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Hexaemeron (Jacob Of Serugh)
In the late 5th or early 6th century, Jacob of Serugh wrote his ''Homilies on the Hexaemeron'', being the first known commentary on the Genesis creation narrative (that is, a Hexaemeron) in the Syriac language. This work was composed of seven homilies in total, with each homily being dedicated to one of the seven days. Jacob opens his poetic homily with a prayer asking God to give him the ability to write about something that is beyond human speech. Jacob insists that God is the creator of all things and that creation occurred ''ex nihilo''. Method Jacob accepted the literalist and traditional method of exegesis of Genesis that was developed by the School of Antioch, which emerged in the fourth century under Diodorus of Tarsus, and had other influential advocates like Theodore of Mopsuestia. For example, Jacob rejected Augustine of Hippo, Augustine's view of simultaneous creation, believing instead that the world was progressively created over the course of a week. Despite adher ...
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Jacob Of Serugh
Jacob of Serugh (, ; ; 452–521), also called Jacob of Sarug or Mar Jacob (), was one of the foremost poets and theologians of the Syriac Christian tradition, second only to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as an ecclesiastical official in Suruç, in modern-day Turkey. He became a bishop (of Batnan) near the end of his life in 519. He was a Miaphysite (a form of Non-Chalcedonian Christianity), albeit moderate compared to his contemporaries. Jacob is best known for the homilies he wrote in the late fifth and early sixth centuries. He wrote in prose, as well as in 12-syllable ( dodecasyllabic) meter, which he invented, and he was known for his eloquence. According to Jacob of Edessa, he composed 763 works during his lifetime. Around 400 survive, and over 200 of those have been published. The longest is about 1,400 verses. By the time of his death, he had a great reputation. His works were so popular that of any author from late antiquity, only ...
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Cosmic Ocean
A cosmic ocean, cosmic sea, primordial waters, or celestial river is a Myth, mythological motif that represents the world or cosmos enveloped by a vast primordial ocean. Found in many cultures and civilizations, the cosmic ocean exists before the creation of the Earth. From the primordial waters the Earth and the entire cosmos arose. The cosmic ocean represents or embodies chaos. The cosmic ocean takes form in the mythology of Yazidism, Yarsanism, Ahl-e Haqq, Alevism, Egyptian mythology, Ancient Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology, Ancient Greek mythology, Canaanite religion, Canaanite mythology, Hindu mythology, Ancient Hindu mythology, Persian mythology, Ancient Iranian, Sumerian religion, Sumerian, Zoroastrianism, Roman mythology, Ancient Roman mythology and many other world mythologies. The primacy of the ocean in some creation myths corresponds to the Cosmology, cosmological model of land surrounded by the world ocean. The sky is often thought of as something like the uppe ...
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6th-century Christian Texts
The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the previous century left Europe fractured into many small Germanic kingdoms competing fiercely for land and wealth. From the upheaval the Franks rose to prominence and carved out a sizeable domain covering much of modern France and Germany. Meanwhile, the surviving Eastern Roman Empire began to expand under Emperor Justinian, who recaptured North Africa from the Vandals and attempted fully to recover Italy as well, in the hope of reinstating Roman control over the lands once ruled by the Western Roman Empire. Owing in part to the collapse of the Roman Empire along with its literature and civilization, the sixth century is generally considered to be the least known about in the Dark Ages. In its second golden age, the Sassanid Empire reached the p ...
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Hexaemeron (Jacob Of Edessa)
The ''Hexaemeron'' of Jacob of Edessa (d. 708) is Jacob's commentary on the six days of creation of the Genesis creation narrative. Jacob worked on it in the first few years of the eighth century, as it was his final work. Unable to complete it within his own lifetime, the work was finished by his friend George, Bishop of the Arabs (d. 724). It is an example of a work in the genre of Hexaemeral literature, but should not be confused with a similar earlier work, namely the Hexaemeron (Jacob of Serugh), ''Hexaemeron'' by Jacob of Serugh. Context Jacob of Edessa wrote several other commentaries (though his Hexaemeron's attempt to incorporate large amounts of scientific and philosophical knowledge have led some to question whether it is aptly called a 'commentary) including others that covered Genesis, such as his ''Commentary on the Octateuch''. Jacob followed Basil of Caesarea in the tradition of the Antiochene school of exegesis, including Basil's own Hexaemeron (Basil of Caesare ...
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Letter To The Himyarites
The ''Letter to the Himyarites'' was a letter sent by Jacob of Serugh to the Christian community of Najran to console them during the persecutions against them by the Jewish Himyaritic king, Dhu Nuwas. Jacob's letter came as one of many responses to the massacre, which was a moment of international outrage among Christian communities. Jacob's letter was meant to draw a wide and non-elite readership and may have be associated with the interest of the Miaphysite Church in the Arabian peninsula. A Syriac edition of Jacob's letter was published by Gunnar Olinder in 1937. The letter is itemized and sometimes referred to as Letter 18. Structure Jacob's letter was structured into five main sections: * A salutation * A consolation for the persecuted, reminding them of what Jesus Christ had also suffered * An exposition of Christology (1/3 of the letter) * A consolation for the persecuted, combined with eschatological hope * A valediction Content The opening salutation of the lett ...
