Aphrahat the Persian Sage and the Temple of God A Study of Early Syriac Theological Anthropology

254 Pages·2014·1.363 MB·English

by  Stephanie K. Skoyles Jarkins

Aphrahat the Persian Sage and
the Temple of God
Gorgias Studies in Early Christianity and
Patristics
36
In this series Gorgias publishes monographs on Christianity and
the Church Fathers in the early centuries of the Christian era.
Gorgias particularly welcomes proposals from younger scholars
whose dissertations have made an important contribution to the
field of patristics.
Aphrahat the Persian Sage and
the Temple of God
A Study of Early Syriac Theological
Anthropology
Stephanie K. Skoyles Jarkins
9
34
2014
Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC.
2014 ܘ 9
ISBN 978-1-4632-0386-3 ISSN 1935-6870
Reprinted from the 2008 Gorgias Press edition.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data
A Cataloging-in-Publication record is available
from the Library of Congress.
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents....................................................................................................v
Preface.....................................................................................................................vii
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................ix
Abbreviations..........................................................................................................xi
Transliteration System.................................................................................xii
Introduction.............................................................................................................1
Biography.........................................................................................................2
Definition of Key Terms.............................................................................17
Structure of this study..................................................................................27
1 Aphrahat and Temple..................................................................................29
Scriptural Quotations...................................................................................29
Adam and Paradise.......................................................................................35
Christology....................................................................................................43
Ecclesiology...................................................................................................59
Baptism..........................................................................................................64
Eucharist........................................................................................................68
2 The Ascetics..................................................................................................73
The singles (Ihidayē)......................................................................................73
The Covenanters (bnay qyāmā)....................................................................82
Holy Women.................................................................................................90
The virgins (btulē)..........................................................................................95
Marriage and Virginity.................................................................................99
The Holy ones (qaddishē)............................................................................103
3 Being a Temple...........................................................................................107
Inner Person................................................................................................107
Heart and Prayer.........................................................................................110
Rest of God.................................................................................................117
Grieving the Spirit......................................................................................122
4 The Sage “May” See God.........................................................................139
Theme #1 – The Sage...............................................................................144
Theme #2 – The Temple..........................................................................150
Theme #3 – To See God..........................................................................165
v
vi APHRAHAT THE PERSIAN SAGE
Theme #4 – Ascent and Descent............................................................189
Conclusion............................................................................................................195
Bibliography.........................................................................................................203
Primary Sources..........................................................................................203
Secondary Sources......................................................................................208
5 Index.............................................................................................................229
PREFACE
This study of Aphrahat the Persian Sage comes at a time when Syriac stud-
ies is coming into its own as an area of scholarly interest. Syriac Patristic
research is in many ways the poor cousin to the greater Greco-Roman stud-
ies in Patristics. Syriac studies has gone through waves of interest; the first
wave in modern times was in the late nineteenth to the early twentieth cen-
tury with Gustav Bickell, Jacob Forget, Salomon Funk, Jean Parisot, Louis
Ginzberg, Frank Gavin, Richard H. Connolly, and Francis C. Burkitt. The
second wave of scholarship on Aphrahat was from the 1930s to the 1950s
and was, by necessity, smaller, but no less important, with the writings of
Freidrich Loofs, Mother Mary Maude, and Irénée Hausherr. The third wave
is the larger one emanating from the writings of Robert Murray in the 1970s
and Sebastian Brock in the 1980s through to the present. Today, the inter-
est in Syriac studies is booming in comparison to previous decades. I am
quite happy to be part of the expansion and promotion of Syriac studies to
the English speaking reader.
My personal agenda is to show Aphrahat as the great theologian he is.
My study focuses on Aphrahat’s use of the temple image with side glances
at other relevant authors and texts including Scripture, Second Temple
Judaism, the Odes of Solomon, the Liber Graduum, the Gospel and Acts of
Thomas, Ephrem the Syrian, and Macarius of Egypt. My book shows that
Aphrahat is not a lone voice crying in the wilderness of the Persian Empire
in the mid-fourth century. He uses ideas and themes with ancient lineage
and he transmits them to his audience and to us. In my view, Aphrahat
needs to be brought out from under the shadow of his younger
contemporary Ephrem the Syrian; and my work in a very small way helps to
do this. I also wish to show the Syriac Fathers as they are; a group of
authors who can help modern people to deepen their understanding of the
scriptures and spirituality.
Stephanie K. Skoyles Jarkins
May 2008, Ozark, Missouri
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As is almost trite to say, no work is produced in a personal vacuum, most
especially one written over such a long period of time. So my thanks are
many, and my hope is that this work is reflective in a small part of the great
aid and help I have received over the years. First, my thanks to Dr. Robert
Kitchen and Dr. Naomi Koltun-Fromm who helped to form my disserta-
tion into a book. I am so grateful for the great amount of time and effort
Dr. Kitchen took to help me bring this work to the light. Second, thanks go
to Marquette University, the Department of Theology, and the President’s
Office; especially Mr. Steven Frieder, Mrs. JoAnn Frederickson, and Fr.
Robert Wild, S.J. Your undying confidence and steadfast support through
this long process has kept me going. Thanks also to Fr. Alexander for guid-
ing my study of Mar Aphrahat; I am pleased that you have found the Sage
as interesting as I have. Thanks to all my friends who listened to my chal-
lenges through the years, but especially to Dr. Harriet Luckman. You con-
vinced me that I could actually finish this work and that it was important. I
am so grateful to my parents, Fr. Douglas Skoyles, S.S.C. and Mrs. Kathryn
Skoyles for their encouragement and constant refrains of “Labour Dili-
gently” and “We have the utmost confidence in your capabilities.” Thanks
also above all to my long suffering husband, David Jarkins; without your
support on all levels, this work could not have finally been finished.
Last and by no means least, my heartiest thanks go to Mrs. Leaella
Shirley, my editor and friend. It is because of her many years of hard work
and patience that I could do this. She is a magnificent editor and an even
better friend. I can never fully repay the debt I owe her, except to say that
any grammatical errors are mine and not hers. She did her level best to
correct my many writing foibles. Thank you Leaella, you are a gem. Thank
you one and all. Words are not enough to express my gratitude to all of you.

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