DOCSLIB.ORG

Winter 2020 Concordia Theological Journal Vol. 7 Issue 1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

ISSN 2374-3573 Concordia University Wisconsin/Ann Arbor is a Lutheran higher education community committed to helping students develop in mind, body, and spirit for service to Christ in the church and the world Theology and Philosophy Faculty CUW ........................................................................................... Roland Cap Ehlke PhD, University of Wisconsin- Jonathan Mumme Milwaukee ThD, University of Tubingen Thomas Feiertag Daniel Paavola DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity Chair of Department School PhD, Concordia Seminary Brian German Gregory P. Schulz PhD, Wycliffe College, Toronto DMin; PhD, Marquette University Nathan Jastram Steve Smith PhD, Harvard University STM, Concordia Seminary Jason Lane Jason Soenksen ThD, University of Hamburg PhD, Hebrew Union College and the University of Cincinnati Angus Menuge PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison Kurt Taylor DMin, Ashland Theological Seminary Aaron Moldenhauer PhD, Northwestern University Harald Tomesch ThD, Concordia Seminary Brian Mosemann STM, Concordia Seminary Kevin Voss DVM; PhD, St. Louis University Ronald Mudge PhD, Concordia Seminary Patrick Ferry PhD, University of Colorado, ex officio CUAA………………………………………………………………… Ryan Peterson Charles Schulz DMin, Trinity Evangelical STM, Concordia Seminary; MA, Washington University; MA, Stephen Parrish University of Virginia PhD, Wayne State Philip Penhallegon Theodore Hopkins PhD, Concordia Seminary PhD, Concordia Seminary Scott Yakimow PhD, University of Virginia Concordia Theological Journal editors: Scott Yakimow & Theodore J. Hopkins Publisher: Concordia University Wisconsin / Ann Arbor 4090 Geddes Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 1 | P a g e CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL Table of Contents Introduction...................................................................................... 3 Editorial: “Doctrinal Narcissism and its Discontents” By Scott E. Yakimow........................................................................ 5 Articles “The Conversions of Adiabene and Edessa in Syriac Christianity and Judaism: The Relations of Jews and Christians in Northern Mesopotamia in Antiquity” By Michael Thomas......................................................................... 10 “Luther and Bonhoeffer on the Sermon on the Mount: Similar Tasks, Different Tools” By Theodore J. Hopkins.................................................................. 34 “Confession of a Lutheran University” By David W. Loy.............................................................................. 60 ”’Means ‘Collapse,’ not ‘Be Shaken מוט“ By Paul Puffe................................................................................... 77 Book Reviews Theological Hermeneutics and the Book of Numbers as Christian Scripture, by Richard S. Briggs Reviewed by Timothy Maschke....................................................... 94 Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics (4th ed.), by Scott B. Rae Reviewed by Kevin E. Voss.............................................................. 96 On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books, by Karen Swallow Prior Reviewed by Timothy Maschke........................................................ 98 It Takes a Church to Baptize: What the Bible Says About Infant Baptism, by Scot McKnight Reviewed by Timothy Maschke........................................................ 100 2 | P a g e Winter 2020 | Volume 7:1 Introduction We, the editors, are proud to offer the first issue of the seventh volume of CTJ in service of University and Church, especially our own Concordia University System and Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The journal continues to receives generous financial support from the Bartling Endowment through Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor (CUWAA), for which we are grateful. As a reminder to our readers, CTJ is now in its second year of the reboot, which features the entire Concordia University System and is double- blind peer reviewed. In addition to the print journal, CTJ can be found online at our webpage (www.cuaa.edu/ctj) and is listed on ATLASerials™ with the full-text of each article available on ATLASerials Plus™. The purpose of CTJ is to provide space for interdisciplinary, academic conversation within the tradition of Confessional Lutheranism on matters affecting the church and Christian higher education. To this end, while we want to focus on academic offerings from the universities’ and colleges’ theology departments, we are open to interdisciplinary work as well that would include faculty in other academic departments at CUS schools, such as biology, anthropology, English, etc. Please see our website for instructions on how to submit articles for consideration. As