Man Made in the Image of God: A Study of Two Verse Homilies of Narsai, Depicting Man’s Spiritual Conflicts and DevelopmentSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/VIU7J2GK/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Rosemary ChristineHumphreysMan Made in the Image of God: A Study of Two Verse Homilies of Narsai, Depicting Man’s Spiritual Conflicts and Developmenthttp://syriaca.org/cbss/VIU7J2GKhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/VIU7J2GKhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/VIU7J2GK2000The material for this thesis is selected from the writings of a C5 Eastern Christian writer called Narsai, who was born near present-day Dohuk in NE Iraq. Included is an outline of Narsai's life and his work as a teacher. Central to this thesis is the edition and translation of two of his unpublished metrical homilies.
On reading through the whole of Narsai's works, the overall impression is that of a history of mankind. At the time of his creation man was said to be made in the image of God - yet, he was child-like in his inexperience. His innocence caused his fall from Paradise into earthly life, which life was marked by many trials or 'contests'; these trials were intended to be a maturing process for the child-man; and in them he met with mixed fortunes. Into this human situation then came Jesus, the antitype and perfect image of God. He too met with various trials, as demonstrated in his Temptations; yet being perfect he came through them perfectly. Through this example of Christ, man was enabled to meet his own trials in a more perfect way, and so proceed to a greater maturity than had hitherto been possible. Through Christ's death and resurrection, more divine graces became available to man; through the ensuing work of his followers this benefit spread throughout mankind. Finally, at the last consummation, both Christ and man will be raised to a more glorious estate.
These expositions of Narsai's teachings are derived from my own reading of the entire corpus of his writings in Syriac, both those that are published and those remaining unpublished in manuscripts.
The main contribution of the thesis is to show how man's earthly life is intended by God to be an evolutionary progress in spiritual and intellectual development.
Humphreys, Rosemary Christine. “Man Made in the Image of God: A Study of Two Verse Homilies of Narsai, Depicting Man’s Spiritual Conflicts and Development.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 2000.
Rosemary Christine Humphreys, Man Made in the Image of God: A Study of Two Verse Homilies of Narsai, Depicting Man’s Spiritual Conflicts and Development (Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 2000).IV-VII CEImago DeiNarsaiNestoriansV CEanthropologyhymnographypoetryprimary sources [Syriac] + English translationspirituality