The eschatology of Ephraim the Syrian is an interesting mix of familiar prophetic themes and jarring concepts, some of them merely awkward applications of Scripture, others notions that clash with our understanding of the order of events of the last days. In the observations below, I cover the distinctive points in his prophetic system that stood out to me, both those that differ from modern dispensationalism and those that agree with it. Ephraim’s clear understanding of the tribulation and his clear pretribulation rapture teaching stand out as his strongest agreements with contemporary pretribulationism.
For clarity in the identification of Ephraim’s works, I have employed Roger Pearse’s numbering because his Ephraim material and links are readily available on his website. But I have also included the TLG (Thesaurus Linguae Gracecae) numbers for those able to or desirous to access Ephraim’s Greek works in an environment with premium tools for searching and lexical research. I used Phrantzolas’s pagination for locating passages within his works, the system used on TLG, because it is the most convenient system available for the vast majority of his works.
WEAKNESSES IN HIS ESCHATOLOGY
1) Lack of precision.
A. He doesn’t show the precision that we enjoy in modern dispensationalism, confusing and combining events that should be distinguished.
B. He doesn’t present a clear distinction between Israel and the church, at least not in the works I have perused, something he likely would have done if it had been a vital part of his theology.
2) The bride of Christ.
A. He appears to include the tribulation saints with the church saints in the bride of Christ. See his remarks in Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.128). This differs from modern dispensationalism which distinguishes the bride of Christ from Israel, while acknowledging that Israel is also portrayed as a bride in her own right.
B. Judging from the fact that he often speaks of the New Jerusalem, his view on the bride appears to be based on the inclusion of both the patriarchs and the apostles in that heavenly city.
3) His division of eternal punishment goes beyond mere degree.
A. He understands the different descriptions of eternal punishment to be distinct places set aside for distinct crimes against God. This seems strange to our ears. See his remarks in Sermon on the General Resurrection (RP 51, TLG 50.67-68) and in Sermon on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 50, TLG 49.23-24).
4) He holds a general resurrection and general judgment.
A. In his understanding, the church is gathered for and participates in a general judgment of the living and the dead, the saved and the lost at the second coming. His conception is a mishmash of the great white throne judgment, the sheep and goats judgment, and the judgment seat of Christ. See his remarks in Fifty-Five Beatitudes (RP 30, TLG 29) in beatitude 50, Sermon on the Second Coming of the Lord (RP 50, TLG 49.14-16), Sermon on the Precious, Lifegiving Cross (RP 54, TLG 53.143-145), and Sermon on the General Resurrection (RP 51, TLG 50.62-69). This view, of course, is amillennialism. Despite the allegorical method influencing him on the millennium, however, he still maintained a literal methodology when it came to the tribulation, the antichrist, and the rapture of the church.
B. One knot that I haven’t yet been able to untie is whether he holds that the living church is whisked to heaven like Elijah and Enoch at the rapture with the church entire experiencing the resurrection and glorification at the second coming or whether he holds that the entire church is resurrected and glorified at the rapture and they are merely gathered and rewarded at the second coming. Both sides of this quandary have passages that seem to support its claim. Perhaps he was uncertain himself of the point, certain only that the church would participate in the resurrection.
CLARIFICATIONS ON HIS ESCHATOLOGY
1) He presents the rapture and eternal punishment together.
A. He often treats the rapture and eternal punishment in the same passage. For instance he contrasts joining the bridegroom in the eternal bridal chamber with eternal punishment in On the Second Coming (RP 49, TLG 48.406-407). And he contrasts his rapture interpretation of “one shall be taken” in Matthew 24 with eternal punishment in On the Passage: Two Shall be in the Field (RP 64, TLG 65).
B. This handling does not imply that he regarded the two events as either concurrent or immediately adjacent. In other words, this does not imply that he held a post-tribulation rapture. He is not placing the rapture and hellfire in immediate proximity but merely contrasting the two eternal destinies the same way many modern preachers do. And these eternal destinies viewed through the lens of the rapture are often presented as the righteous taken and the unrightous left or the righteous taken to heaven and the unrighteous destined for damnation.
