Christianity reached China in its Syriac guise in the seventh century. Christian documents written in Chinese which have come down to us from the period of the Tang Dynasty contain a large number of proper names which are, or appear to be, transcriptions of Syriac names. In this paper, originally published in Malphono w-Rabo d-Malphone: Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock, the author provides a list of the transcribed proper names with their modern and reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciations, together with the suggestions made by scholars in the past for the original forms of these names.

The epistemology of the mid-fourth-century Christian scholar in Persia, Aphrahat, presumes that the human mind and the task of biblical interpretation are caught up in a dynamic experience of Christian spiritual transformation. In short, for the Persian Sage, good Bible interpretation requires nothing less than the total person—inner and outer, in community and before God. In Aphrahat’s Demonstrations, we encounter a scholar who not only presents this remarkably integrated set of ideals but is also an impressive practitioner of them.

The Christian era in Syriac and Arabic sources does not always correspond with the western calculations. Until quite recently the members of the Syriac churches used the era of the Seleucids (of Alexander the Great; East and West Syrians) as the era of the creation of Adam (Melkites). The use of the Christian era became more common from the 16th century, due to the closer contacts between the Oriental and the Latin churches.

This volume explores the formative theophanic patterns found in pseudepigraphical writings as 2 Enoch, Apocalypse of Abraham, and the Ladder of Jacob where the visual tradition of the divine Form and the aural tradition of the divine Name undergo their creative conflation and thus provide the rich conceptual soil for the subsequent elaborations prominent in later patristic and rabbinic traditions. The visionary and aural traditions found in the Slavonic pseudepigrapha are especially important for understanding the evolution of the theophanic trends inside the eastern Christian environment where these Jewish apocalyptic materials were copied and transmitted by generations of monks.

This book covers the history of the Syrian church of India from its founding by the apostle Thomas in 52 A.D., until the first half of the 20th century. During which, the author explains the various obstacles the Indian Church faced in therms of theology and colonialism. The several delegations of the Apostolic See of Antioch to India from the 17th to the 20th centuries form an indispensable account of the vicissitudes of a struggling native Indian Church trying to preserve its Antiochene identity.

This volume consists of 14 papers delivered by Assyriologists and biblical specialists at the 2007 Society of Biblical Literature congress in sessions devoted to the scholarly legacy of the late Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Professor of the Hebrew Bible at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.

Is the Bible history or parable? Is it relevant to life in the twenty-first century? What does it all mean? This is an exploration into spirituality for young people, tackling such questions as above, answers to which can often prove elusive. This book applies scripture to everyday life; bringing the Bible firmly into the contemporary world as a resource for young adults who want to know more about spirituality while dealing with issues such as loneliness, peer pressure, and maturity.

The Commentary of Theodore of Mopsuestia on the Nicene Creed is an important document of an instrumental age in the development of Christianity. Theodore (c. 350-428) was clearly the most important biblical scholar of his age. While his theology eventually led to his loss of favor among some branches of the church, Theodore was at least partially responsible for three church councils held to deal with his ideas, including those of Ephesus and Chalcedon. Mingana has published here, as Woodbrooke Studies 5, for the first time a document that had previously been lost and which contains Theodore’s observations on the outcome of the Council of Nicaea, the Nicene Creed.

Part of Alphonse Mingana’s “Woodbrooke Studies” (of which the present book is volume 2), The Apology of Timothy the Patriarch before the Caliph Mahdi is accompanied in this volume by The Lament of the Virgin and The Martyrdom of Pilate. The namesake of the volume, Timothy’s apology for Christianity, is an eighth-century manuscript and one of the earliest documents concerning Christianity’s relationship with Islam. The Lament of the Virgin is Mary’s sadness at the empty tomb; in this piece she is conflated with Mary Magdalene. The Martyrdom of Pilate presents Pontius Pilate as a saint and lays out his spiritual accomplishments that are crowned by his martyrdom.

