the Nativity , centered around Mary, which contained 28 hymns and had the clearest pervasive theme of Ephrem's hymn cycles. An example of feminine imagery is found when Ephrem writes of the baby Jesus: "he was lofty but he sucked Mary's milk and from his blessings all creation sucks." Particularly influential were his Hymns Against Heresies . Ephrem used these to warn his flock of

9785-600: Was a suitable tool to use against their claims. The madrāšê are gathered into various hymn cycles. Each group has a title — Carmina Nisibena , On Faith , On Paradise , On Virginity , Against Heresies — but some of these titles do not do justice to the entirety of the collection (for instance, only the first half of the Carmina Nisibena is about Nisibis). Some of these hymn cycles provide implicit insight into Ephrem's perceived level of comfort with incorporating feminine imagery into his writings. One such hymn cycle

9888-530: Was and forever is fully God (divine) and fully human in one sinless person at the same time, and that through the death and resurrection of Jesus , sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life via his New Covenant . While there have been theological disputes over the nature of Jesus, Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate and " true God and true man " (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered

9991-531: Was born around the year 306 in the city of Nisibis (modern Nusaybin , Turkey ), in the Roman province of Mesopotamia , that was recently acquired by the Roman Empire . Internal evidence from Ephrem's hymnody suggests that both his parents were part of the growing Christian community in the city, although later hagiographers wrote that his father was a pagan priest. In those days, religious culture in

10094-472: Was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" The Second Epistle of Peter also implies that Paul's writings are inspired ( 2 Pet 3:16 ). Many Christians cite a verse in Paul's letter to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:16–17, as evidence that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable ..." Here St. Paul is referring to the Old Testament, since

10197-400: Was fully divine and also human. What it did not do was make clear how one person could be both divine and human, and how the divine and human were related within that one person. This led to the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries of the Christian era. The Chalcedonian Creed did not put an end to all Christological debate, but it did clarify the terms used and became

10300-524: Was manifested primarily in translations and commentaries, by replacement of authentic terms with polysemic Syrian/Syriac labels. In previously mentioned memrā , dedicated to Ephrem, one of the terms for Aramean people ( Classical Syriac : ܐܳܪܳܡܳܝܘܬܐ / Arameandom) was published correctly in original script of the source, but in the same time it was translated in English as "Syriac nation" , and then enlisted among quotations related to "Syrian/Syriac" identity, without any mention of Aramean-related terms in

10403-496: Was supposedly a parody of baptism . Euthymios Zigabenos , a later Byzantine monastic writer, would make the same accusations. Such charges have a long history, and historians debate whether they are truthful to any degree: the idea of these unholy acts can be traced back further to alleged practices of certain Gnostic sects; indeed, a similar literary tradition regarding heresies seems to have been brought into existence well before

10506-499: Was that the one God exists in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit); in particular it was affirmed that the Son was homoousios (of one substance) with the Father. The Creed of the Nicene Council made statements about the full divinity and full humanity of Jesus, thus preparing the way for discussion about how exactly the divine and human come together in the person of Christ (Christology). Nicaea insisted that Jesus

10609-409: Was unable to respond; the campaign of Julian in 363 ended with his death in battle. His army elected Jovian as the new emperor, and to rescue his army, he was forced to surrender Nisibis to Persia (also in 363) and to permit the expulsion of the entire Christian population. Ephrem declined being ordinated a bishop by feigning madness , because he regarded himself unworthy for it. Ephrem, with

#986013