2) He employs a full spectrum of last-days motives in his exhortations for men to get serious about the Christian walk.
A. He commonly sets forth the terrors of the great tribulation, the great white throne, and eternal punishment as reasons to be serious and diligent. This practice, in and of itself, is little different than that of modern evangelicalism.
B. But the exhortations are undermined by a legalistic (performance-based) conception of what it means to be a Christian, a shortcoming that was common in the later fathers and the monastic circles. Men were bludgeoned with the burden of being faithful in pietistic or monastic rigors to ensure that they would miss the tribulation and stand in the day of judgment as one of the rewarded rather than one of the punished.
C. Nonetheless, his principle is valid—the true Christians will be delivered from the tribulation, the false Christians will go into the tribulation. In contemporary evangelicalism, of course, we understand that the true Christians are distinguished by evidences of spiritual life not evidences of spiritual health or exceptional devotion.
3) He applies a broader range of end-times language from the Gospels to the pretribulation rapture than we would be comfortable using.
A. For instance, in On the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 49, TLG 48.406-407) he speaks of the thief in the night, the likeness of lightning, the trumpet, and an earth-rending earthquake that will interrupt the world when the true church is taken to the clouds to meet the Lord and the empty professors are left behind to go into the tribulation. While the trumpet and the thief in the night are quintessential to our conception of the rapture, the notion that visible lightning and an earth-rending earthquake will also occur at that time seem jarring to us. Such manifestations are not typically associated with the rapture.
4) He appears to envision a closer relationship between the rapture (the apantesis of the parousia) and the second coming (the parousia proper) than is generally understood in our day, treating the rapture in the air as the leading edge of that glorious coming.
A. Consider this rapture passage. “The armies of heaven stand ready in their ranks to proceed with fear before the bridegroom coming in glory in the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead, yet we disbelieve. What shall befall us in that hour, brothers? … If we don’t now hasten and weep shamelessly, rightly repenting in humility of soul and complete meekness, Oh how we shall mourn in THE TRIBULATION … Again, when we see the saints in glory flying off in light in the clouds of the air to meet Christ, the king of glory, but see ourselves in the GREAT TRIBULATION, who shall be able to bear that shame and terrible reproach?” (On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course, RP 16, TLG 17).
B. Consider this rapture passage. “Let us guard ourselves, my beloved, because we do not know when our Lord is coming. For that day shall come as a thief in the night, and as a snare. As the speediest bolt of lightning, so the coming of the Lord will transpire. For the trumpet will sound, and the earth will shake to its very foundations. The heavens, with their hosts, shall be shaken, and all the dead will rise … Indeed, the grace of God strengthens and rejoices the hearts of the righteous; and they shall be seized up in the clouds to meet him. While those who are lazy and timid like me shall remain on the earth, trembling.” (On the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, RP 49, TLG 48).
C. In both of these passages, he employs language we use only in association with the second coming. Because he very clearly teaches a pretribulation rapture in many passages scattered among his works (developing it fully in Sermon on the Advent, the End, and the Antichrist), we can only assume that he looks at the rapture as the leading edge of the glorious parousia, seeing the church participate in this early as she goes out to join the coming king, and return with him later in his train.
4) His order of events:
A. The removal of church for the meeting (apantesis) in the clouds and the raptured church continuing on to the glories of heaven, then the time of great tribulation, during which time souls are saved through the ministry of Elijah and Enoch, then the Lord’s parousia in glory, which is immediately followed by the gathering of the living sheep and goats and the general resurrection, which is immediately followed by the general judgment of all mankind.
STRENGTHS IN HIS ESCHATOLOGY
1) He holds the fundamental distinctives of dispensationalism.
A. He upholds many of the core distinctives of dispensationalism as a literal tribulation, a pretribulation rapture, and a future kingdom.
B. He clearly teaches a literal kingdom inaugurated at the second coming, though his understanding of this kingdom is hazy compared to dispensational understanding. It appears to be an amillennial view of the eternal kingdom tainted with earthly overtones that most modern amillennialists would scorn.