in the previous volume, this issue is truly a joint venture of the Concordia University System. No theme unites these essays; rather, they are an eclectic mixture of theological disciplines, all featuring quality academic work on topics as diverse as the backgrounds of our faculty. In the first essay, former professor at Concordia University Portland, now President of Concordia University Irvine, Michael Thomas writes on the relations of Jews and Christians in Northern Mesopotamia during the first four centuries after Christ based on three ancient texts and each’s respective Sitz im Leben. Thomas’ insightful analysis of these texts gives a rare picture into Jewish- Christian relations in antiquity. In the second essay, Theodore Hopkins (Concordia University, Ann Arbor) offers an analysis of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship in relation to Martin Luther’s commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. Hopkins shows how differences in theological tools conceal a broader similarity of task, in condemning idolatrous works and constructing the Christian through the Word. In the third essay, David Loy (Concordia University, Irvine) explores the theological confession of Lutheran Universities. Although Christian Universities are tempted to put aside theology in favor of numbers, Loy shows the importance and even necessity of Lutheran Universities holding fast to their confession. In the final essay, Paul Puffe (Concordia University, Texas) dives into Hebrew grammar, as “be shaken” is mistaken, and מוט arguing that the common translation of the word is better translated as “collapse.” Even if you don’t know Hebrew, Puffe’s close reading of the Bible will help you read the texts in question and 3 | P a g e CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL see why the translation of a word matters in understanding the Christian life. Finally, a word about the cover art. This issue was originally put together at the beginning of January, 2020, and it was at that time that we decided to include a picture of Concordia University – Portland (CUP) on the cover due to the great support given to the journal by their theological faculty, both in terms of providing articles but also in helping with our process of blind peer review. However, as we were waiting for the journal to be printed, the closure of CUP at the end of April 2020 was announced. As editors, we decided to keep the cover as it is as tribute to the work that God has done on CUP’s campus for the last 115 years. Memory eternal. Soli Deo Gloria, Theodore J. Hopkins and Scott E. Yakimow (CUAA), editors 4 | P a g e Winter 2020 | Volume 7:1 Editorial: “Doctrinal Narcissism” and Its Discontents Editorials are strange beasts in terms of genre and perhaps can best be understood in modern parlance as that of a thoughtful blog post. In that light, I take as a beginning point an extended Facebook post by Nicholas Adams, Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, where he seeks to find an explanatory structure by which to analyze the recent and quite surprising Tory electoral landslide at the polls.1 In it, he introduces the term “moral narcissism” in order to describe the attitude adopted by those on the political left. Before directly describing what it is, however, he offers an oblique definition by way of analogy to a more easily accessible term, “logical narcissism.” Logical narcissism displays itself in the Cartesian “desire for definitions” that are clear, easily accessible, and without confusions or contradictions. It is found in the belief that “if one can clarify one’s terms and simplify one’s constructions… this will to a significant extent clear of the confusions [of the real world] and resolve the contradictions.” This, of course, has no significant relationship to the real world that is riddled with contradictions and confusion, but it does create a paper world that “is readily combustible.” It offers an ephemeral, peaceful, logical structure, and it is this structure that beguiles the thinker to the point that examining and refining the structure becomes the focus of his efforts while the real world is largely ignored. Rather than investigating the world “out there,” the logical narcissist continues to adjust and shade the structure into perfection, sitting back and contemplating it satisfyingly, thereby making it a subspecies of narcissism more generally. Having thus suggested that seeking clear and distinct definitions for real world phenomena is a narcissistic endeavor, Adams tentatively seeks to clarify the semantic field referenced by the term moral narcissism. He offers two different ways to look at it. First, there is the move to clearly define moral narcissism by its essence (a move a logical narcissist would take) where it is “your beliefs, not your actions, [that] constitute[] your person
Recommended publications
  • The Sasanian Twin Pillar Ossuaries at Shoush Village, Kohgiloyeh Va Boyer Ahmad (Iran)

