Description
Book SynopsisThe Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Tradition on the Holy Cross is a volume that combines both ancient and derived Ethiopic literature on the Cross. The work brings together all the major sources from manuscripts preserved in different monasteries and edited and translated into English. The sources include homilies by Minas bishop of Aksum, John Chrysostom, James of Sarug, as well as a number of anonymous authors, all translated from Greek during the Aksumite era. The derived literature includes works by the famous men of the pen, including the fifteenth-century Abba Giyorgis of Sägla and Emperor Zär’a Ya‘ǝqob. Poetic hymns to the Cross constitute a part of the collection, one of these being glorification of the Cross by Abba Baḥrǝy, author of several important works.
Trade ReviewThe author’s intimate familiarity with al aspects of Ethiopian Christianity as well as with the scholarly field of Ethiopian studies distinctly enhances the quality of the volume…. We should be grateful to the author for this impressive source book, which gives insight into a great number of Ethiopian beliefs and devotions related to the cross. The author shows his unique skills in conveying so much of his personal engagement with the texts to a wider readership, thus making the texts available for future scholarship. In addition to giving students and scholars a wealth of new texts, this volume also stands out as an open invitation and as a strong encouragement for further study and exploration of the religious literature and traditions of Ethiopian Christians.. Lucas van Rompay, Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 2018 The volume adds to our knowledge and understanding of these ideas. It will be welcomed and valued not only by students of Ethiopic but as a contribution more generally to our understanding of the life of the wider Church. John Binns, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2019
