2021.1.1 | Nathan Witkamp. Tradition and Innovation: Baptismal Rite and Mystagogy in Theodore of Mopsuestia and Narsai of Nisibis. Supplements to Vigiliae Chrisitanae 149. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2018. ISBN 9789004377851.
Review by Sofia Puchkova, KU Leuven.
The book of Nathan Witkamp, a research fellow of the Netherlands Centre for Patristic Research, presents the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the baptismal rite and mystagogy in the Catechetical Homilies of Theodore of Mopsuestia and in the 21 and 22 memre of Narsai of Nisibis. Challenging the generally accepted view that Narsai had been primarily and significantly influenced by Theodore to the extent that up till now he was regarded as a mere copyist of his teacher, Witkamp demonstrates Narsai’s creativity in the use of Theodore’s material and of the sources of the East Syrian liturgical tradition.
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Biblical and Early Christian Studies 