Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact or interaction with supernatural agencies such as spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the "will of the universe".
Ephrem the Syrian, also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint Ephraim, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, was a prominent Christian theologian and writer who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity. He was born in Nisibis, served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa.
Thomas the Apostle, also known as Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "Doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ when he was told of it ; he later confessed his faith on seeing the places where the wounds had healed on the holy body of Jesus after the Crucifixion of Jesus. While it is often assumed he touched the wounds in art and poetry, the scriptures do not say that he touched the wounds, merely that Jesus invited him to do so, with it being unclear if he actually felt them.
Jacob of Serugh, also called Jacob of Sarug or Mar Jacob, was one of the foremost Syriac poet-theologians, perhaps only second in stature to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as an ecclesiastical official in Suruç, located in modern-day Turkey. He would finally become a bishop near the end of his life in 519. He belonged to a Miaphysite or Non-Chalcedonian Christianity, although he was fairly moderate compared to a number of his contemporaries.
Bibliomancy is the use of books in divination. The use of sacred books for "magical medicine", for removing negative entities, or for divination is widespread in many religions of the world.
The Clementine literature is a late antique third-century Christian romance or "novel" containing a fictitious account of the conversion of Clement of Rome to Christianity, his subsequent life and travels with the apostle Peter and an account of how they became traveling companions, Peter's discourses, and finally Clement's family history and eventual reunion with his family. To reflect the pseudonymous nature of the authorship, the author is sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Clement. In all likelihood, the original text went by the name of Periodoi Petrou or Circuits of Peter; sometimes historians refer to it as the "Basic Writing" or "Grundschrift".
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches generally do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible.
4 Maccabees, also called the Fourth Book of Maccabees and possibly originally known as On the Sovereignty of Reason, is a book written in Koine Greek, likely in the 1st or early 2nd century. It is a homily or philosophic discourse praising the supremacy of pious reason over passion. It is a work that combines Hellenistic Judaism with influence from Greek philosophy, particularly the school of Stoicism.
Legend makes Abdias first bishop of Babylon and one of the Seventy Apostles who are collectively mentioned in the Gospel of Luke10:1–20. Saints Simon and Jude allegedly consecrated him as the first Bishop of Babylon. He is also associated with St. Thomas and St. Addai, recognized as the first Patriarch of the Church of the East in Syriac Christianity.
Sortes Sanctorum is a late antique text that was used for divination by means of dice. The oldest version of the text may have been pagan, but the earliest surviving example—a 4th- or 5th-century Greek fragment on papyrus—is Christian. The original version had 216 answers available depending on three ordered throws of a single die. It was later revised down to 56 answers for a single throw of three dice. This version was translated into Latin by the time of the council of Vannes (465), which condemned its use. The Latin version was subsequently revised to render it more acceptable to ecclesiastical authorities. This Latin version survives in numerous manuscripts from the early 9th century through the 16th, as well as in Old Occitan and Old French translations. Beginning in the 13th century, the text was sometimes known as the Sortes Apostolorum, a title it shares with at least two other texts.
The Gelasian Decree is a Latin text traditionally thought to be a decretal of the prolific Pope Gelasius I (492-496). The work consists of five chapters: the second chapter of which is a list of books of Scripture defined as part of the biblical canon by a Council of Rome, traditionally dated to Pope Damasus I (366–383) and thus known as the Damasine List. The fifth chapter of the work includes a list of works not encouraged for church use.
The Acts of Peter and Paul is a pseudepigraphical 5th century Christian text of the genre Acts of the Apostles. An alternate version exists, known as the Passion of Peter and Paul, with variances in the introductory part of the text. Some versions have been written by a certain Marcellus, thus the anonymous author, of whom nothing further is known and is sometimes referred to as pseudo-Marcellus. The intended Marcellus is doubtless he who after the martyrdom takes the lead in burying St. Peter "near the Naumachia in the place called the Vatican."
The Apostolic Constitutions or Constitutions of the Holy Apostles is a Christian collection divided into eight books which is classified among the Church Orders, a genre of early Christian literature, that offered authoritative pseudo-apostolic prescriptions on moral conduct, liturgy and Church organization. The work can be dated from 375 to 380 CE. The provenance is usually regarded as Syria, probably Antioch. The author is unknown, although since James Ussher it has been often considered to be the same author as that of the letters of Pseudo-Ignatius, perhaps the 4th-century Eunomian bishop Julian of Cilicia.
The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari and utilizes the East Syriac dialect as its liturgical language. It is one of the two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity, along with the West Syriac Rite.
The Apostolic Church-Ordinance is an anonymous Oriental Orthodox Christian treatise which belongs to the genre of the Church Orders. The work can be dated at the end of 3rd century CE. The provenance is usually regarded as Egypt, or perhaps Syria.
Didascalia Apostolorum, or just Didascalia, is an early Christian legal treatise which belongs to the genre of the Church Orders. It presents itself as being written by the Twelve Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem; however, scholars agree that it was actually a later composition, with most estimates suggesting the 3rd century, and other estimates suggesting potentially as late as the 4th century.
Athanasius II Baldoyo, also known as Athanasius of Balad, and Athanasius of Nisibis, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 684 until his death in 687.
Thomas of Cana was a Syriac Christian merchant magnate who arrived to the Chera Dynasties capital city of Kodungallur between 345 A.D. and 811 A.D. Thoma brought with him Jewish-Christian families and clergymen from Persian Mesopotamia.
The ancient church orders form a genre of early Christian literature, ranging from 1st to 5th century, which has the purpose of offering authoritative "apostolic" prescriptions on matters of moral conduct, liturgy and Church organization. These texts are extremely important in the study of early liturgy and served as the basis for much ancient ecclesiastical legislation.
The Gospel of the Lots of Mary is a Coptic writing dating to the fifth or sixth century used for divination or bibliomancy. It contains 37 answers to questions (lots), though the methods for readers to select an answer are unclear. Its production and retrieval sites are unknown, though it may have been written near Antinoë in Upper Egypt, and it may have an earlier Greek edition from the fourth century.