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Missionary Stories and the Formation of the Syriac Churches / Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent.
De Gruyter University of California Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015 Available online
View online- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Saint-Laurent, Jeanne-Nicole Mellon, Author.
- Series:
- Transformation of the classical heritage ; 55.
- Transformation of the Classical Heritage ; 55
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Christian hagiography--History--To 1500.
- Christian hagiography.
- Missionaries--Middle East--Biography--History and criticism.
- Missionaries.
- Syriac Christian saints--Biography--History and criticism.
- Syriac Christian saints.
- Genre:
- Electronic books.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (667 p.)
- Place of Publication:
- Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2015]
- Language Note:
- English
- System Details:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- Summary:
- Missionary Stories and the Formation of the Syriac Churches analyzes the hagiographic traditions of seven missionary saints in the Syriac heritage during late antiquity: Thomas, Addai, Mari, John of Ephesus, Simeon of Beth Arsham, Jacob Baradaeus, and Ahudemmeh. Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent studies a body of legends about the missionaries' voyages in the Syrian Orient to illustrate their shared symbols and motifs. Revealing how these texts encapsulated the concerns of the communities that produced them, she draws attention to the role of hagiography as a malleable genre that was well-suited for the idealized presentation of the beginnings of Christian communities. Hagiographers, through their reworking of missionary themes, asserted autonomy, orthodoxy, and apostolicity for their individual civic and monastic communities, positioning themselves in relationship to the rulers of their empires and to competing forms of Christianity. Saint-Laurent argues that missionary hagiography is an important and neglected source for understanding the development of the East and West Syriac ecclesiastical bodies: the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church of the East. Given that many of these Syriac-speaking churches remain today in the Middle East and India, with diaspora communities in Europe and North America, this work opens the door for further study of the role of saints and stories as symbolic links between ancient and modern traditions.
- Contents:
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Missionary Narratives in the Syriac Tradition
- 1. Saint Thomas, Missionary Apostle to India
- 2. The Teaching of Addai: Founding a Christian City
- 3. Mari as Apostle to the Church of Persia
- 4. John of Ephesus as Hagiographer and Missionary
- 5. Legends of Simeon of Beth Arsham, Missionary to Persia
- 6. Hagiographical Portraits of Jacob Baradaeus
- 7. Aḥudemmeh among the Arabs
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)
- ISBN:
- 9780520960589
- 0520960580
- OCLC:
- 909542364
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