    The Sasanian Twin Pillar Ossuaries at Shoush Village, Kohgiloyeh Va Boyer Ahmad (Iran)

    IranicaAntiqua, vol. L, 2015 doi: 10.2143/IA.50.0.3053525 DO GUR-E DOPA: THE SASANIAN TWIN PILLAR OSSUARIES AT SHOUSH VILLAGE, KOHGILOYEH VA BOYER AHMAD (IRAN) BY Mahdokht FARJAMIRAD (Ghent University) Abstract: The pillar ossuary is a unique but a less known type of Sasanian bone receptacle that has mainly been reported from Fars. This article introduces newly discovered twin pillar ossuaries south of Basht, in southern Kohgiloyeh va Boyer Ahmad Province. During the Sasanian period this region was situated in northern Pārs that is still one of the poorly known areas in Iranian archaeology. Keywords: Kohgiloyeh va Boyer Ahmad, northern Pārs, pillar ossuary, astodan, Zoroastrianism, Sasanian, bone receptacle. Introduction Pillar ossuaries were frequently reported from the area of Istakhr as well as northern Sasanian Pārs. Pārs province was located in the southern quadrant of the Sasanian Empire between Kirman in the east, Khuzistan in the west, and Pahlaw (Isfahan) in the north (Miri 2012: 25). Do-Gur-e Dopa is one of a few examples of pillar astodans in northern Pārs that, based on the geographical administrative division of the Sasanian period, was likely part of the districts of Shapur Xwarrah (Istakhri: 102) or Veh-Az-Amid-Kavād (Gyselen 1989: 72 & 98). In early Islamic sources this area was on the way from Shiraz to Arrajān (near modern Behbahan) (Gaube 1986; Eqtedari 1989; Miri 2012: 131). In the modern geographi- cal division Do-Gur-e Dopa is located in the south of Kohgiloyeh va Boyer Ahmad province. The aim of this paper is to introduce the twin pillar ossuaries of Do Gur-e Dopa as one of the few known Sasanian archaeological remains in this region, which is indeed one of the least archaeologically known regions in the Zagros Mountains.
  • Possible Historical Traces in the Doctrina Addai

    Possible Historical Traces in the Doctrina Addai

    Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, Vol. 9.1, 51-127 © 2006 [2009] by Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute and Gorgias Press POSSIBLE HISTORICAL TRACES IN THE DOCTRINA ADDAI ILARIA L. E. RAMELLI CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF THE SACRED HEART, MILAN 1 ABSTRACT The Teaching of Addai is a Syriac document convincingly dated by some scholars in the fourth or fifth century AD. I agree with this dating, but I think that there may be some points containing possible historical traces that go back even to the first century AD, such as the letters exchanged by king Abgar and Tiberius. Some elements in them point to the real historical context of the reign of Abgar ‘the Black’ in the first century. The author of the Doctrina might have known the tradition of some historical letters written by Abgar and Tiberius. [1] Recent scholarship often dates the Doctrina Addai, or Teaching of Addai,2 to the fourth century AD or the early fifth, a date already 1 This is a revised version of a paper delivered at the SBL International Meeting, Groningen, July 26 2004, Ancient Near East section: I wish to thank very much all those who discussed it and so helped to improve it, including the referees of the journal. 2 Extant in mss of the fifth-sixth cent. AD: Brit. Mus. 935 Add. 14654 and 936 Add. 14644. Ed. W. Cureton, Ancient Syriac Documents (London 1864; Piscataway: Gorgias, 2004 repr.), 5-23; another ms. of the sixth cent. was edited by G. Phillips, The Doctrine of Addai, the Apostle (London, 1876); G.
  • Mawlana Abdul-Sattar B. Qasim of Lahor