The Work of Dionysius Barsalībi Against the Armenians represents the nature of some disputes in the Christianity of the Middle Ages. Dionysius Barsalībi (d. 1171) in a very rare manuscript, begins by giving a brief sketch of the political and religious history of the Armenians. Dionysius argues that Christ’s body was corruptible up until the time of his death, and only after that did it become incorruptible. This underscores the fact that Christ had a true human body and that he digested food just like other people. The implications for this interpretation in connection with the Eucharist are obviously essential aspects to be resolved in this controversy.

When a loved one is seriously ill in hospital, the phyiscal, mental and emotional strain on the family is considerable. However, there are facilities available to make that traumatic ordeal a little more manageable. In the case of Marguerite Kiely, the availability of accommodation at An Bró Columbanus meant that she and her husband could be near their son Aaron while he was undergoing treatment at Cork University Hospital. An Bró (meaning hostel) is a home from home established by the Order of the Knights of Columbanus and maintained by a team of volunteers. The family of patients at Cork hospitals can take rest and comfort in a safe, warm and caring environment. In Aarons Legacy, Marguerite now pays homage to An Bró for the refuge and comfort it afforded her and her husband in their time of loss. Charting the development of An Bró and highlighting the fact that this is the only hostel of its kind in Ireland, Marguerite Kiely issues a rallying call for more such centres. In doing so, she not only pays homage to An Bró Columbanus, but to the memory of Aaron.

The suffering woman, Blandina, emerges as an archetypal figure of the martyrs of Lyon. This slave-woman ultimately arises to engage in battle with the powers of the Roman Empire. Through the application of Bowen Family Systems Theory and the writings of Michel Foucault the book explains the function of anxiety, and the dynamics at work in the system that result in the failure of Roman authority to use power to quell the rise of Christianity. The reactions of those who might appear to be the most powerful are essential in gifting power to this lowly slave.

The classic exploration of Syriac liturgical melodies, the work of Dom Jeannin has no rivals. Beginning with a discussion of the nature of Beth Gazo, the treasury of chants, this work provides a careful introduction to the various types of liturgical music found in the church. Homilies in strophic form, the popular poetry of the fifth-century qole, antiphonal psalms, anthems, melismatic hymns or litanies, and melodies from Mosul are just part of the service music and hymnody discussed in the introduction and presented with their melodies in Syriac.

The classic exploration of Syriac liturgical melodies, the work of Dom Jeannin has no rivals. Beginning with a discussion of the nature of Beth Gazo, the treasury of chants, this work provides a careful introduction to the various types of liturgical music found in the church. Homilies in strophic form, the popular poetry of the fifth-century qole, antiphonal psalms, anthems, melismatic hymns or litanies, and melodies from Mosul are just part of the service music and hymnody discussed in the introduction and presented with their melodies in Syriac.

This book is for men who want to be better dads. It respects and honours a fathers importance to their childs well-being and is perfect for busy dads with children of all ages, and also useful for grandfathers and uncles! Fathers are invited and encouraged to be active dads; to build on what they already know and be their childs first life coach. First Coach provides them with the knowledge and skills they need to enable their child to become a confident, independent, responsible adult with good self-esteem and strong core values. It has been shown that effective fathering is a powerful, protective factor for children, improving their health, emotional well-being and educational achievement. It is never too late to learn and apply effective parenting skills.

The breadth and depth of the loss that the untimely death of a mother invokes can hardly be imagined. It is an event that changes the whole course of life. It is difficult to fully comprehend what it is like to be shaped by the experience of this kind of adversity in early life. When we witness the impact of early loss on those who are close to us, we can see the devastating blow it is and the indelible mark it leaves. The loss of a mother in early life remains a live issue in the hearts and minds of those who live their lives with perpetual loss and pervasive grief. This is the first book of its kind to give a voice to daughters bereaved of their mother in early life in Ireland. Written with insights gained through ground-breaking research, it contains powerful and compelling testimonies. It helps us to understand the meaning of early maternal loss through the direct experience of those who have suffered it. It also aims to provide all those who find it helpful, with hope for the future. This eye-opening book raises the profile of early bereavement in Ireland. It will be of interest to all those with a personal history of early loss, and to those who are interested in finding out more about the meaning of loss in the early life of a child.