Religion

In the second century, well before the canonical gospels took their present form, Tatian wove from the four gospels and one or more Judaic-Christian gospels one harmonized account of the life of Christ, the Diatessaron. The Earliest Life of Christ is an English translation of the Diatessaron based on the Arabic version, itself a translation from the lost Syriac.

This book traces the history of American foreign missions of all denominations. Following a historical survey of the missionary activities, the author gives the biographies and works of twenty-nine men and women missionaries. Numerous portraits are included.

Tristram was among the earliest scholars to attempt a documentation of the physical landscape of the Holy Land. This study describes the geography, geology, meteorology, zoology, and botany of the land of the Bible, as experienced in the nineteenth century.

In the present climate of interest concerning the real Jesus, Case's 1927 study represents a vital contribution in the first quest for the historical Jesus. Often overlooked, this important volume is at last available to researchers in the current quest for Jesus, as well as those interested in the role of the Chicago School in that quest. Case avoids supernatural explanations as he deftly sketches the social contexts of what can be known of the historical Jesus.

This important volume remains a valuable aid to scholars seeking a basic knowledge of Eastern Orthodox rites. A selection of offices, especially those under theological controversy in their time, is presented in the original Greek with an English translation.

Brooke Foss Westcott, noted scholar on the canon of the New Testament, presented this series of devotional instructions as a result of a lecture series he delivered in 1880. Westcott applies his considerable knowledge to the eleven articles of the Apostles’ Creed as well as several broader subjects such as the ideas of religion, faith, divine fatherhood, the blood of Christ, and the communion of saints.

In this study concerning an important period in Sweden’s history, Anjou delivers a detailed account of the Reformation in that country. Beginning with the state of the Catholic Church in Sweden prior to 1520, Anjou traces the history of the Swedish Church up through the Council of Uppsala in 1593.

This Syriac edition with English translation is the historic first printing of such an edition of the manuscript available to European scholars. The unusual nature of Syriac monks translating the work of the Greek heathen Plutarch give this document inherent historical value.

Ramsay makes a strong case for the southern location of the Galatia mentioned in the New Testament. Using several streams of evidence, Ramsay makes a forceful case for the South-Galatian theory.

The Acts of Pilate is an apocryphal document of uncertain date. Conybeare offers an introduction to and a critical edition of this text based on a Greek recension compared with two Armenian versions.

This essay grapples with the question of theodicy as represented by the Ante-Nicene writers Lactantius and the writer of the Pseudo-Clementine literature. Bussell’s dialogue with these sources points to the role human responsibility plays in the origin of evil.

A thorough analysis of St. Cyprian’s writing style and use of language, this study is invaluable for the student of the saint. Comparison with contemporary writers and careful attention to grammatical and linguistic elements mark this useful study of an important figure of early Christianity.

Rackham publishes here a critical edition of the Canons of the Council of Ancyra (314). In his comments on the text he evaluates the manuscripts available for this edition and provides the Syriac and Armenian versions for comparative purposes.

The remarkable discovery of a fourth-century list of the books of the Old and New Testaments and the writings of Cyprian is related in this essay. The canon and order of the biblical books are discussed and the stichometry of the lists is also explored.

The vexing question called the Synoptic Problem has long interested New Testament scholars. Woods weighs in on this question providing evidence for Mark’s priority based on the use of language in the Gospels.

Among the most important chronological questions of Christianity in the second century is the date of St. Polycarp’s martyrdom. Turner scours the evidence to determine a precise date, based on comparison between the Roman and Asiatic calendars and other historical references. This dating in turn helps to date Irenaeus and St. John.

Gwilliam presents a critical edition of the letter of Eusebius to Carpianus, as well as a Latin translation. Essays concerning this important epistle addressing the harmonization of the Gospels provides a valuable early insight into the Synoptic Problem.

Bringing together into one volume the classic liturgical studies of C. E. Hammond and F. E. Brightman, this edition provides a valuable source of comparison on the liturgies of the church. Included in this edition are the complete text of Hammond’s “Antient Liturgies” and Brightman’s “Eastern Liturgies” from his two volume set “Liturgies Eastern and Western.”

The classic hagiography of Saint George is presented here by E. W. Brooks. He gives a critical edition of the Syriac accompanied by an annotated English translation of the Acts. The “Acts of Saint George” stands in the tradition of early Christian devotional and historical records, and is a standard source for information about this formative saint.

A useful source for Syrian documents generally hard to find, this compendium of the writings of St. Ephraem the Syrian, Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa, and Balai, the hymnographer, is a necessary addition to any Syriac scholar’s library. Presented in Syriac, they are available now as a handy resource.

The essays in this informative book were originally delivered as the Jowett Lectures for 1906. They address many critical issues regarding the historical veracity of the Gospels and represent the emerging interest in the historical Jesus that was the spirit of the times. Besides addressing the canonical Gospels, this volume also discusses Marcion and non-canonical gospels.

Commenting on an invaluable document that she personally found, Agnes Smith Lewis expresses her professional insights on this earliest extant version of the Syriac Gospels. This fourth century document, erased and written over, was discovered in the library of St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai in 1892. In addition to discussing New Testament variants Lewis also addresses the issue of how science and biblical teaching might coexist.

Agnes Lewis was the discoverer of the Sinaitic Palimpsest, the oldest Syriac manuscript of the New Testament. Here she publishes her English translation of that text to make it available to Bible students who do not read Syriac. Included are the four canonical Gospels and a list of omitted words and phrases as well as interpolations into the Textus Receptus.

The relationship between early Christianity in Arabia and the development of Islam was a question that absorbed Louis Cheikho’s attention. In this Arabic volume he directly addresses Christianity and Christian literature in Arabia before the rise of Islam.

As a member of the Oxford Movement, Morris had a natural fascination with Eastern Christianity. Using his linguistic skills to translate select works of St. Ephrem into English, he chose those that would create an impact on his fellow Englishmen in the nineteenth century. These works are still treasured by western proponents of Eastern Christianity today.