ABSTRACT
Some aspects of Syrian asceticism, such as its geographical scope, are relatively uncontroversial; others, especially the extent to which there is a distinctively Syrian form of asceticism, are more contested. Debates raged throughout the latter part of the twentieth century about the significance of using Syriac rather than Greek; of the distinction between asceticism and encratism, and the degree to which these ways of behaving and perceiving the world were affirming or rejecting of the body. Syrian asceticism is a complex cultural construct, and this is immediately demonstrated by its existence throughout a geographical area beyond the mere boundaries of Syria; essentially it is found in the area of Northern Mesopotamia and Adiabene, including the capital city of Antioch, Antiochene Christology focuses on the divinising of man, rather than the humanifying of God. The ancient Syrian world provides us with dramatic instances of men who forced their bodies into unnatural behaviours in order to demonstrate their love of God.
