Maronite Meditations

The arguments given for the Q hypothesis (that Ss Matthew and Luke used a document which St Mark probably did not have) is not so firmly grounded as assumed. Certainly, I would say, the case for Q has to be made out with strong arguments as to why Matthew or Luke cannot have had the other’s Gospel. If that was so, there is no need for the Q hypothesis. But as we shall see, there are in fact severa...

Many academics assert that the names of the Gospels are not originals, and the evangelists were anonymous. I suggest this goes far beyond the evidence. The Gospels were produced in a specific historical context: the early Church. They are the documents of the early Church, in a very real sense. I am not even sure that contemporary ideas of anonymity apply here: the Gospels were written within the...

Prof Bart Ehrman dogmatically states as a fact that the books of the New Testament were written “to different communities …” We have recently seen that some, at least, of the evidence presented for this theory could be described as “quiteweak.” But many of the epistles were anciently known as the catholic epistles, that is, the letters written to all churches. We examine and critique some of Ehrma...

We continue last week's critique of Ashton's argument that there was a "Johannine community" for which the Gospel was written (as opposed to for all Christians." We explore, along the way, the "fallacy of the fatal possibility," the invalid argument that a thesis must be wrong because another thesis could be right.

We consider a question which most people may not realise is contentious: the assertion that the Gospel of St John was theproduct of a so-called “Johannine Community.” I consider what the late John Ashton said about it in the second edition of his Understanding the Fourth Gospel , because there he self-consciously attempted to rise to recent challenges against that theory. In my treatment, I am aim...

For the lecture notes: https://www.fryuhanna.com/2026/05/05/maronite-meditation-74-internal-evidence-for-the-authorship-of-the-gospel-according-to-st-john/ We continue with our examination of how the late George Beasley-Murray handled the authorship of the Gospel of St John. Last week we saw what he made of the external evidence, that is, the testimony of ancient writers about St John and the Four...

For the lecture notes: https://www.fryuhanna.com/2026/04/29/maronite-meditation-73-did-st-john-write-his-gospel-external-evidence/ We shall begin to examine the evidence around the authorship of the Gospel of St John. We now take one manageable portion, an argument made by George Beasley-Murray, who wrote the commentary for this Gospel in the “Word Biblical Commentary” series in 1991. From what I...

The lecture notes are at: https://www.fryuhanna.com/2026/04/22/maronite-meditation-72-the-date-of-the-epistle-of-st-jude/ It is often asserted that the very earliest Books of the New Testament are the letters of Saint Paul, and in particular either his first Epistle to the Thessalonians or his Epistle to the Galatians. This inclines towards a purported reconstruction of an evolving Christianity, w...

See fryuhanna.com for the text https://www.fryuhanna.com/2026/04/15/maronite-meditation-71-contemporary-scholars-on-luke-2/ We are going to commence by clearing the ground. We will look at how Scripture is read according to what I call the “Bible studies establishment,” that is, the method taught in universities today. And when we see where and why that sometimes makes great contributions to our u...

Had the monks of the monastery of St Maroun beensupporting Patriarch Acacius against the Pope as some suggest? That may be the impression which Pope Hormisdas had. One would think that he could not have been utterly unjustified, but the fact that the monks were attacked by Monophysites indicates that they were sincere in their Chalcedonian confession. A middle path is possible: it could be that th...

We examine the further three letters of 517-520: first, from Pope Hormisdas to the Monks of St Maroun, from those monks and others to the bishops of Syria, and from the priests of Antioch and the monastery of St Maroun to the Patriarch John II. They give us a firm foundation for Maronite history history but many of the details are still shrouded in darkness.

We study the letter which the Monks of St Maroun and other monks wrote to Pope Hormisdas in 517, subsequent to the massacre of about 350 monks by Monophysite s(anti-Chalcedonians). It shows that the Maronite monks were well and truly prominent within 70 years of the foundation of their monastery. It also provides evidence of their acknowledgement of the pre-eminent position of the Pope, and how th...

We go more deeply into the history of the monastery of St Maroun. It is interesting to examine what we can know about it, and how we know. In the end, we see that it must have been founded in 452 as a bulwark teaching the doctrine of the Council of Chalcedon, and destroyed by the year 956.

We examine the evidence of Procopius, and Abu l-Fida, which taken together, show that it was almost certainly on the Orontes River, near Emesa and Hama. But we also examine some of the other ideas floating around, and critique them where appropriate. I forgot to mention that the Monastery of St Maroun is mentioned in the monks' letter to the Pope of 517 - further evidence that the Monastery pr...

We examine the evidence for St Simeon's relation with the Maronites, and close with a summary of Maronite history so far.

We examine a critique of Theodoret's brief biography of St Maroun, and commence a related enquiry into the life of St Symeon (Simon) the Stylite.

We examine the letter of St John Chrysostom to St Maroun: a short but beautiful letter with its statement: "No distance can weaken the look of love." We also deal with Moosa's assertions that this letter was not addressed to St Maroun, patron of the Maronite Church.

We study what is known of St Maroun, his actions, age at death, and the significance of the similarity of his life, as reported, to that of St Anthony of Egypt.

We study the basic texts about early and medieval Maronite history, and of his life.

We look at Christian Life in Antioch, not least how Scripture was read, i.e. using typology.

We examine what is known of the Divine Liturgy in Antioch at the time when St Maroun is living.

We examine the life of St John Chrysostom, and explore his book "On the Priesthood." We note his letter to St Maroun, but we explore that in the forthcoming programme on the life of St Maroun.

The fact that the bishops were successors to the apostles explains why the episcopate did not develop to its fullest inJerusalem. Although St James the Apostle was what we would consider bishop of Jerusalem, St Peter was possibly still alive in the year 66 when the Jewish rebellion broke out. Certainly, St John was still alive, and it is possible that other apostles also lived. Antioch, which had...

We study the great saint's Epistle to the Ephesians.

We examine the deep work of St Theophilus of Antioch, its bishop from about 169 until perhaps 188. He was the first known to have used the term "Trinity". He defended the faith in the only surviving work, a rich volume in three books which shows the profundity of the faith, and the development of its theosophy, theology, and understanding of scripture, and the inspiration of what we now...