C. Remarkably, his pretribulationism appears to based entirely on the force of the Greek in such passages as Rev. 3:10, 2 Thess. 2:1-3, John 14:1-3, and 1 Thess. 4. It does not appear to be bolstered by the distinction between Israel and the church. He simply accepted the promises of deliverance at face value though he apparently didn’t grasp the theological reason why. Would that we had more of this child-like faith in our day.
2) He has strong and clear teaching on the tribulation.
A. He teaches a three-and-a-half-year-long great tribulation. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.127).
B. He teaches an understanding of the antichrist, the mark, and the awful visitations that is very similar to our understanding. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.122-125).
C. He teaches that the tribulation ends with a mighty outpouring of God’s wrath. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.126-128).
D. He teaches that the church shall be delivered FROM the tribulation. See On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (RP 16, TLG 15.14), Fifty-Five Beatitudes (RP, TLG 29, beatitude 19), and Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.115-122).
E. He teaches that folks will be left behind to enter into the tribulation. See On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (16 RP, 15 TLG), in On The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 49, TLG 48.407-408), and in Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.115-122).
F. He teaches that men will be saved in the tribulation through the ministry of Elijah and Enoch. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.125).
G. He teaches that the tribulation saints will be delivered in the tribulation from the dragon by being led by God to prepared hiding places. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.124-126).
H. He makes a qualitative distinction between the tribulation and the time that preceded it. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.125).
I. He distinguishes the tribulation saints from the rest of the saints. See Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.128).
J. He employs many different descriptions of the tribulation:
i. the tribulation — On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (RP 16, TLG 15.14,15), Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.115,116,122, and Sermon on Repentance and Judgment (RP 60, TLG 61.239).
ii. the great tribulation — On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (RP 16, TLG 15.14), Fifty-Five Beatitudes (RP 30, TLG 29, beatitude 19), and Sermon on Repentance and Judgment (RP 60, TLG 61.239).
iii. the trial of the world with a spirit of deception — Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.111-112).
iv. the trial of the world with bitter, inexorable judgment — Sermon on the Resurrection of the Dead (RP 62, TLG 63.272-273).
v. the threatening wrath — Response to a Brother Concerning Eli the Priest (RP 119, TLG 120).
vi. the coming wrath — How the Soul Should Pray God with Tears (RP 23, TLG 22.68) and On the Blessed and the Cursed (RP 41, TLG 40.323).
vii. the wrath coming upon the sons of disobedience — On Patience and the Consummation of this Age (RP 55, TLG 54) and Exhortation on Silence and Quiet (RP 113, TLG 114).
viii. the coming fear — The Destruction of Pride (RP 3, TLG 3.94) and Concerning Those Who Entice You to Licentiousness (RP 91, TLG 92). This rings clearer to the English ear if we paraphrase it “the coming horrors.” English only uses fear in the sense of the feeling or in phrases like “that is my fear.” The Greeks used it widely in the sense of things that inspire fear, saying fear where we would say something along the lines of fearful thing or fearful time.
ix. the time of judgment (ἀπόφᾰσις, apophesis) — In This World You Shall Have Tribulation (RP 72, TLG 73).
x. the foretold evils — Hortatory Sermons to the Monks of Egypt (RP 37, TLG 36) and In This World You Shall Have Tribulation (RP 72, TLG 73).
3) He teaches a strong and clear pretribulation rapture.
A. He teaches that the church will be delivered FROM the tribulation. See On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (RP 16, TLG 15.14), Fifty-Five Beatitudes (RP, TLG 29, beatitude 19), and Sermon on the Advent … End … Antichrist (RP 53, TLG 52.115-122). This mirrors “kept from the hour.”
B. He teaches that this deliverance will involve meeting the Lord in the clouds and going to heaven where they will dwell in glorious light. See On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (RP 16, TLG 15.14) and On The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 49, TLG 48.407-408).