    Mawlana Abdul-Sattar B. Qasim of Lahor

    index 379 INDEX Aaron 146, 147, 216 Antwerp 112 %Abbas I, Shah 40 Anusharwan, Khusraw I 30 %Abd al-Samad 59, 133 Anvār-i Suhaylī (Lights of Canopus) 82, 131 %Abd al-Sattar b. Qasim Lahawri (Mawlana %Abdul-Sattar b. Apocryphal gospels 1, 2, 20, 27, 29, 31, 76, 78, 124, 141, 144, Qasim of Lahore) 12, 240 149, 150, 228, 239: Acta Pilati (Acts of Pilate; found as an Abgar dynasty 33 appendix to the Gospel of Nicodemus) 20, 231; Acta Sancti Abgar V 6, 29–31, 33–35, 43, 108, 124–25, 139, 172, 205–6, 228 Maris (Acts of Mari) 30; Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of Abraham 28, 148–49, 151, 154, 161, 184, 200, 203, 208, 210, 232 the Savior 29, 158; Doctrina Addai (Doctrine of Addai) 30; Abu al-Fazl %Allami 39, 40, 48 Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew 29, 76, 131, 141; Libellus de Nati- Acquaviva, S.J., Father Claudio (General of the Order) 7, 15–18, vitate Sanctae Mariae (Book of the Birth of Saint Mary) 29; 41, 43, 46–48, 67. See also General Protoevangelium of St. James 76, 131, 141, 143, 149 Acquaviva, S.J., Father Rudolf 2 Apostasy (of princes) 12 Adam 28, 36, 66, 72, 146, 228, 237 Aqa Riza 68, 133 Addai 30–31, 44, 206. See also Doctrina Addai Aquinas. See Thomas Aquinas, Saint Agiscoa (possibly Khan-i A%zam Mirza %Aziz Koka) 40 Arabia 88, 154 Agra 1, 6, 7, 17–18, 19, 20, 23, 39, 47–48, 55, 59, 67–70, 102, Arabic language 3, 30, 34, 36–37, 137–38, 147, 166, 194, 200; 131–35, 141, 240 script 94 Agresti, Livio 18 Arabs 34, 55, 88, 154, 156, 238 Ahab 110, 171, 185 Arāis al-majālis fī qia al-anbiyā 62 Āīna-i aqq-numā (The Truth-revealing Mirror) 11, 12, 141 Aramaic language 142, 165, 186, 228 Aisha (wife of the Prophet) 139 Arms 214: daggers 88, 102, 118, 133 Akbar: interest in religion ix, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 19, 20, 22, 27, 37, 39, Arrivabene, Andrea 37 62, 66–67, 137; interest in prints/paintings 2, 4, 8, 12, 35, 39, Ashuri, Seyyid Lokman 66 Asiatic Society of Bengal 22, 41 49, 51–52, 56, 62, 67, 128, 144; relationship with the Jesuits Augustine, Saint 44, 231–32 1–3, 6, 7, 11–13, 16, 22, 37, 56, 128; correspondence with/ Augustus 32, 150–53, 161.
  • Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq

    Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq

    OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES General Editors Gillian Clark Andrew Louth THE OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES series includes scholarly volumes on the thought and history of the early Christian centuries. Covering a wide range of Greek, Latin, and Oriental sources, the books are of interest to theologians, ancient historians, and specialists in the classical and Jewish worlds. Titles in the series include: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and the Transformation of Divine Simplicity Andrew Radde-Gallwitz (2009) The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh Patrik Hagman (2010) Palladius of Helenopolis The Origenist Advocate Demetrios S. Katos (2011) Origen and Scripture The Contours of the Exegetical Life Peter Martens (2012) Activity and Participation in Late Antique and Early Christian Thought Torstein Theodor Tollefsen (2012) Irenaeus of Lyons and the Theology of the Holy Spirit Anthony Briggman (2012) Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite “No Longer I” Charles M. Stang (2012) Memory in Augustine’s Theological Anthropology Paige E. Hochschild (2012) Orosius and the Rhetoric of History Peter Van Nuffelen (2012) Drama of the Divine Economy Creator and Creation in Early Christian Theology and Piety Paul M. Blowers (2012) Embodiment and Virtue in Gregory of Nyssa Hans Boersma (2013) The Chronicle of Seert Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq PHILIP WOOD 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries # Philip Wood 2013 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2013 Impression: 1 All rights reserved.
  • Kings, Priests and Gods on Sasanian Investiture Reliefs

