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.

A facsimile reprint of the first edition of the Syriac New Testament, published by J. A. Widmanstadius and Moses of Mardin in 1555. This limited collector's edition is custom bound, with long lasting high-quality acid-neutral paper.

Discovered in 1933, a fragment of Tatian’s Diatessaron is published here with critical apparatus, a facsimile, and a transcription. The fragment, a discarded portion of a scroll with 14 surviving lines of text, was likely used in the worship of a third century C.E. chapel excavated at Dura Europos.

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.

Rogers examines what archaeology reveals for the early centuries of the church. From the period of persecution to that of the northern invasions, iconographic evidence for the performance of baptism is presented. Eastern and Western Church fonts are compared and evidence for baptism without a font is assessed. The question of immersion is considered.

A rare glimpse into the wealth of manuscripts held by the community of Mount Athos, this volume includes material from codices psi and Evang. 1071, and chapters from Acta Pilati, and a fragment of Acta Thomae. A catalogue and description of the manuscripts Lake viewed on his 1899 visit to Mount Athos and substantial introductions to each piece round out this useful study.

This translation makes readily available the basic hagiography of St. Nino. Apart from her personal significance, St. Nino represents the important place that women held in the introduction of Christianity to Georgia. Text critical material is offered, and chapters 8 through 11 of the Armenian version are presented.

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.

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.

This volume incorporates all the articles and reviews published in Volumes 1-4 (1996-2003) of the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.

Ephrem the Syrian is known as one of the greatest Christian poets and as a unique author whose mode of thought is usually described as “symbolic.” In this work, Kees den Biesen explores the literary, intellectual, and theological mechanisms at work in Ephrem’s writings with the specific aim of identifying the exact nature of his “symbolic thought” and evaluating its contemporary relevance. Den Biesen elaborates a comprehensive approach that integrates a variety of methods into a genuinely theological methodology. He then proposes his own comprehensive understanding of the nature and merits of Ephrem’s symbolic thought.

Gives a travelogue and a journal of his missionary activities in the Middle East between 1834 and 1841, primarily with the Church of the East.

Consistently referenced as a reliable source on the "Nestorian" missionary movement, this historical account of that movement is a necessary volume for anyone interested in the missionary work of the Eastern Church. Stewart’s engaging account has remained fresh through the years and remains a standard reference on the topic.

Literature of the Synagogue is a three-part introduction to the textual heritage of Jewish devotion in the formative stages of its development. Part One presents a varied selection of prayers and liturgies expressive of rabbinic theology and religious feeling. Part Two is devoted to sermons from the classical rabbinic period. Part Three is an anthology of sacred poems and devotional hymns by the great literary masters of the Hebrew Middle Ages.

This work fills a lacuna in the literature devoted to Peshitta studies and Old Testament textual criticism. The author examines the works of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship in the field, including the works of Nöldeke, Duval, Wright and others, and proposes corrections to the Syriac text of the Book of Ezra available then. The author then proceeds systematically through the Book of Ezra, giving the critical analysis of the text verse by verse.

This book gives an introduction and an annotated English translation of the Syriac account of Yaballaha III, Church of the East Patriarch, and his vicar Bar Sauma, the Mongol Ambassador to the Frankish courts at the end of the thirteenth century. The translation is based on Bedjan’s 1895 edition of the Syriac text (also available from Gorgias Press). In addition to the translation, a survey of the Mongols and their relation to the West is given, as well as a brief history of the "Nestorian" Church.