C. He teaches that empty professions of Christianity and the rest of the unsaved will be left behind on earth to go through the great tribulation. See On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (RP 16, TLG 15.14) and On The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 49, TLG 48.407-408).
D. He mentions the apantesis in the clouds (an allusion to 1 Thess. 4:17) many times. For instance On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course (16 RP, 15 TLG), On the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 49, TLG 48.405-407), Sermon on the Resurrection of the Dead (RP62, TLG 63. 272-273), and Sermon on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (RP 50, TLG 49.39-40).
THE GREEK WORKS THESE OBSERVATIONS ARE BASED ON
*Half of these works I read in their entirety. The other half were only word-searched for passages that touched on the rapture using a list of eschatology terms that I compiled from Ephraim’s Greek works that I had read.
1) On the Destruction of Pride
A. Latin title, Ad eversionem superbiae
B. Greek title, Πρὸς καθαίρεσιν ὑπερηφανίας
C. Roger Pearse #3, TLG #3
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 1, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1988 (repr. 1995): 84-95.
2) Admonitory Message
A. Latin title, Sermo compunctorius
B. Greek title, Λόγος κατανυκτικός
C. Roger Pearse #4, TLG #4
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 1, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1988 (repr. 1995): 96-121.
3) Message on Asceticism
A. Latin title, Sermo asceticus
B. Greek title, Λόγος ασκητικός
C. Roger Pearse #5, TLG #5
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 1, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1988 (repr. 1995): 122-184.
4) On Repentance
A. Latin title, De paenitentia
B. Greek title, Περὶ μετανοίας
C. Roger Pearse #11, TLG #10
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 1, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1988 (repr. 1995): 362-374.
5) Hortatory Message
A. Latin title, Sermo paraeneticus
B. Greek title, Λόγος παραινετικός
C. Roger Pearse #15, TLG #14
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 1, Thessalonica: To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1988 (repr. 1995): 400-412.
6) On the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course
A. Latin title, Sermo alius in patres defunctos
B. Greek title, Λόγος εἰς πατέρας τελειωθέντας
C. Roger Pearse #16, TLG #15
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 9-16.
7) Another Sermon on the Fathers Who Have Completed Their Course
A. Latin title, Sermo in patres defunctos
B. Greek title, Λόγος ἕτερος εἰς πατέρας τελειωθέντας
C. Roger Pearse #17, TLG #16
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 17-28.
8) The Fear of Souls
A. Latin title, De timore animarum
B. Greek title, Περὶ φόβου ψυχῶν
C. Roger Pearse #20, TLG #19
D. K.G. Phrantzoles, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, Thessalonica: To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 34-43.
9) Reminder or Letter
A. Latin title, Hypmnesticon, sive epistula
B. Greek Title, Υπομνηστικόν, ήτοι επιστολή
C. Roger Pearse 22, TLG 21
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 46-58.
10) How the Soul Should Pray God with Tears
A. Latin title, Quomodo anima cum lacrymis debeat orare deum, quando tentatur ab inimico
B. Greek title, Περὶ ψυχῆς ὅταν πειράζηται ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἐχθροῦ πῶς ὀφείλει μετὰ δακρύων τῷ Θεῷ προσεύχεσθαι
C. Roger Pearse #23, TLG #22
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 59-70.
11) Fifty-Five Beatitudes
A. Latin title, Beatitudines, capita quinquaginta quinque
B. Greek title, Μακαρισμοί, κεφάλαια νεʹ
C. Roger Pearse #30, TLG #29
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 252-266.
12) Other Beatitudes, Twenty Chapters
A. Latin title, Beatitudines aliae, capita viginti
B. Greek title, Μακαρισμοί έτεροι, κεφάλαια κ΄
C. Roger Pearse #31, TLG #32
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 2, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1989: 267-279.
13) Hortatory Sermons to the Monks of Egypt
A. Latin title, Sermones paraenetici ad monachos Aegypti
B. Greek title, Λόγοι παραινετικοὶ πρὸς τοὺς κατ’ Αἴγυπτον μοναχούς
C. Roger Pearse, #37, TLG #36
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 3, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1990: 36-294.
