This collection explores how the body became a touchstone for late antique religious practice and imagination. When we read the stories and testimonies of late ancient Christians, what different types of bodies stand before us? How do we understand the range of bodily experiences-solitary and social, private and public-that clothed ancient Christians? How can bodily experience help us explore matters of gender, religious identity, class, and ethnicity? The Garb of Being investigates these questions through stories from the Eastern Christian world of antiquity: monks and martyrs, families and congregations, and textual bodies. Contributors include S. Abrams Rebillard, T. Arentzen, S. P. Brock, R. S. Falcasantos , C. M. Furey, S. H. Griffith, R. Krawiec, B. McNary-Zak, J.-N. Mellon Saint-Laurent, C. T. Schroeder, A. P. Urbano, F. M. Young

Sydney H. Griffith provides a basic overview of Syriac authors that addressed the issue of Islam in their writings. Griffith discusses the major themes and common content of this literature and focuses on the dialogue genre.

With a focus on the Kitab Adab al-falasifah, a book of aphorisms attributed to Hunayn ibn Ishaq, some of the important aspects of the Kitab are laid out, particularly those dealing with religion and the pursuit of philosophy. Although putatively, translators and scholars such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq, opened the way for philosophical dialogue between Muslims and Christians of Orthodox churches on precepts, often based on Aristotle, which they could agree would lead to wisdom and a humane society.