    Kings, Priests and Gods on Sasanian Investiture Reliefs

    Iranica Antiqua, vol. XLVIII, 2013 doi: 10.2143/IA.48.0.2184703 AND MAN CREATED GOD? KINGS, PRIESTS AND GODS ON SASANIAN INVESTITURE RELIEFS BY Bruno OVERLAET 1 (Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels / Ghent University) Abstract: An inscription on the Naqsh-i Rustam I rock relief identifies the two protagonists in the investiture scene as Ardashir I and Ahura Mazda. All investing authorities on the royal Sasanian reliefs are therefore commonly identified as Ahura Mazda. In view of conflicting historic information and unexplained varia- tions in the iconography of “Ahura Mazda”, a re-interpretation of the investiture reliefs is made. The inscription on Ahura Mazda’s horse at Naqsh-i Rustam appears to have been added at the end of Ardashir’s reign or early in Shapur I’s reign and the earliest reliefs are now considered to depict an investiture by a priest, instead of by Ahura Mazda. Once the inscription had been added to the Naqsh-i Rustam I rock relief, it changed from an investiture by a priest to one by a god, Ahura Mazda. Iconographic details that conflicted with this transformation (such as the barsum, attendant and possibly the “royal” tamga) were left out of the divine image in later representations of the investiture on horseback. The late Sasanian Taq-i Bustan III investiture on foot, up to now considered to be the investiture of Khusrow II by Ahura Mazda and Anahita, is equally interpreted as an investiture by clergy, in this case by representatives of the cults of these two gods, rather than by the gods themselves.
  • The Origins and Emergence of the Church in Edessa During the First Two Centuries A.D

    The Origins and Emergence of the Church in Edessa During the First Two Centuries A.D

    THE ORIGINS AND EMERGENCE OF THE CHURCH IN EDESSA DURING THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES A.D. BY L. W. BARNARD Recent discoveries have underlined the importance of Eastern Chris- tianity in the early centuries of the Christian era. For too long Church historians tended to look at the early Church through Western, i.e. Graeco-Roman, eyes. This was understandable inasmuch as the New Testament had been mainly concerned with the spread of Christianity from Jerusalem in a North West direction towards the capital of the Roman Empire, and most of the outstanding figures and literature of early Christian history appeared to be associated with the area around the Mediterranean seaboard. However early documents stemming from Syria, such as the Odes of Solomon and the Acts of Thomas, had long been known although it had proved difficult to fit these into a coherent history of Eastern Christianity. The discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, and the new light which it has thrown on Syriac Christianity, has re-opened this question. Our concern in this article is with early Christianity in Edessa, a city which became a major centre of the early Church deserving to rank with Rome, Ephesus, Alexandria and Antioch. Edessa was the capital of the small principality of Osrhoene east of the Euphrates and it lay on the great trade route to the East which passed between the Syrian desert to the South and the mountains of Armenia to the North. The city's inhabitants spoke Syriac, an Aramaic dialect akin to, but not identical with, that spoken in Palestine; and this dialect was the medium of commerce in the Euphrates valley.
  • Tales of King Abgar: a Basis to Investigate Earliest Syrian Christian Syncretism

    Tales of King Abgar: a Basis to Investigate Earliest Syrian Christian Syncretism

    Tales of King Abgar: A Basis to Investigate Earliest Syrian Christian Syncretism Emran El-Badawi§ Introduction Although king Abgar V is known and celebrated as the first Christian king, little attention has been paid to how this giant of history has functioned as a literary bridge between paganism and Christianity in Syria. By sifting through sources remarking on Abgar, especially the Doctrine of Addai, we learn about the earliest history of Syrian Christianity and religious syncretism with earlier paganism. Furthermore the role of Urhai as a semi-autonomous city-state and as an ethnic crossroads plays an important role to this end as well, as it accommodates freer Christian development, with its many beliefs and practices more discernable to study. Edessa, an ancient crossroads of different cultures, and more importantly, the birthplace of Christianity in “the East,” remains—alas—an obscurity. In particular, as pertains to this study, the relationship between Edessa and Christianity up until approximately the first two-hundred and thirty years after the Common Era1 is, by and large, unresolved.2 That is to say that scholars of the field have naturally remained, and still remain, concerned with Syrian Christianity’s origins, and have published a moderate amount of literature to this end.3 But this task is severely hampered by the sheer poverty of primary sources. Furthermore deducing the original language of a textual tradition, whether it is Syriac, Greek, or both,4 adds to the challenge. What is more, scholarly § Mr. Emran El-Badawi is a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, from the University of Chicago.
  • 07 Zarzeczny.Indd

