Eastern christianity: evidence and history

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In this topic we will list an examine the evidence of eastern Christianity (Syriac Christianity):

evidence include:
  • Biblical/Syriac manuscripts
  • Christian/Syriac works and writers
  • church father’s quotations about Syriac/eastern Christianity
 
**Biblical/Syriac manuscripts: **

Syriac Sinaiticus(Syr s):
Philip Wesley Comfort, in his book Essential Guide to Bible Versions writes:
"Syrian Sinaiticus was discovered by Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson in the monastery of St. Cathrine’s in 1892. this manuscript dated in the forth century, is the earliest extant document of the Old Syriac trasnlation.
ref: Comfort, Philip Wesley. Essential guide to Bible versions. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House, 2000. Print. Page 128
the same scholar in the book Encountering the Manuscripts writes:
"Scholars had thought that the form of the text reflected in … Syriac Sinaiticus came from the late second century because of their perceived association with the Diatessaron.
ref: Comfort, Philip Wesley. Encountering the Manuscripts An Introduction to New Testament Paleography & Textual Criticism. New York: B&H Group, 2005. Print. Page 91
what does this early manuscript contain? Mircea Eliade professor of history at the University of Chicago writes: The fourth-century Syriac Sinaiticus contains the Gospels Matthew-Mark- Luke-John (in the usual sequence) (ref: The Encyclopedia of religion, Page 199)
 
Biblical/Syriac manuscripts:

Curetonian Gospels (syr cur)

Sebastian P. Brock “the foremost and most influential academic in the field of Syriac language today(wiki)” in the Book: The Bible in the Syriac tradition writes:
The Curetonian manuscript come from the Syrian Monastery in the Nitrian Desert and only a few years ago a missing leaf from the manuscript (now in London, Add. 14451) was discovered.
This manuscript contains all four canonical gospels and goes back to the 5th century.

photograph:
 
Biblical/Syriac manuscripts:

Vatican Syriac Mss list

Vatican Syriac 59 , dates to 13th century
Vatican Syriac 68 , dates to 15th century
Vatican Syriac 83 , dates to 16th century
Vatican Syriac 92 , dates to 9th century
Vatican Syriac 93 , dates to 9th century
Vatican Syriac 110 , dates to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 111 , dates to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 112 , dates to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 113 , dates to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 114 , dates to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 117 , dates to 12th century
Vatican Syriac 120 , dates to to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 124 , dates to 14th century
Vatican Syriac 125
Vatican Syriac 135 , dates to 7th century
Vatican Syriac 140 , dates to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 141
Vatican Syriac 147 , dates to 13th century
Vatican Syriac 151 , dates to 17th century
Vatican Syriac 157 , dates to 10th century
Vatican Syriac 161
Vatican Syriac 163 , dates to 7th century
Vatican Syriac 165 , dates to 17th century
Vatican Syriac 189 , dates to 11th century
Vatican Syriac 191 , dates to 17th century
Vatican Syriac 252 , dates to to 6th century
Vatican Syriac 283 , dates to 9th century
Vatican Syriac 367
Vatican Syriac 586 , dates to 13th century

Borgia Syriac Ms 13, one of the Vatican syr mss, in the Brigham Young University:
 
In this topic we will list an examine the evidence of eastern Christianity (Syriac Christianity):
Click to expand...
evidence include:
Click to expand...
Code: 
* Biblical/Syriac manuscripts
* Christian/Syriac works and writers
* church father's quotations about Syriac/eastern Christianity
Click to expand...
Hi,

Thanks for this thread! 🙂

For anyone interested in reading an English translation of the Old Syriac Gospels (Sinaiticus and Curetonianus manuscripts), I recommend this translation:

Volume 1: Matthew and Mark
Volume 2: Luke and John

You can read it online at Google books:

Volume 1: Matthew and Mark (unfortunately, Matthew is partially cut off, as well as, all of Mark)
Volume 2: Luke and John

God bless,

Rony
 
In these Gospels, ronyodish, are there any major textual differences between them and the usually received Greek text?
 
In these Gospels, ronyodish, are there any major textual differences between them and the usually received Greek text?
Click to expand...
Some differences are more glaring than others, but I haven’t encountered any major significant difference that I would lose sleep over! 😃

There are differences not just between the Old Syriac versus the received Greek text, but also differences between the Old Syriac versus the Peshitta (and Peshitto): The standard and official Syriac Bible of the Syriac-speaking Churches. There are even differences between the two Old Syriac manuscripts: Sinaiticus versus Curetonianus!

An interesting example of a difference between the Old Syriac versus the Greek Textus Receptus is in Matt. 19:12, where the Greek has Eunuchs, but the Old Syriac has Believers:

Greek: “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”

Old Syriac (S and C): “For there are believers who were believers from their mother’s womb; there are believers whom men made (believers), and there are (some) who made themselves believers because of the kingdom of heaven. He who has the strength to endure, let him endure.”

For the above example, and other examples, there is an attempt at an explanation given in the book that I referenced earlier, in section 2.5.2.

God bless,

Rony
 
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