• ContentsPREFACE1.  INTRODUCTION   13Saint Ephrem as a Meeting Point between East and West   13Life   15Writings   17Ephrem’s Triple Heritage   18Mode of Procedure   212.  SAINT EPHREM’S THEOLOGICAL APPROACH   23The Poet as Theologian   23Some Basic Concepts and Themes   25Creator-Creation   25The Hidden and the revealed   27The Primacy of Faith   29The Two Times   29The One and the Many   30The Pattern of Salvation   31Free Will   34The Value of the Body   36Imagery   38The Divinity as Fire   38Clothing   39Conception and Birthgiving   39The Eye, Light and Mirror   39Medical Imagery   40Other Images   40The Three Modes of Divine Self-revelation   40The Prerequisites for Theological Enquiry   43The Interpretation of Scripture   463.  THE LADDER OF SYMBOLS: DIVINE DESCENT   53Types and Symbols   53The Garment of ‘Names’   604.  THE LADDER OF SYMBOLS: HUMAN ASCENT   67The Initial Response   67The Luminous Eye   71Symbols Perceived   795.  THE ROBE OF GLORY   85The Primordial Robe   86The Recovery of the Robe   87The Baptism of Christ and Christian Baptism   90The Wedding Garment   946.  THE MEDICINE OF LIFE   99The Medicine of Life   99The Coal of Fire   103The Pearl   106Incarnation and Epiclesis   1087.  THE BRIDAL CHAMBER OF THE HEART   115Israel as the Betrothed   116The Church as Bride   122Mary as Bride   126The Bridal Chamber of the Heart   1278.  THE ASCETIC IDEAL: SAINT EPHREM AND PROTO-MONASTICISM   131Syrian ‘Proto-monasticism’: A Forgotten   131Tradition Motivation   1399.  SAINT EPHREM AMONG THE FATHERS   143Saint Ephrem and the Greek Fathers   143Saint Ephrem and the Cappadocian Fathers   145Divinization (theosis)   148Saint Ephrem and Later Monastic Tradition   15410.  SAINT EPHREM TODAY   159Saint Ephrem as a Representative of Asian Christianity   159Poetry as a Vehicle for Theology   160The Interpretation of Scripture within the Context of Faith   161Saint Ephrem’s Ecological Vision   164The Role of the Feminine   168Conclusion   172NOTES   175SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY   183INDEXES   195Biblical References   195Passages in Ephrem   197Syriac and Greek Writers   202Names and Subjects   204Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac Terms   208

A book to transform our thinking about theology.The Living Church