Ephrem the Syrian was one of the founding voices in Syriac literature. While he wrote in a variety of genres, the bulk of his work took the form of madrashe, a Syriac genre of musical poetry or hymns. In Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia, Jeffrey Wickes offers a thoroughly contextualized study of Ephrem's magnum opus, the Hymns on Faith, delivered in response to the theological controversies that followed the First Council of Nicaea. The ensuing doctrinal divisions had tremendous impact on the course of Christianity and led in part to the development of a uniquely Syriac Church, in which Ephrem would become a central figure. Drawing on literary, ritual, and performance theories, Bible and Poetry shows how Ephrem used the Syriac Bible to construct and conceive of himself and his audience. In so doing, Wickes resituates Ephrem in a broader early Christian context and contributes to discussions of literature and religion in late antiquity.

A SOCIALIST AGENDA RIGHT IN YOUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD Anyone who watches the headlines knows that war rages in our nation. The liberal agenda to destroy America's three cornerstones of exceptionalism and to transform our nation into a socialist country grows more blatant by the day. What many parents and educators fail to realize, however, is that this agenda has already gained ground in communities across the fruited plain through an avenue few would expect-our public school system. In pushing your neighborhood toward socialism, the public school system: Attacks family values, Christianity, and American patriotism. Erodes America's traditions and Christian foundation. Pushes the state religion and a spirit of governmental dependence. Encourages physical, moral, and intellectual weakness. Handicaps students from achieving their full potential. Written by an educational insider, this eye-opening expose, a must have for every concerned parent, describes the 235-year plan to hijack American democracy. It also reveals a destructive philosophy, based on Plato's Republic, America must abandon to avert God's judgment.