Oriental and Eastern Orthodox: questions

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One useful task that could be attempted at some point...is to create a comprehensive bibliography of materials about Oriental Orthodoxy in English.

It is a serious challenge but I might create an online database so that at least it could be begun.

Antony, I think you mentioned that you were interested in the approach to the scriptures by early writers, and one Oriental Orthodox example is St Philoxenus of Mabbugh. He wrote several spiritual works which I have republished, but he also set about creating a new Syriac edition of the Bible, and he also produced Commentaries on some parts of the Scripture.

None of these have survived complete. But I note that there are several modern studies.

The Matthew-Luke commentary of Philoxenus : text translation & critical analysis / Douglas J. Fox.

The Old Testament Quotations of Philoxenus of Mabbug. Subs. 84.

Philoxenus of Mabbug. Fragments of the Commentary on Matthew and Luke. Syr. 171.

A Letter of Philoxenus of Mabbug, sent to a Novice. Edited by Gunnar Olinder. [Syriac text, with English translation.]

Canons. Syr. & Fr. In : Nau (F.) Docteur ès sciences mathématiques. Concile d?Antioche, etc. 1909. 8?.

Kitchen, Robert Ardelle. The development of the status of perfection in early Syriac asceticism with special reference to the Liber Graduum and Philoxenus of Mabbug.

The Discourses of Philoxenus, Bishop of Mabôgh, A.D. 485-519. Edited from Syriac manuscripts ... with an English translation by E. A. W. Budge. Syriac & Eng.

The letter of Mar Philoxenus of Mabbūg sent by him to Abi ?Afr, military governor of Ḥirta of Nu?mān, in which is contained the story of the accursed and anathematised Nestorians. [With part of the Syriac text.]

Letter of Mar Xenaias of Mabûg to Abraham and Orestes, presbyters of Edessa, concerning Stephen Bar Sudaili to Edessene. Syr. and Eng.

The four minor Catholic Epistles, in the Syriac of the original Philoxenian version made in the sixth century by Polycarpus the Chorepiscopus, etc.
In: London.-Text and Translation Society. Remnants of the later Syriac Versions of the Bible. pt. 1. 1909. 8?.

HALLEUX, André de. Philoxène de Mabbog, sa vie, ses écrits, sa théologie. (OK this one is French)

Chesnut, Roberta C. Three monophysite christologies : Severus of Antioch, Philoxenus of Mabbug and Jacob of Sarug / by Roberta C. Chesnut. (I am hoping to republish this)

Now there are plenty of books there that I wouldn't mind having. But I just wanted to suggest that even in the case of a pretty much unknown figure in the West (outside of specialist interest) there is still a lot of material in terms of primary texts in translation, and modern studies.

The bibliography of works on St Severus is much larger and can be found here - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cecs.acu.edu.au/severusresearch.htm">http://www.cecs.acu.edu.au/severusresearch.htm</a><!-- m --> though this includes works in languages other than English.

So I am not so sure that the size of my own small library is not rather due to my not having enough cash, and not digging deep enough. Coptic materials are thinner, but I know two Coptic scholars working in the field who are producing academic materials. One is Dr Youhanna Youssef, and I am working on a volume of his collected papers. You can see that some of his papers are listed on the Severus bibliography.

Best wishes

Peter