Early Syro-Mesopotamian Christian Writers, Jews and Judaism: Influence and Reaction; with a Study of a Selection of Aphrahat’s DemonstrationsSyriaca.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/SVSFHMZB/tei
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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.DanielleAbelEarly Syro-Mesopotamian Christian Writers, Jews and Judaism: Influence and Reaction; with a Study of a Selection of Aphrahat’s Demonstrationshttp://syriaca.org/cbss/SVSFHMZBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/SVSFHMZBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/SVSFHMZB2005The aims of this thesis are to establish how much Syro-Mesopotamian Christian writers in the first four centuries CE were influenced by Jews and Judaism, and to demonstrate that Aphrahat hailed from a Jewish background. This work has an introduction, two sections, each containing two chapters and a conclusion. The introduction describes the historical background of the subject matter with which the thesis deals, the aims of the thesis and its structure. This is followed by a description of the methodology and by a literature review of the main secondary literature that was consulted. Section One deals with the historical and religious background of the Judeo-Christian community. Chapter One is devoted to Jewish sources available to early Christian Fathers, to primary Christian sources, to the interpretation of religious texts, to the Aramaic language, and to the Aramaic versions of the Hebrew Bible and of the Gospel texts. Chapter two deals with the geographical and historical background of the Jewish and Christian communities in Syro-Mesopotamia in the first four centuries CE. The main areas described in detail are Adiabene, Mygdonia and Osrhoene with their respective capitals Arbela, Nisibis and Edessa. It also deals with the multifaceted Jewish settlements in the area, which set the tone for the expansion and religious growth of their Christian neighbours. It demonstrates how some Jewish and Christian communities had to grapple with persecutions and martyrdom and how they coped with those problems by finding religious solace in asceticism, monasticism and celibacy. The chapter also contains a description of the influence of the local Jewish Academies on the Christian schools of Nisibis and Edessa in syllabus and methodology. Section Two is devoted to the description of the attitude of certain Christian writers towards Judaism and the Jews. Chapter three, entitled Adversus Judaeos, analyses the polemical approach of a number of Christian Fathers, Greek, Latin and Syrian, vis-à-vis Jewish practices. Chapter four deals specifically with Aphrahat, his biography, his attitude towards Judaism and the Jews, and presents an in-depth analysis of a number of demonstrations. The Conclusion summarises briefly the information unearthed in the thesis concerning the interaction between the Jewish and Christian communities in Syro-Mesopotamia in the first four centuries CE. Following this is a lengthy résumé of the evidence collated to support the theory of Aphrahat's Jewish origin.
Abel, Danielle. “Early Syro-Mesopotamian Christian Writers, Jews and Judaism: Influence and Reaction; with a Study of a Selection of Aphrahat’s Demonstrations.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Manchester, 2005.
Danielle Abel, Early Syro-Mesopotamian Christian Writers, Jews and Judaism: Influence and Reaction; with a Study of a Selection of Aphrahat’s Demonstrations (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Manchester, 2005).AphrahatIV CEIV-VII CEJewish-Christian relationsanti-Judaismpolemic