The Syrian Churches
THE SYRIAN CHURCHES:
THEIR
EARLY HISTORY, LITURGIES, AND LITERATURE.
WITH
A LITERAL TRANSLATION
OF
THE FOUR GOSPELS,
FROM THE PESCHITO,
OR
CANON OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IN USE AMONG THE ORIENTAL CHRISTIANS FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES.
BY J. W. ETHERIDGE, M.A.,
DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG, AND MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF PARIS.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.
MDCCCXLVI.
TO THE READER.
It did not occur to me till the following sheets had been committed to the press, that the present translation of the Gospels may possibly be considered in some quarters as an attempt to impugn the excellence of our authorized English version. Should such be the case, I would hereby earnestly disclaim any intention of the kind. My sole wish has been to offer in our own language an accurate representation of the evangelic canon, as read from the primeval days by the Christians of the East. The invaluable English version in ordinary use among us having been made from the Greek, and the following translation from a text extant in a tongue altogether different, a comparison like that now deprecated can only be instituted by a departure from the common principles of reason and equity.
At the same time I would suggest, that a collation of the one text with the other, for the purpose of ascertaining the verbal sameness or disagreement of the gospel testimony as given by two witnesses so perfectly impartial and independent, will form a profitable study to the Christian, and impart a profound conviction of the immutable integrity of the New-Testament record.
I have retained the titles of the sections for public reading, merely as illustrative of some points referred to in the preceding sketches of the Syrian communions. On every other account they would have been omitted; not only because, in certain instances, they betray a relationship to superstitions which are unworthy of the Christian name, but because they interfere with the continuity of the sacred discourse, and in some minds may tend to weaken the perception of that divine authority which reigns alone, and for ever, through the entire compass of the inspired writings.
London,
September, 1846.
CONTENTS.
THE SYRIAN CHURCHES.
Page. 1 2 12
- The Syrian Chronicle of Bar Hebræus
15 - The Edessene Tables
16 - Sophronius of Jerusalem
ib. - Ebed Jesu of Soba
ib. - Elias of Damascus
ib. - The Syrian Canons
ib.
- 1. Origin of their doctrinal Error
ib. - 2. Nestorius
55 - 3. Doctrine of the Incarnation
58 - 4. Controversy. Council of Ephesus
66 - 5. Progress of the Schism
68 - 6. Nestorianism takes a Church-status
72 - 7. External Vicissitudes
73 - 8. Missionary Zeal of the Nestorians
80 - 9. Doctrine and Discipline
81
- (1.) Rule of Faith
ib. - (2.) Doctrine
92 - (3.) Sacraments
95 - (4.) Ministerial Orders
101 - (5.) Monastic Institutions
106 - (6.) Churches and Service
109 - (7.) Ecclesiastical Calendar
112 - (8.) Fasts
116 - (9.) Schools
117
- 10. Decadence
121
- Country of the Indo-Syrians
164 - Their Places of Worship
165 - Their Estimation of the Peschito
166 - Their Clergy
168 - Their Worship
169
172 188 198 201 217 221 237 239
- First Class.—Writers whose Times may be determined
ib. - Second Class.—Authors of uncertain Dates
260 - Third Class.—Translations
262
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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