Sidney H. Griffith
Sidney H. Griffith (born 1938) is a professor of Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America.[1] His main areas of interest are Arabic Christianity, Syriac monasticism, medieval Christian-Muslim encounters and ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.[2]
Career
Griffith began his career when he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1965. He continued his studies and was awarded a licentiate in theology in 1967 from the Catholic University of America. In 1977, he graduated with a Ph.D. from the same university.[3] The subject of the thesis was Syriac and Medieval Arabic. He immediately assumed teaching duties, and in 1984 rose to director of the university's Graduate Program in Early Christian Studies. During his career, he has been a visiting professor or fellow at, among other institutions, The Institute for Advanced Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Georgetown University. Furthermore, he has been president of three separate professional societies in his field. He has published prolifically on Syriac Christianity and Christian Arabs.[1][4]
His main areas of interest are Arabic Christianity, Syriac monasticism, medieval Christian-Muslim encounters and ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.[2] He serves on the advisory board of the journal Collectanea Christiana Orientalia,[5] and gives guest lectures at prestigious institutions.[1][6]
Awards
In 2009, Griffith was awarded a Rumi Peace Award for his efforts in interfaith dialogue.[7] The same year, his book The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Muslims and Christians in the World of Islam was awarded the Albert C. Outler Prize for the best book on ecumenical church history by the American Society of Church History.[8][9] The book has been widely and approvingly reviewed.[10]
Works
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1986). "Ephraem, the Deacon of Edessa, and the Church of the Empire". Diakonia: Studies in Honor of Robert T. Meyer. Washington: CUA Press. pp. 25–52.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1987). "Ephraem the Syrian's Hymns Against Julian: Meditations on History and Imperial Power". Vigiliae Christianae. 41 (3): 238–266.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1987). "Dionysius bar Salibi on the Muslims". IV Symposium Syriacum 1984. Roma: Pontificium Institutum Studiorum Orientalium. pp. 353–365.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1988). "Jews and Muslims in Christian Syriac and Arabic Texts of the Ninth Century". Jewish History. 3 (1): 65–94.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1990). "Images of Ephraem: The Syrian Holy Man and His Church". Traditio. 45 (1989-1990): 7–33.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1997). "From Aramaic to Arabic: The Languages of the Monasteries of Palestine in the Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 51: 11–31.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1997). Faith Adoring the Mystery: Reading the Bible with St. Ephraem the Syrian. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (1998). "A Spiritual Father for the Whole Church: The Universal Appeal of St. Ephraem the Syrian" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 1 (2): 197–220.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2000). "Disputing with Islam in Syriac: The Case of the Monk of Bêt Halê and a Muslim Emir" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 3 (1): 29–54.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2002). "Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World: Mani, Bar Daysan, and Ephraem, the Struggle for Allegiance on the Aramean Frontier". Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. 2: 5–20.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2003). "The Doctrina Addai as a Paradigm of Christian Thought in Edessa in the Fifth Century" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 6 (2): 269–292.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2005). "Answering the Call of the Minaret: Christian Apologetics in the World of Islam". Redefining Christian Identity: Cultural Interaction in the Middle East Since the Rise of Islam. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. pp. 91–126.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2006). "St. Ephraem, Bar Daysān and the Clash of Madrāshê in Aram: Readings in St. Ephraem's Hymni contra Haereses". The Harp: A Review of Syriac and Oriental Studies. 21: 447–472.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2008). The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2008). "John of Damascus and the Church in Syria in the Umayyad Era: The Intellectual and Cultural Milieu of Orthodox Christians in the World of Islam" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 11 (2): 207–237.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2010). "The Syriac-Speaking Churches and the Muslims in the Medinan era of Muḥammmad and the Four Caliphs". Syriac Churches Encountering Islam: Past Experiences and Future Perspectives. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 14–46.
- Griffith, Sidney H. (2020). "Denominationalism in Fourth-Century Syria: Readings in Saint Ephraem's Hymns against Heresies, Madrāshê 22–24". The Garb of Being: Embodiment and the Pursuit of Holiness in Late Ancient Christianity. New York: Fordham University Press. pp. 79–100.
References
- ^ a b c "The Père Marquette Lecture in Theology". Marquette University Press. 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ a b "Sidney H. Griffith, S.T. (Ph.D., The Catholic University of America)". The Catholic University of America. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ https://semitics.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/griffith-sidney/index.html
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ "Researchers". Collectanea Christiana Orientalia. 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ Eve Shabto (February 4, 2009). "Guest Lecturer Gives Insight Into 10th-Century Baghdad". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ "2009 RUMI Peace and Dialogue Awards". The Rumi Forum. October 27, 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ "Grants and Prizes". The American Society of Church History. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ "CUA Professor Wins Award for Contributions to Muslim/Christian Dialogue". The Catholic University of America. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- ^ See for instance:
- David Bertaina (December 2010). "The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam. By Sidney H. Griffith". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 78 (4): 1197–1200. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfq068. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- John Flannery (July 2009). "The Church in the shadow of the Mosque. Christians and Muslims in the world of Islam. By Sidney H. Griffith". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 60 (3): 558–559. doi:10.1017/S0022046909008264. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
- Brian A. Catlos (2009). "The Church in the shadow of the Mosque. Christians and Muslims in the world of Islam. By Sidney H. Griffith". Religious Studies Review. 35 (2): 134–135. doi:10.1111/j.1748-0922.2009.01346_1.x.
- Kenneth Baxter Wolf (2009). "Sidney H. Griffith. The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam. (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World". The American Historical Review. 114 (1): 251–252. doi:10.1086/ahr.114.1.251. JSTOR 30223764.