Early Syriac Theology: With Special Reference to the Maronite Tradition, Second Edition

by Beggiani Seely

St. Ephrem, who was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV, and Jacob of Serugh were two of the earliest and most important representatives of the theological world-view of the Syriac church. Much of their work was in the form of hymns and metrical homilies, using poetry to express theology. In Early Syriac Theology , Chorbishop Seely Joseph Beggiani strives to present their insights in a systematic form according to headings used in western treatises, while not undermining the originality and cohesiveness of their thought.
For St. Ephrem of Syria (d. 373) and Jacob of Serugh (d. 521), God is utterly mysterious, yet He is present in all that He has created. The kenosis (self-emptying) of the Word of God is found not only in the human nature of Christ, but in the finite words of Sacred Scripture. In this action, the Divine makes itself accessible to human beings. The triple descent of the Son of God into the womb of Mary, the Jordan River at his baptism, and into sheol at his death, were actions directed both to redemption and divinization. Ephrem and Jacob employed a system of types and antitypes used in Sacred Scripture to demonstrate the sacraments as extensions of Christ’s actions through history.
The material is organized under the themes of the hiddenness of God, creation and sin, revelation, incarnation, redemption, divinization and the Holy Spirit, the Church, Mary, the mysteries of initiation, eschatology and faith. Additionally, the book highlights the fact that the liturgical tradition of the Maronite church, one of the Syriac churches, is consistently and pervasively a living expression of the theology of these two Syriac church fathers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chorbishop Seely Joseph Beggiani is adjunct associate professor of religious studies and theology, The Catholic University of America.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
"Provides a sweeping overview of the distinctive themes and topics of early Syriac theology. . . There is no such overview available, in particular in English." --Dr. Robert A. Kitchen

Genres: Theology, Christian

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2014

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good survey of early Orthodox theology in the Syriac (Antiochian) tradition. It focuses mostly on the theology of St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Serugh.

The chapters are arranged thematically: hiddenness of God, creation and sin, incarnation, redemption, divinization and the Holy Spirit, the church, Mary, and mysteries of initiation: baptism and chrismation, the Eucharist, eschatology, and faith.

The author wanted to also include the Maronite liturgical tradition as well, and so each chapter also includes some liturgical texts that are relevant to the topic at hand. However, I felt their inclusion was a bit awkward because the author really didn't engage those texts. They were just inserted between various thoughts.

One major difference between Greek patristic thought, and early Syriac patristic thought is the approach. The Greeks tended to do theology in an abstract way, and thus they would speak of nature, essence, etc. The Syriac (or Antiochian) tradition liked to use more concrete examples, thus they use a lot of metaphors relating to nature. This approach reminded me of the way the Psalms or the Book of Job describes the greatness of God. This shouldn't be surprising since the Syriac Orthodox tradition preserves a Semitic form of Christianity.

The only chapter I wished that the author had expanded was the chapter on creation and sin. He never really defines what St. Ephrem (Syriac tradition) means by sin, and where St. Ephrem stood on the "fall."

In all, I highly recommend this book. For preachers, it will give you images to use for your sermons for months, or even years. For the layman, it will help integrate theology, liturgics, and scripture together. For the trained theologian, it will be a good review of theological topics.

[Καιρὸς · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, we need to bring back poet theologians like St Ephrem the Syrian and St Jacob of Serugh.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!
The writer quotes mar Ephrem liberally and it ties in beautifully with the text.
This is a succint and clear overview of the basis of Syriac theology and it's very interesting to see how the themes explored are still very much ingrained in the liturgies of the Syriac Churches, particularly the Maronite Church and its Divine Office.

[Carson Harraman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and very accessible introduction to Ephrem and Jacob of Serugh. Not as good as Brock's Luminous Eye as far as an intro, but still very useful.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think of the Church, we think of the Roman West and Greek East. While this is the majority of the Church, it also overlooks an important branch - the Syriac. In the recent book, Early Syriac Theology, Chorbishop Seely Joseph Beggiani draws on the words and writings of St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Serugh to explain a number of theological topics through the lens of Syriac Christianity. There are twelve chapters/topics total including Mary, The Church, Incarnation, and Revelation to name a few. To give you an idea of the Syriac viewpoint, I will be providing some small quotes from different chapters.

When looking at the Creation story, St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Serugh both speak about man being made in the Image of God. When speaking of this theological concept, they discuss the idea of Jesus' human form being created first. Therefore, Adam was created as Jesus was going to appear on this earth. The book goes on to say that "Jacob of Serugh concludes that humanity was created originally as a kind of double image - as an image of the Son, who is the image of the Father, but also as an image of the Son made man." In regards to sin, the Syriac Fathers don't seem to dwell on original sin. Instead, they say sin is a result of error and darkness. "It consists ultimately in a distortion of the image of God that human beings are, and in a loss of the harmony between the heavens and the earth."

The chapter on Redemption is pretty deep and awesome to read. In this chapter, Jesus is compared to the Passover lamb. No, this isn't groundbreaking, but the way it is spelled out makes you pause and think. "He is the lamb who is also the priest." That means Jesus offered himself as a self-sacrifice. No priest is able to accept Him as a sacrifice though, so he must be the one who is sacrificed (the lamb) and the one to accept the sacrifice (the priest). This chapter also develops on the theme of the Cross as both reconciling Heaven and Earth and as a Bridge. St. Ephrem builds upon the idea of Jesus being the son of a carpenter (Joseph), and Jesus using the Cross to build a bridge over Sheol. You might recognize the image from Protestant tracts, but the idea has been around longer than any Protestant denomination.

Reading through this book, one gains a basic understanding of Syriac theology. In it we see an emphasis on allegory and hidden meanings of Scriptural texts. The book also touches on the Maronite Church;s liturgical tradition and demonstrates how both St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Serugh influenced it. With the little amount of Syriac texts available in the English language, this is truly a one of a kind book. If you would like to learn more about this subject, then I can recommend no better place to start than this book.