Gerasimus, Apology - extracts from pagan philosophers predicting Christ

[Roger Pearse]

Book 4 of the 5 book Apology for Christianity by Gerasimus, Abbot of
the Monastery of St. Simeon the Wonderworker outside Antioch (see
Graf, Geschichte vol. 2), contains a collection of sacro-prophane
sayings; philosophers and the like predicting Christian teachings.
Such gnomologia originate in Greek and form a genre of folklore and
witty sayings which hasn't attracted that much attention. The Arabic
versions are all unpublished.

Unfortunately I can't get hold of a copy of the Bodleian ms. of
Gerasimus (since they won't supply a microfilm and want $2,000 for
monochrome images of a 113 p. manuscript).

However this extract is available in 30 pages in a Beirut ms., of
which I have a PDF. A transcription and translation is here:
http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gerasimus_excerpt.htm

This material is public domain (not translated by me, but I purchased
the copyright), so please feel able to do whatever you like with it.

A few other collections of Arabic Christian gnomologia are also
available at

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers

A CDROM of the site is available for $38, if anyone would like to
support the process of translating stuff, from here:

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/all_the_fathers_on_cd.htm

I'm hoping to hire more Arabists to do stuff of general interest.
It's ridiculous that hardly any Arabic Christian sources exist in
English, and indeed Georg Graf's "History of Arabic Christian
Literature" doesn't either. (Although I've no idea who owns the
copyright of that -- published by the Vatican Library).

All the best,
Roger Pearse

[++]

May God continue to bless your efforts, Roger!

[jerry warner]

++ wrote:

> May God continue to bless your efforts, Roger!
>

God blesses even balognie!

[Roger Pearse]

Many thanks for the good wishes!

Roger Pearse

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