The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2399 page)
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Authors: John Bowker
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Synergistic controversy
(on the relation between God's will and human freedom):
(on the relation between God's will and human freedom):
Synod
(Gk.). A Christian church gathering for doctrinal and administrative purposes, constituted in many different ways in the different churches.
Synod of Dort
(conference to prepare doctrine for Protestant Church):
(conference to prepare doctrine for Protestant Church):
Synoptic Gospels
.
.
The three
gospels
of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so-called because their texts can be printed for comparison in a three-column ‘synopsis’. The gospels share much of their subject-matter, and tell their stories in the same order and in many of the same words. The ‘synoptic problem’ is solved when these facts are accounted for. The most widely accepted solution (the ‘two-document hypothesis’) is that Mark is the earliest of the three and was used by both Matthew and Luke and that the additional matter common to Matthew and Luke was taken by them from a source
Q
. Material peculiar to Matthew or to Luke is usually called ‘M’ and ‘L’ respectively.
gospels
of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so-called because their texts can be printed for comparison in a three-column ‘synopsis’. The gospels share much of their subject-matter, and tell their stories in the same order and in many of the same words. The ‘synoptic problem’ is solved when these facts are accounted for. The most widely accepted solution (the ‘two-document hypothesis’) is that Mark is the earliest of the three and was used by both Matthew and Luke and that the additional matter common to Matthew and Luke was taken by them from a source
Q
. Material peculiar to Matthew or to Luke is usually called ‘M’ and ‘L’ respectively.
Syrian churches
.
.
The churches whose traditional liturgical language is Syriac. The Syriac-speaking area in the ancient world included ‘Syria’, but its earliest and most important ecclesiastical centres were N. Mesopotamia (modern SE Turkey and N. Iraq) and Persia. Recently there has been a movement among these Syrian Christians to call themselves ‘Assyrians’ (but see
ASSYRIAN CHURCH
). All these churches share the heritage of Syriac literature before the 5th cent., e.g. the Peshitta Bible and works of
Ephrem
. After
Chalcedon
their traditions gradually diverged.
The Syrian Orthodox Church descends from the
Monophysite
movement in the patriarchate of
Antioch
. The name Jacobites is sometimes used in the West. The doctrinal position of the Syrian Orthodox is the same as that of the other
Oriental Orthodox churches
.
The Syrian Catholic Church is the
Uniat
body which came into existence from Roman Catholic conversions among the Syrian Orthodox. The hierarchy dates back to 1738. The present seat of the patriarch is Beirut. Their membership in the Middle East is
c.
80,000, with further churches in N. and S. America.
The
Maronite
Church, a Catholic body, has had a separate existence from the Syrian Orthodox since the Middle Ages.
The Syro-Malankara Church is the product of a union with Rome among a group of Syrian Orthodox in India. They number
c.
200,000, with their own metropolitan of Trivandrum.
The
Church
of the East is the descendant of the ancient Syriac-speaking church of Persia. It is more commonly known as the
Nestorian
or
Assyrian Church
; but none of these names is without its drawbacks. Total membership does not exceed
c.
50,000.
The Syro-Malabar Church is the largest body of
Malabar Christians
. They have been Catholic since the time of Portuguese rule in India in the 16th cent. Relations with Rome were, however, often troubled until the church obtained its own hierarchy of native bishops in 1923. The liturgy is a slightly revised form of
Addai
and Mari, now celebrated in the vernacular Malayalam.
The Chaldean Church is the Uniat body deriving from the Church of the East. Its numbers are also probably less than 50,000.
ASSYRIAN CHURCH
). All these churches share the heritage of Syriac literature before the 5th cent., e.g. the Peshitta Bible and works of
Ephrem
. After
Chalcedon
their traditions gradually diverged.
The Syrian Orthodox Church descends from the
Monophysite
movement in the patriarchate of
Antioch
. The name Jacobites is sometimes used in the West. The doctrinal position of the Syrian Orthodox is the same as that of the other
Oriental Orthodox churches
.
The Syrian Catholic Church is the
Uniat
body which came into existence from Roman Catholic conversions among the Syrian Orthodox. The hierarchy dates back to 1738. The present seat of the patriarch is Beirut. Their membership in the Middle East is
c.
80,000, with further churches in N. and S. America.
The
Maronite
Church, a Catholic body, has had a separate existence from the Syrian Orthodox since the Middle Ages.
The Syro-Malankara Church is the product of a union with Rome among a group of Syrian Orthodox in India. They number
c.
200,000, with their own metropolitan of Trivandrum.
The
Church
of the East is the descendant of the ancient Syriac-speaking church of Persia. It is more commonly known as the
Nestorian
or
Assyrian Church
; but none of these names is without its drawbacks. Total membership does not exceed
c.
50,000.
The Syro-Malabar Church is the largest body of
Malabar Christians
. They have been Catholic since the time of Portuguese rule in India in the 16th cent. Relations with Rome were, however, often troubled until the church obtained its own hierarchy of native bishops in 1923. The liturgy is a slightly revised form of
Addai
and Mari, now celebrated in the vernacular Malayalam.
The Chaldean Church is the Uniat body deriving from the Church of the East. Its numbers are also probably less than 50,000.
T
Ta‘anit
.
.
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