The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem (Cistercian Studies) [Paperback]

Sebastian Brock (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cistercian Studies | Publication Date: January 1, 1992

Sebastian Brock is Reader in Syriac Studies in the University of Oxford, where he is also a Fellow of Wolfson College. He has written extensively on Syriac subjects and served on the translation panel which produced The Psalms: A New Translation for Worship (1977). He is a member of the Editorial Board of Sobornost/Eastern Churches Review, and is curator of the Mingana Collection of Manuscripts at the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham. Before taking up his present position, Dr. Brock taught in the Department of Theology at the University of Birmingham and in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Cambridge.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Cistercian Publications c/o Liturgical Press; Revised edition (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879076240
• ISBN-13: 978-0879076245
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry and wisdom, October 23, 2002

By 

Extollager (Mayville, ND United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem (Cistercian Studies) (Paperback)

I've read this book twice, and have had the pleasure of introducing a number of people to the wonderful hymns of St. Ephrem. Here is an introduction to much more than the writings of an obscure ancient poet; the book is a primer in ancient Christian spirituality (perhaps just occasionally with some anachronistically modern "spirituality"; for that, maybe the book should get 4 1/2 stars). Great themes: paradox, e.g. God hidden and revealed in the Incarnation; the "two witnesses" of Scripture and nature; spirituality, sacrament, and symbolism; patterns of complementarity and contrast in the sacred scriptures; role of the intellect in the life of faith; theosis and exchange, etc. If you admire the writings of Dante, George MacDonald, Charles Williams or C. S. Lewis, you will find a true forbear of theirs here. British composer Sir John Tavener has drawn on Ephrem for texts of at least three of his compositions, including the superlative "Thunder Entered Her" of 1990. I included some of Ephrem's verse in a course and after that, students were coming by my office to tell about how moved by or interested in Ephrem, etc. they found themselves to be. I also recommend Brock's book of translations, HYMNS ON PARADISE. Buy both, and read them. They help Christians to contemplate the Mysteries.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entryway into a new world of Christianity, April 11, 2007

By 

Paul Stevenson "Linguist" (Duhok, Iraq) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Luminous Eye: The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem (Cistercian Studies) (Paperback)

This book provides an accessible entryway into the fascinating and sometimes mystifying world of early Christian theology, symbolism and poetry. No author could be better qualified to write it than Sebastian Brock, one of the greatest living scholars of the Syriac language and literature. The book concentrates on the works of the greatest theologian-poet of the Syriac language, Ephrem of Nisibis (ca. 306-373 CE).

Ephrem is well known for his fluid and dynamic use of a wide range of symbols and metaphors as he expounded his faith. Most of his poems were written for the common people of his time, specifically, for use during church services. Thus, they were not designed to be esoteric, but rather artful and memorable. However, his view of the spiritual universe was so different from any modern western view that we moderns can easily get lost without a guidebook such as this one.

Brock helps us understand Ephrem's use of paradox, symbols and the way Ephrem deliberately moves around the periphery of certain concepts while avoiding careful definition of them. Ephrem's symbols come from ancient Mesopotamian literature, from Jewish traditions and from Scripture itself. A chapter each is devoted to the key images of the "robe of glory," the "medicine of life" and the "bridal chamber of the heart." Many other symbols and concepts are dealt with, including: the hidden and the revealed, the one and the many, historical and sacred time, free will, the divinity as fire, the pearl and the lance.

After surveying Ephrem's symbolic world, Brock discusses several other important issues. In chapter 8, he explains the kind of proto-monastic movement of which Ephrem was a part (sons/daughters of the covenant). In chapter 9, he discusses Ephrem's relation to contemporary Church Fathers who wrote in Greek (while Semitic and Hellenistic were poles on a continuum, they were not a sharply distinguished dichotomy). Finally, in chapter 10, he discusses how Ephrem and his writings are relevant today (you might be surprised to see that a 4th century Christian churchman felt that women had an important role to play in the liturgy of the Church).

If after reading this little volume you want to read a whole cycle of Ephrem's poems, I highly recommend St. Ephrem the Syrian: Hymns On Paradise, introduced and translated by Sebastian Brock. If you are ready for a more thorough introduction to Syriac Christianity, Symbols Of Church And Kingdom: A Study In Early Syriac Tradition, by Robert Murray, is essential reading.

(Review completely rewritten, and greatly expanded, June 20, 2009)