"The Pozzi Gospels, completed by Hakob Jughayets'i, includes an extraordinary series of portraits, narrative miniatures and marginal figures. Copied and illuminated under the protection of a church in the city of Keghi (modern Kigi, fifty miles south-west of Erzurum), Hakob's sparkling, vibrant palette, expressive wide-eyed figures, and iconographic inventiveness are at their most distinctive in this early work." "This is the first monograph to trace Hakob's development from his beginnings in Armenia in the 1580s to his later works in Safavid Persia, at Isfahan, in 1607 and 1610. The study constructs Hakob's biography, explores his artistic development, and evaluates his career within the context of late 16th-century Armenian politics, culture and devotion. Illustrated with reproductions of miniatures produced at every stage of his career, it reveals the singular artistic vision of Hakob himself and the dynamism of contemporary Armenian illumination."--BOOK JACKET.

The problem of oral tradition is well known, for without some theory of this medium no history of Jesus would be possible. This study examines Mark 4.1-34 in the light of three distinctive models of orality: Rudolf Bultmann's form-critical method, B. Gerhardsson's 'Memory and Manuscript' theory and the recent contribution of W. Kelber. The form-critically separate units in the test (allegory, parables and aphorisms) are examined on the basis of their attestation in various documents (Mark, Q, Thomas) to determine whether independent versions of these sayings can be identified and what they tell us about the oral phase and Jesus. This analysis suggests that the criteria for authenticity of 'distinctiveness' and 'multiple attestation' need to be re-examined in light of the folkloric understanding of orality.

The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research provides up-to-date discussions of every major aspect of New Testament textual criticism. Written by internationally acknowledged experts, the twenty-four essays evaluate all significant advances in the field since the 1950s.

The Art of Armenia offers a sweeping survey of the arts of Armenia from antiquity to the eighteenth century C.E., addressing a range of media including architecture, sculpture, works in metal, wood, and ivory, manuscript illumination, and ceramic arts.

Explore the sweeping saga of God’s people and their sacred journey. Panorama of the Old Testament surveys the variety of books found in the Old Testament. Uncover interwoven themes, the background of familiar characters and God’s overall plan of salvation. A perfect way to begin a great adventure or step back and see where you have been in your study of the Bible.

The various versions of the Infancy Gospels illustrate how stories about the Virgin and Child lend themselves to be told and retold - much like the stories in the canonical Gospels. This first translation of the full text of the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy, itself derived from a sixth-century Syriac text that no longer exists, provides two variants of the famous narrative and several recensions or ancient editions. Stories about Jesus, many of them unique to this gospel, are included to show how he exercised his sovereign and divine will even as a child. This edition also contains three early Armenian versions of the Protevangelium of James, which with other ancient sources dependent on it (like the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew) constitute the basic tradition in the formation of the later Infancy Gospels. These writings are our earliest sources about the parents of the Virgin Mary (Joachim and Anne) and her miraculous birth. They also form the basis for the dogma of her Immaculate Conception and perpetual virginity after the birth of Jesus, and lay the ground for certain of the Marian feasts celebrated since the fourth century. Terian's engaging introduction and annotation of the texts place this rare document clearly in its cultural and historical context and provide extensive references to the surrounding textual tradition. These extraordinary stories will appeal to all with an interest in the early church.