14) On the Blessed and the Cursed
A. Latin title, De beatitudinibus atque infelicitatibus
B. Greek title, Περὶ μακαρισμῶν καὶ ταλανισμῶν
C. Roger Pearse #41, TLG #40
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 3, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1990: 323-326.
15) On The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ
A. Latin title, In secundum adventum domini nostri Jesu Christi
B. Greek title, Eἰς τὴν δευτέραν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
C. Roger Pearse #49, TLG #48
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 3, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1990: 404-415.
16) Sermon on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
A. Latin title, Sermon in secundum adventum domini nostri Jesu Christi
B. Greek title, Λόγος εις της Δευτέραν Παρουσίαν του Κυρίου ημών Ιησού Χριστού
C. Roger Pearse #50, TLG #49
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 9-46.
17) Sermon on the Common Resurrection, on repentance and love, and on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
A. Latin title, Sermo de communi resurrectione, de paenitentia et de caritate, et in secundum adventum domini nostri Jesu Christi
B. Greek title, Λόγος περὶ τῆς κοινῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ μετανοίας καὶ ἀγάπης. Καὶ εἰς τὴν δευτέραν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
C. Roger Pearse #51, TLG #50
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 47-75.
18) Sermon on the Advent of the Lord, and the End of the Age, and the Coming of the Antichrist
A. Latin title, Sermo in adventum domini, et de consummatione saeculi, et in adventum antichristi
B. Greek title, Λόγος εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ περὶ συντελείας τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου
C. Roger Pearse #53, TLG #52
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 111-128.
19) Sermon on the Valuable and Life-Giving Cross, and on the Second Coming, and on Love and Charity
A. Latin title, Sermo in pretiosam et vivificam crucem, et in secundum adventum, et de caritate et eleemosyna
B. Greek title, Λόγος εἰς τὸν τίμιον καὶ ζωοποιὸν σταυρὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν δευτέραν παρουσίαν. Καὶ περὶ ἀγάπης καὶ ἐλεημοσύνης
C. Roger Pearse #54, TLG #53
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 129-154.
20) On Patience and the Consummation of this Age …
A. Latin title, De patientia et consummatione huius saeculi, ac de secundo aduentu; necnon de meditatione diuinarum scripturarum; et quae quantaque sit quietis silentiique utilitas.
B. Greek title, Περὶ ὑπομονῆς καὶ συντελείας καὶ τῆς δευτέρας παρουσίας. Καὶ περὶ μελέτης τῶν θείων Γραφῶν. Καὶ τί τὸ τῆς ἡσυχίας ὠφέλιμον.
C. Roger Pearse #55, TLG #54
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 155-179.
21) On the Coming of the Lord (Sermons1-3)
A. Latin title, In adventum domini (sermo i-iii)
B. Greek title, Εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου (I-III)
C. Roger Pearse #56 for all, TLG #55, #56, #57
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 180-199.
E. much overlap with #53, many parts the same
22) Sermon on the Judgment and the Resurrection
A. Latin title, Sermo de iudicio et resurrectione
B. Greek title, Λόγος περὶ κρίσεως καὶ ἀναστάσεως
C. Roger Pearse #57, TLG #58
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 200-205.
23) Exhortation on the Second Coming of the Lord and Repentance
A. Latin title, Sermo paraeneticus de secundo aduentu domini, et de paenitentia
B. Greek title, Λόγος παραινετικός. Περὶ τῆς δευτέρας παρουσίας τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ περὶ μετανοίας
C. Roger Pearse #58, TLG #59
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 206-222.
24) Sermon on the Second Coming and Judgment
A. Latin title, Sermo de secundo aduentu et iudicio
B. Greek title, Λόγος περὶ τῆς δευτέρας παρουσίας καὶ κρίσεως
C. Roger Pearse #59, TLG #60
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 223-233.
