Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia

Ephrem's Hymns on Faith
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-0-520-30286-0
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 226 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 236 mm x 160 mm, Gewicht: 460 g

Reihe: Christianity in Late Antiquity

Ephrem the Syrian was one of the founding voices in Syriac literature. While he wrote in a variety of genres, the bulk of his work took the form of madrashe, a Syriac genre of musical poetry or hymns. In Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia, Jeffrey Wickes offers a thoroughly contextualized study of Ephrem’s magnum opus, the Hymns on Faith, delivered in response to the theological controversies that followed the First Council of Nicaea. The ensuing doctrinal divisions had tremendous impact on the course of Christianity and led in part to the development of a uniquely Syriac Church, in which Ephrem would become a central figure. Drawing on literary, ritual, and performance theories, Bible and Poetry shows how Ephrem used the Syriac Bible to construct and conceive of himself and his audience. In so doing, Wickes resituates Ephrem in a broader early Christian context and contributes to discussions of literature and religion in late antiquity.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wickes, Jeffrey

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte Religionen der Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Note to the Reader

Introduction

PART ONE. EPHREM AND THE LATE ANTIQUE WORLD
1. Ephrem’s Madrashe on Faith in Context
2. Investigation

PART TWO. THE BIBLICAL POETICS OF THE MADRASHE ON FAITH
3. Bible, Polemics, and Language
4. The Poet’s “I”
5. Audience and the Vision of the Text
6. A Divine Son

Conclusion

Notes
Bibliography
Index of Bible References
General Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jeffrey Wickes is Assistant Professor of Early Christianity at Saint Louis University.