Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Liturgical language and the formation of reflectively embodied imagination as exemplified in the doxological poetry of Ephrem the Syrian

Publication ,  Journal Article
Edie, FP
Published in: International Journal of Christianity and Education
November 1, 2016

Christian Catechumens of antiquity participated bodily in a variety of deeply evocative ritual symbolic practices. At the Syrian church where Ephrem served as a deacon, they would also have spoken or sung poetic verse juxtaposing images from the biblical story to symbols and practices of the baptismal rites of initiation. Although Ephrem’s aim was primarily doxological, it also formed in participants a reflective Christian imagination, one that overlaps with but is not identical to contemporary accounts of an embodied imaginative habitus. Christians in the present day who learn to imagine like Ephrem will grow in their capacity to see God’s saving work grounded in and through seemingly ordinary experience, they will be challenged to dwell humbly in the mystery of God’s revelation, and they will cultivate resources and poetic license for discerning, naming, and participating in God’s coming Kingdom.

Duke Scholars

Published In

International Journal of Christianity and Education

DOI

EISSN

2056-998X

ISSN

2056-9971

Publication Date

November 1, 2016

Volume

20

Issue

3

Start / End Page

234 / 250

Related Subject Headings

  • 2204 Religion and Religious Studies
  • 1303 Specialist Studies in Education
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Edie, F. P. (2016). Liturgical language and the formation of reflectively embodied imagination as exemplified in the doxological poetry of Ephrem the Syrian. International Journal of Christianity and Education, 20(3), 234–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056997116656008
Edie, F. P. “Liturgical language and the formation of reflectively embodied imagination as exemplified in the doxological poetry of Ephrem the Syrian.” International Journal of Christianity and Education 20, no. 3 (November 1, 2016): 234–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056997116656008.
Edie, F. P. “Liturgical language and the formation of reflectively embodied imagination as exemplified in the doxological poetry of Ephrem the Syrian.” International Journal of Christianity and Education, vol. 20, no. 3, Nov. 2016, pp. 234–50. Scopus, doi:10.1177/2056997116656008.
Edie FP. Liturgical language and the formation of reflectively embodied imagination as exemplified in the doxological poetry of Ephrem the Syrian. International Journal of Christianity and Education. 2016 Nov 1;20(3):234–250.
Journal cover image

Published In

International Journal of Christianity and Education

DOI

EISSN

2056-998X

ISSN

2056-9971

Publication Date

November 1, 2016

Volume

20

Issue

3

Start / End Page

234 / 250

Related Subject Headings

  • 2204 Religion and Religious Studies
  • 1303 Specialist Studies in Education