25) Sermon on Repentance and Judgment
A. Latin title, Sermo de paenitentia et iudicio et separatione animae et corporis
B. Greek title, Λόγος περὶ μετανοίας καὶ κρίσεως, καὶ περὶ χωρισμοῦ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος
C. Roger Pearse #60, TLG #61
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 234-244.
26) Sermon on the Resurrection of the Dead
A. Latin title, De resurrectione mortuorum sermo
B. Greek title, Περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν λόγος
C. Roger Pearse #62, TLG #63
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 256-274.
27) Regarding Those Who Say There is No Resurrection
A. Latin title, De iis, qui dicunt resurrectionem mortuorum non esse
B. Greek title, Περί των λεγόντων μη είναι ανάστασιν
C. Roger Pearse #63, TLG #64
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 275-289.
28) On the Phrase: Two Shall Be in the Field
A. Latin title, In illud: duo erunt in agro
B. Greek title, Τῷ δύο ἔσονται ἐν ἀγρῷ
C. Roger Pearse #64, TLG #65
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 290-292.
29) On the Blessed Places
A. Latin title, De locis beatis
B. Greek title, Περί των μακαρίων τόπων
C. Roger Pearse #67, TLG #68
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 298-302.
30) In This World You Shall Have Tribulation
A. Latin title (RP), In illud: In hoc mundo pressuram habebitis
B. Latin title (TLG), In sermonem, quem dixit dominus, quod: In hoc mundo pressuram habebitis, et de perfectione hominis
C. Greek title, Εἰς τὸν λόγον, ὃν εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, ὅτι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ θλῖψιν ἕξετε· καὶ περὶ τοῦ τέλειον εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον
D. Roger Pearse #72, TLG #73
E. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 4, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1992: 333-398.
31) Concerning Those Who Entice You to Licentiousness
A. Latin title, De his, qui animas ad impudicitiam pelliciunt, cum dicant nihil mali esse
B. Greek title, Περί των δελεαζόντων ψυχάς προς ασέλγειαν, εν τω λέγειν, ότι ουδέν εστι το πράγμα
C. Roger Pearse #91, TLG #92
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 5, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1994: 207-223.
32) Exhortation on Silence and Quiet
A. Latin title, Adhortatio de silentio et quiete
B. Greek title, Παραίνεσις περί ησυχίας
C. Roger Pearse #113, TLG #114
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 6, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1995: 42-46.
33) Response to a Brother Concerning Eli the Priest
A. Latin title, Apologia ad fratrem quendam, de Heli sacerdote
B. Greek title, Ἀπολογία πρὸς ἀδελφὸν περὶ Ἠλὶ τοῦ ἱερέως
C. Roger Pearse #119, TLG #120
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 6, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1995: 81-90.
34) On Julian the Ascetic
A. Latin title, De Iuliano asceta
B. Greek title, Περί Ιουλιανού του ασκητού
C. Roger Pearse, #122, TLG #123
D. K.G. Phrantzolas, Ὁσίου Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου ἔργα, vol. 6, To Perivoli tis Panagias, 1995: 119-130.
“Eyes wide open, brain engaged, heart on fire.”
Lee W. Brainard
FURTHER LINKS ON EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN:
Ten undiscovered pretribulation rapture references in Ephraim the Syrian’s Greek works. — These works are not included in the standard English-translation church-fathers collections, and most of them have never been translated into English.
English translation of Ephraim’s Sermon on the Advent of the Lord, the Consummation of the Age, and the Advent of the Antichrist. — An amazing work that teaches a three-and-a-half-year long great tribulation and a clear pretribulation rapture.
Observations on Ephraim the Syrian’s Sermon on the Advent of the Lord, the Consummation of the Age, and the Advent of the Antichrist. — These observations walk newcomers through the pretribulational eschatology of this work and explain several elements that pose difficulties to those unfamiliar with Ephraim’s eschatology.
FURTHER LINKS ON THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE:
What Margaret MacDonald Really Taught
Revelation 3:10 — Tereo ek — “Keep from”
Revelation 3:10 — Peirasmos — “Trial, Testing”
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