Saint Ephrem the Syrian: Sacred Time and Historical Time Seen from a Crossroads of Cultures
Saint Ephrem the Syrian: Sacred Time and Historical Time Seen from a Crossroads of Cultures

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on the subject of time in the writings of the 4th century theologian Ephrem the Syrian, regarded as the most remarkable poet- theologian of the patristic era. After introducing Ephrem’s basic distinction between historical and sacred time, it examines some examples of the theologian’s understanding time in terms of God’s activity towards humanity, where its different levels apparently located in a long span of time strikingly converge into single unit. In the later part it embarks upon exploration of the possibility of entering into sacred time by any human being. In Ephrem’s conception this presupposes a constant co-operation between God and human being that is a real human engagement. Within the framework of this attempt it specifically takes into consideration the mystery of Christ’s Passion through which humanity can acquire access to a different epistemic level. It argues using a technical term key as a useful device allowing the goal to be attained. As a conclusion it claims the sacramental life of the Church, notably the Eucharist, to be a re-presentation of what happened historically at Golgotha, thus standing for a visible element of sacred time which may be experienced whilst living within historical time.

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