The Place of the King Wherein He Dwelt: Reading Ephrem's Mariology in its Contexts

Abstract

Abstract This dissertation examines a fundamental paradox in Christianity. How can the omnipotent, omnipresent God be said to be present within Mary, mother of Jesus Christ? I pose this question of the poetry of Ephrem the Syrian. I further argue that Ephrem’s rich theological symbolism, because it is embedded in a fourth-century Roman Syrian context, is best understood by examining contemporary literature, both within Syrian Christianity and from other contemporary religious traditions. I divide the dissertation into two parts. Part One, on Ephrem himself, begins with a chapter in which I review recent important literature on Ephrem’s symbolism, consider Ephrem as a poet, and then perform a sample reading of one of his poems to illustrate his theological method. This chapter closes by articulating principles which should guide a systematic study of Ephrem’s theology. Chapter Two then performs such a reading on Ephrem’s Mariology, tracing a range of symbols that the Syrian uses to depict the mother of God, and sketching their implications. I draw chiefly on the madrashe or Hymns on the Nativity, a rich collection of songs which are largely given in Mary’s own voice. Among the symbols I find Ephrem using for Mary include the Virgin, the Prophet, and the Temple. I argue that these three symbols make particularly useful examples for comparative study. Part Two then consists of three chapters looking beyond Ephrem to his world. In Chapter Three, I situate Ephrem within earlier Syrian Christianity. Studying these authors, I note the prominent theme of the chaste Christian becoming the Temple of God and suggest that some of Ephrem’s theological symbolism makes more sense when considered in this tradition. Chapters Four and Five turn respectively to the Greek authors of late antique Roman Syria and the early rabbinic authors. Here too, although the connections are more distant, I find that various elements of Ephrem’s symbolic theology make the most sense when considered alongside the way that other traditions use the same images.