    07 Zarzeczny.Indd

    Volumen 80 Fasciculus I 2014 ORIENTALIA CHRISTIANA PERIODICA COMMENTARII DE RE ORIENTALI AETATIS CHRISTIANAE SACRA ET PROFANA EDITI CURA ET OPERE PONTIFICII INSTITUTI ORIENTALIUM STUDIORUM EXTRACTA PONTIFICIUM INSTITUTUM ORIENTALIUM STUDIORUM PIAZZA S. MARIA MAGGIORE, 7 ROMA Nr. 1 / 2014 Poste Italiane s.p.a. Spedizione in abbonamento postale. D.L. 353/2003 (conv. in L. 27/02/2004 n˚ 46) art. 1, comma 2, DCB Roma. Semestrale. Taxe perçue. ORIENTALIA CHRISTIANA PERIODICA Piazza S. Maria Maggiore 7 — 00185 Roma www.orientaliachristiana.it tel. 0644741-7104; fax 06446-5576 ISSN 0030-5375 This periodical began publication in 1935. Two fascicles are issued each year, which contain articles, shorter notes and book reviews about the Christian East, that is, whatever concerns the theology, history, patro- logy, liturgy, archaeology and canon law of the Christian East, or whatever is closely connected therewith. The annual contribution is € 46,00 in Italy, and € 58,00 or USD 76,00 outside Italy. The entire series is still in print and can be supplied on demand. Subscription should be paid by a check to Edizioni Orientalia Christia- na or a deposit to ccp. 34269001. International Bank Account Number (IBAN): Country Check Digit CIN Cod. ABI CAB Account Number IT 54 C 07601 03200 000034269001 BIC- Code BPPIITRRXXX Edited by Philippe Luisier (Editor) – Rafaá Zarzeczny (Book Reviews) e-mail: [email protected]; Jarosáaw Dziewicki (Managing Editor) e-mail: [email protected], with the Professors of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. All materials for publication (articles, notes, books for review) should be addressed to the Editor. SUMMARIUM ARTICULI Mar Awa Royel, The Pearl of Great Price: The Anaphora of the Apos- tles Mar Addai & Mar Mari as an Ecclesial and Cultural Identifier of the Assyrian Church of the East ........................
  • The Formation of the New Testament Canon

    The Formation of the New Testament Canon

    The Formation of the New Testament Canon The Formation of the New Testament Canon by Richard Carrier1 CONTRARY TO COMMON BELIEF, THERE WAS NEVER A ONE-TIME, truly universal decision as to which books should be included in the Bible. It took over a century of the proliferation of numerous writings before anyone even bothered to start picking and choosing, and then it was largely a cumulative, individual and happenstance event, guided by chance and prejudice more than objective and scholarly research, until priests and academics began pronouncing what was authorita- tive and holy, and even they were not unanimous. Every church had its favored books, and since there was nothing like a clearly-defined ortho- doxy until the fourth century, there were in fact many simultaneous literary traditions. The illusion that it was otherwise is created by the fact that the church that came out on top simply preserved texts in its favor and destroyed (or let vanish) opposing documents. Hence, what we call „ortho- doxy‰ is simply „the church that won.‰ Astonishingly, the story isn't even that simple, for the Catholic church centered in Rome never had any extensive control over the Eastern churches, which were in turn divided even among them- selves, with Ethiopian, Coptic, Syrian, Byzantine, and Armenian canons all riding side-by-side with each other, and with the Western Catholic canon, which itself was never perfectly settled until the fifteenth century at the earliest, although it was essentially established by the middle of the fourth century. Indeed, the current Catholic Bible is largely accepted as canonical from fatigue, i.e., the details were so ancient and convoluted that it was easier to simply accept an ancient and enduring tradi- tion than to bother actually questioning its merit.
  • The Idea of Iran

