Feminine Imagery of the Holy Spirit in the Hymns of Ephrem the SyrianSyriaca.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/8KHBY8TB/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Jane E.RichardsonFeminine Imagery of the Holy Spirit in the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrianhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/8KHBY8TBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/8KHBY8TBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/8KHBY8TB1990Three issues have had the greatest impact on the feminine imagery of the Holy Spirit in the hymns of the theologian Ephrem the Syrian. These are 1) the relations between Ephrem's Church and other contemporary religious groups in fourth-century Edessa, 2) the preference for celibacy in Syriac Christianity, and 3) the linguistic and metaphorical gender of the Holy Spirit. It is concluded that, despite Ephrem's use of feminine, even motherly, images of the Holy Spirit, he never addressed the Spirit as Mother except for polemical purposes. He did this to prevent any syncretism between the cult of Atargatis and Christianity as he knew it. Ephrem's desire to align his church with the Greek-speaking church was also a factor in his choice of address for the Holy Spirit.
Richardson, Jane E. “Feminine Imagery of the Holy Spirit in the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1990.
Jane E. Richardson, Feminine Imagery of the Holy Spirit in the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1990).AtargatisEphremHoly SpiritIV CEIV-VII CETrinityfemininegenderhymnographypoetrywomen