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Narsai
Narsai (sometimes spelt ''Narsay'', ''Narseh'' or ''Narses''; , name derived from Pahlavi ''Narsēh'' from Avestan ''Nairyō.saȵhō'', meaning 'potent utterance'; ) was one of the foremost of the poet-theologians of the early Church of the East, perhaps equal in stature to Jacob of Serugh, both second only to Ephrem the Syrian. He is venerated as a saint in all the modern descendants of the Church of the East; the Chaldean Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Saint Narsai is known as the 'Flute of the Holy Spirit.' Although many of his works seem to have been lost, around eighty of his ''mēmrē'' (), or verse homilies are extant. Life Narsai was born at ‘Ain Dulba ( " Plane Tree Spring") in the district of Ma‘alləta () in the Sasanian Empire (now in Duhok Governorate, Iraq). Being orphaned at an early age, he was raised by his uncle, who was head of the monastery of Kfar Mari () near Beth Zabda ...
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Ephrem The Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian (; ), also known as Ephraem the Deacon, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ — ''Mâr Aphrêm Sûryâyâ)'' was a prominent Christian theology, Christian theologian and Christian literature, writer who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity. He was born in Nisibis, served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa. Ephrem is venerated as a Christian saint, saint by all traditional Churches. He is especially revered in Syriac Christianity, both in East Syriac Rite, East Syriac tradition and West Syriac Rite, West Syriac tradition, and also counted as a Holy and Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted monk) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially in the Slovak tradition. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in the Catholic Church in 1920. Ephrem is also credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis, which in later centuries was the center of learning for the Church of the East. Ephrem wrot ...
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Cosmology Of The Quran
Islamic cosmology is the cosmology of Islamic societies. Islamic cosmology is not a single unitary system, but is inclusive of a number of cosmological systems, including Quranic cosmology, the cosmology of the Hadith collections, as well as those of Islamic astronomy and astrology. Broadly, cosmological conceptions themselves can be divided into thought concerning the physical structure of the cosmos (cosmography) and the origins of the cosmos (cosmogony). In Islamic cosmology, the fundamental duality is between Creator (God) and creation. Quranic cosmology Overview In Quranic cosmography, the cosmos is primarily constituted of seven heavens and earth. Above them is the Throne of God, a solid structure. The Quran indicates a round Earth and says the physical land on the ground has been spread. The definition and understanding of such a "spreading of physical land" varies based on scholars and academics. Heavens and the earths The most important and frequently referred ...
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Aphrahat
Aphrahat (c. 280–c. 345; , ''Ap̄rahaṭ'', , , , and Latin ''Aphraates''), venerated as Saint Aphrahat the Persian, was a third-century Syriac Christian author of Iranian descent from the Sasanian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice. All his known works, the ''Demonstrations'', come from later on in his life. He was an ascetic and celibate, and was almost definitely a son of the covenant (an early Syriac form of communal monasticism). He may have been a bishop, and later Syriac tradition places him at the head of Mar Mattai Monastery near Mosul in what is now northern Iraq. He was a near contemporary to the slightly younger Ephrem the Syrian, but the latter lived within the sphere of the Roman Empire. Called the ''Persian Sage'' (, ''Ḥakkimā Pārsāyā''), Aphrahat witnessed to the concerns of the early church beyond the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire. Life, history and identity Aphrahat ...
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Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew religious hymns. In the Judaism, Jewish and Western Christianity, Western Christian traditions, there are 150 psalms, and several more in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches. The book is divided into five sections, each ending with a doxology, a hymn of praise. There are several types of psalms, including hymns or songs of praise, communal and individual laments, royal psalms, Imprecatory Psalms, imprecation, and individual thanksgivings. The book also includes psalms of communal thanksgiving, wisdom, pilgrimage and other categories. Many of the psalms contain attributions to the name of David, King David and other Biblical figures including Asaph (biblical figure), Asaph, the Korahites, sons of Kora ...
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Hexaemeron (Basil Of Caesarea)
The ''Hexaemeron'' of Basil of Caesarea (d. 379) is a fourth-century Greek commentary on the Genesis creation narrative (or a '' Hexaemeron''). It is the first known work in this genre by a Christian, following Jewish predecessors of the genre like Philo of Alexandria's '' De opificio mundi'' and a now lost work by Aristobulus of Alexandria. Basil's Hexaemeron was composed over the course of nine homilies on the topic of the six days of creation, moving line by line through Genesis 1:1–26. His Hexaemeron originated as a lecture series that he delivered to the congregation of Caesarea Maritima over the course of three days in the year 378 AD. The audience was likely a group of "average" Christians, as opposed to fellow Christian intellectuals or a group that he would have considered to have been spiritually advanced. Influences In his homilies on the Hexaemeron, Basil covers a wide variety of subjects: the preexistence of matter and eternity of the world, the purpose of the wo ...
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Basil Of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church such as Arianism and Apollinarianism. In addition to his work as a theologian, Basil was known for his care of the poor and underprivileged. Basil established guidelines for monastic life which focus on community life, liturgical prayer, and manual labor. Together with Pachomius, he is remembered as a father of communal monasticism in Eastern Christianity. He is considered a saint by the traditions of both Eastern and Western Christianity. Basil, together with his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus, are collectively referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches have given him, tog ...
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