    The Idea of Iran

    The Idea of Iran: Nationalism, Identity and National Consciousness among Diaspora Iranians A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at George Mason University by Darius Salimi Bachelor of Arts George Mason University, 2011 Director: Cortney Hughes-Rinker, Professor Department of Sociology & Anthropology Fall Semester 2013 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright: 2013 Darius Salimi All Rights Reserved ii Dedication To my Aunt Lori. You were and are my inspiration to make the most of myself. iii Acknowledgements I received a tremendous amount of invaluable guidance in the form of many tiresome hours editing this document, input and feedback on content, and help in focusing my arguments and making my voice come through from three seemingly tireless people: Dr. Cortney Hughes-Rinker, Dr. Christopher P. Thornton and Dr. David W. Haines. I thank Cortney for her patience with me as my director and calm and thoughtful responses to my many questions and concerns; Chris for his expertise on Iran, ancient and modern as well as his good humor; and Dr. Haines, one of my very first professors at GMU, for his insights into the structure and voice of this thesis as well as for his superb advice and teaching over the years. I would also like to thank my family for being supportive of my interests and passions as they have always been, especially my sister Arista. iv Table of Contents Page List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................. viiii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ix Chapter 1: Importance of the Iranian Case ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
  • A Sanctifying Myth: the Syriac History of John in Its Social, Literary, and Theological Context Jacob Aaron Lollar

    A Sanctifying Myth: the Syriac History of John in Its Social, Literary, and Theological Context Jacob Aaron Lollar

    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2018 A Sanctifying Myth: The Syriac History of John in Its Social, Literary, and Theological Context Jacob Aaron Lollar Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES A SANCTIFYING MYTH: THE SYRIAC HISTORY OF JOHN IN ITS SOCIAL, LITERARY, AND THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT By JACOB A. LOLLAR A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 Jacob A. Lollar defended this dissertation on June 22, 2018. The members of the supervisory committee were: Nicole Kelley Professor Directing Dissertation Svetla Slaveva-Griffin University Representative David Levenson Committee Member Matthew Goff Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii I dedicate this dissertation to my daughter, Kora, for all the nights spent thinking through the details while I rocked you to sleep. Je t'aime, ma chèrie iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Several people have been instrumental in helping me complete this project. I would like to thank my committee: Nicole Kelley, David Levenson, Matthew Goff, and Svetla Slaveva- Griffin. Thank you to Nicole Kelley for being such a generous advisor and for helping me stay focused on my topic. David Levenson provided so much helpful feedback on my Syriac translations and helped me sort through the manuscript history. A special thanks to Anne- Catherine Baudoin in Paris who was such a wondeful hostess and assisted me in securing access to several libraries and institutions while I was there.
  • Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World

    Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World

    Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World: Mani, Bar Daysan and Ephraem; The Struggle for Allegiance on the Aramean Frontier by Sidney Griffith, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. (Posted on this Home Page with the author’s permission. NB: this is a scanned version, so pardon any errors) I Edessa and the Syriac Language In Late Antiquity the geographical area to the east of Antioch, stretching from the northern reaches of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers westward almost to the Mediterranean sea, and southward to the environs of Damascus, was often called by the local inhabitants, Aram. The name is that of the biblical son of Shem, the son of Noah, from whom the Christian inhabitants of the area in later times derived their legendary ancestry (Genesis 10:22-23).1 At some point after the Seleucids gained power in the area in the fourth century before the Christian era, people began to call all, or parts, of this indeterminate territory Syria, probably a shortened form of the ancient name Assyria. The local dialect of the Aramaic language spoken in this territory from the first three centuries of the Christian era onward is the language modern, western scholars call `Syriac'.2 __________ 1 The earliest textual reference to 'Aram' may actually occur before biblical times, in the archives of Ebla in the 3rd millenium. See Edward Lipinski, The Aramaeans, their Ancient History, Culture, Religion (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 100; Leuven: Peeters, 2001), p. 26. 2 On the development of what one might call `Classical Syriac', see the important remarks of Lucas Van Rompay, "Some Preliminary Remarks on the Origins of Classical Syriac as a Standard Language; the Syriac Version of Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History," in Gideon Goldenberg & Shlomo Raz (eds.), Semitic and Cushitic Studies (Wiesbaden: During the years when the Severan Dynasty ruled in Rome, Edessa, the ancient Urhay and modern [Sanli] Urfa,3 was the center of Aramean, or Syriac, literary culture.