Sermon on Saint Thomas, the Beloved Apostle

A Syriac Catholic Panegyric from Seventeenth Century Malabar

Translation and Introduction by Radu Mustaţă

A study of a homily in praise of Saint Thomas, written in Syriac by a Catholic missionary. The homily, which is preserved in two manuscripts, is an important witness to the interaction between the Indian Syrian Christians and the Western Catholic missionaries.

Be the first to review this product

Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC

Availability: In stock

SKU (ISBN): 978-1-4632-3902-2

Formats *

Publication Status: In Print

Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies54

Publication Date: Apr 3,2019

Interior Color: Black with Color Inserts

Trim Size: 6 x 9

Page Count: 122

Languages: English

ISBN: 978-1-4632-3902-2

$78.65

Qty:

Ship to

Shipping Method

Name

Estimated Delivery

Price

No shipping options

This book examines an untitled panegyric sermon in praise of Saint Thomas the Apostle, composed by a Catholic missionary sometime after 1601. It belongs to the new missionary culture written in Syriac from Malabar, in the age surrounding the synod of Diamper (1599). The text is an expression of the Catholic missionary strategy of accommodatio. It reflects the ways in which the Catholic missionaries approached Syriac theological writing in the aftermath of the aforementioned synod, while involving themselves in disputes with their Eastern Syriac or Chaldean contenders. The sermon is the result of a complex blending of scriptural, Patristic and literary sources, both in Latin and Syriac, which are gathered together according to the classical canons of the encomiastic discourse. The author of the text brings into focus the exceptionality of Saint Thomas, invested with a quasi-messianic status (he is called “the Saviour of the Indians”), by putting together a rich exegetical and rhetorical apparatus, giving birth to a beautiful speculative and non-scholastic theological thinking.

Overview
Reviews
Contact Us
About the Author
Table Of Contents

Your name *

Your email *

Subject: *

Enquiry *

	Contributor	Biography
	RaduMustaţă	Radu Mustaţă is doctoral candidate in Medieval Studies at the Central European University (Budapest). He holds an MA in History and Medieval Studies from the same institution and a BA in Classical Philology from the University of Bucharest. He is also an associate researcher in the project Jews and Christians in the East: Strategies of Interaction between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, a European Research Council project at the Center for Religious Studies, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Table of Contents (v)
Acknowledgments (vii)
Introduction (1)
Historical context (1)
The manuscripts in the context of Syriac Indian manuscript studies (6)
Survey of previous research (7)
Mannanam Syriacus 46 and Thrissur Syriacus 17 (9)
The homily: sources, exegesis, elements of contextualization and authorship (11)
Authorship (11)
Analysis of the biblical sources (12)
The other sources (20)
Exegesis and theological meaning (32)
Other elements of contextualization (37)
Possible author (40)
Conclusion (45)
Language (46)
Lexical choice (46)
Morphosyntax and syntax (47)
Phonetics and orthography (49)
Homily in Praise of Saint Thomas: Edition of the Text (53)
Note on the edition of the text (53)
Abbreviations and conventional signs (55)
Homily in Praise of Saint Thomas: Translation (75)
References (91)
I. Sources (91)
Manuscripts (91)
Editions and translations (91)
II. Secondary literature (94)
Appendix (97)
Appendix 1: Description and cataloging of Codex Mannanam Syriacus 46 by István Perczel (97)
Appendix 2: Description and cataloging of Codex Thrissur Syriacus 17 (103)

Customers who bought this item also bought

The Making of the Mosque

“In the absence of reliable archaeological evidence, the question of how the mosque was made represents a real challenge. Its origin remains moot despite many attempts to settle the question. This study sets out to explore whether early Islam, within the framework of the Prophet’s teachings and practices, as well as the Qurʾān, might have provided the necessary prompts for the making of the mosque and the shaping of its essential functional and architectural features. It also investigates how such religious prompts may have interacted with the political, cultural and socio-economic contexts in which the mosque type materialized. As such, this book scrutinizes two dominant tendencies regarding the mosque type, the modern Western views on its non-Islamic origins and the Islamic legalist views on what it should look like.”

$149.50

Syriac-English New Testament

After the success of the Antioch Bible, this publication is a new, historic edition of the Syriac-English New Testament in a single volume. The English translations of the New Testament Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text were carried out by an international team of scholars. NOTE: If you meant to order the beautiful gold gilded edition of this book, rather than the standard format, please see the link in the Overview text below.

From $30.00

Peshitta English New Testament

After the success of the Antioch Bible, this publication is a new translation of the Peshitta English New Testament in a single volume. The English translations of the New Testament Syriac Peshitta were carried out by an international team of scholars. The volume is also available in a beautiful gilded leather edition (ISBN 978-1-4632-4217-6).

From $25.00

The New Syriac Primer, 2nd Edition

A truly useful introduction to the Syriac language is a rare find. This practical initiation to the study of this ancient language of the Christian church speaks with clarity and authority. A fruitful integration of scholarly introduction and practical application, this primer is more than a simple grammar or syntactic introduction to the language. Writing in a style designed for beginners, Kiraz avoids technical language and strives for a reader-friendly inductive approach. Readings from actual Syriac texts allow the student to experience the language first hand and the basics of the grammar of the language are ably explained. The book comes with downloadable material so that readers may listen to all reading sentences and text passages in the book.

$48.00