THE HYMNS ON FAITH
Translated by
JEFFREY T. WICKES
Saint Louis University
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS
Washington, D.C.
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ephraem, Syrus, Saint, 303-373.
[Hymni de fide. English]
Hymns on faith / St. Ephrem the Syrian ; translated by Jeffrey Thomas Wickes, St. Louis University.
pages cm. — (The fathers of the church, a new translation ; volume 130) Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8132-2735-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Hymns, Syriac. 2. Hymns, Syriac--Translations into English. I. Wickes, Jeffrey Thomas, 1978– translator. II. Title.
br65.e633h9513 2015
264'.014023—dc23
2014042752
THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION
VOLUME 130
EDITORIAL BOARD
David G. Hunter
University of Kentucky
Editorial Director
Andrew Cain
University of Colorado
Brian Daley, S.J.
University of Notre Dame
Susan Ashbrook Harvey
Brown University
William E. Klingshirn
The Catholic University of America
Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J.
Fordham University
Rebecca Lyman
Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Wendy Mayer
Australian Catholic University
Robert D. Sider
Dickinson College
Trevor Lipscombe
Director
The Catholic University of America Press
FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS
Ludwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles, Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M., Thomas P. Halton
Carole Monica C. Burnett
Staff Editor
i. Ephrem and Syriac Christianity
iii. The Collection of the Hymns on Faith
iv. The Audience and Context of the Hymns on Faith
v. The Language of Investigation and Ephrem’s Theological Voice
THE HYMNS ON FAITH
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About The Hymns on FaithEphrem the Syrian was born in Nisibis (Nusaybin, Turkey) around 306 CE, and died in Edessa (Sanliurfa, Turkey) in 373. He was a prolific author, composing over four hundred hymns, several metrical homilies, and at least two scriptural commentaries. His extensive literary output warrants mention alongside other well-known fourth-century authors, such as Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil of Caesarea. Yet Ephrem wrote in neither Greek nor Latin, but in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic. His voice opens to the reader a fourth-century Christian world perched on the margins between the Roman and Persian Empires. Ephrem is known for a theology that relies heavily on symbol and for a keen awareness of Jewish exegetical traditions. Yet he is also our earliest source for the reception of Nicaea among Syriac-speaking Christians. It is in his 87 Hymns on Faith—the longest extant piece of early Syriac literature—that he develops his arguments against subordinationist christologies most fully. These hymns, most likely delivered orally and compiled after the author’s death, were composed in Nisibis and Edessa between the 350s and 373. They reveal an author conversant with Christological debates further to the west, but responding in a uniquely Syriac idiom. As such, they form an essential source for reconstructing the development of pro-Nicene thought in the eastern Mediterranean. Yet, the Hymns on Faith offer far more than a simple Syriac pro-Nicene catechetical literature. In these hymns Ephrem reflects upon the mystery of God and the limits of human knowledge. He demonstrates a sophisticated grasp of symbol and metaphor and their role in human understanding. The Hymns on Faith are translated here for the first time in English on the basis of Edmund Beck’s critical edition. |
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