In the late second century, more formal scholarly approaches to biblical interpretation developed in the Eastern church beginning with the School of Alexandria in Egypt. The School of Alexandria was known for using an allegorical method of exegesis. It was founded by Pantaenus, who was followed by more famous interpreters such as Clement and Origen.
Though not a formal school like Alexandria, the a network of scholars emerged in Syria in the fourth century. Based in Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey), these men rejected the Alexandrian approach in favor of a more literal interpretation of the Bible. They also were concerned with determining the context of particular books, with the time and situation in which they were written. An important early leader was Diodore of Tarsus, who taught the most famous scholars in the Antiochene tradition, Theodore of Mopsuestia, John Chrysostom, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Also associated with Antioch were scholars labeled heretics, such as Arius and Nestorius (another student of Diodore).
Ephraim the SyrianSee a 13th century icon of Ephraim Not all of the early church fathers were Greek or Latin; the Oriental Fathers are less known. The Oriental Fathers lived in the eastern part of the Roman Empire or just beyond its borders. They spoke Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, Arabic, and Ethiopic. One of the Oriental Fathers, Ephraim (Ephrem) the Syrian, was a favorite of John Wesley. Ephraim (c. 306-373) was a poet-theologian from the ancient kingdom of Osrhoene, whose capital was Edessa (now Urfa, Turkey). A contemporary of Athanasius, Ephraim is considered to be the father of the Syrian church at Edessa. He "worked as a catechetical teacher, predominantly with women. The evidence for this comes from a verse panegyric by Jacob of Serugh, ... which describes Ephraim as "a second Moses for women folk." In his wisdom, he saw that it was appropriate for them to sing, and he composed hymns specifically for them."1 Ephraim was born in Nisibis, near the border of Persia. He was instructed in Christianity by James, the bishop of Nisibis, who was an ascetic. Ephraim became a monk and taught in Nisibis until it was attacked and conquered by Persia in 363. Ephraim and many other Christians moved to Edessa, where he taught until his death. Ephraim's approach to biblical interpretation, which became a hallmark of the School of Edessa, was poetic. He also wrote hymns, sermons, and prose commentaries on the Old Testament and the Epistles of St. Paul. He annotated the Diatessaron, a compilation of the four gospels done by Tatian in the second century. The founder of Methodism called Ephraim "the man of a broken heart." He lived at a time of the bitter Arian controversy and when he had to spend the last ten years of his life in Edessa, he found himself surrounded by fierce exponents of conflicting heresies and also gave himself to the victims of famine, rather as the octogenarian Wesley went begging for the poor in the London snow. He was by nature a man at peace whose life was above all, with God ...."2 1 Hannah M. Hunt, "The Tears of the Sinful Woman: A Theology of Redemption in the Homilies of St. Ephraim and His Followers," Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies [http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/] Vol. 1, No. 2 (July 1998), Par. 6. She cites Sebastian Brock 1990: 22-4. 2 Gordon Wakefield, "John Wesley and Ephraim Syrus," Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies [http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/] Vol. 1, No. 2 (July 1998), Par. 26. |
The School of Antioch influenced two other famous schools, that existed at the edge of or beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire: Edessa and Nisibis. These two Mesopotamian schools developed their own unique approach to scriptural interpretation called "Verse homily," a form poetic biblical interpretation. Their approach approach was influenced by earlier work of Ephraim the Syrian and Theodore of Mopsuestia of Antioch.
Three of the most famous theologians who used verse homily were Ephraim (c. 306-373), Narsai, and Jacob of Serugh (c. 450-521).
Narsai was first the head of the theological school at Edessa; later he went to Nisibis. Jacob of Serugh was a younger contemporary of Narsai who attended the School of Edessa.
No longer did art have to be "underground" during the Christian Empire. For the first time, basilicas (churches whose design was adapted from that of Roman secular basilicas) were built for Christian worship. Inside the basilicas, artists did paintings and mosaics of biblical stories that could be viewed publicly. Learn about art and architecture during this time period.
1. Read some excerpts from the study book to explore the topic of early Christian interpretation of the scripture in more depth:
2. Read Paul's allegorical interpretation of story of Sarah and Isaac and Hagar and Ishmael.
3. Read Clement of Alexandria's allegorical interpretation of the story of the Prodigal Son.
4. Read "On the Sinful Woman," a homily by Ephraim of Syria
5. Here are some other web sites of interest:
Disclaimer: Some links jump to outside sites for further information on the Bible, interpretations, the canon, translations, manuscripts, resources, and other perspectives. Links do not constitute an endorsement by the Women's Division of the information on other web sites. External web sites offer us diverse perspectives; afford us an opportunity to compare them to United Methodist positions; and, encourage us to critically analyze the issues raised by The Bible: the Book that Bridges the Millennia web pages.
Next Page: Art and the Bible: 313-476
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