Description:

This very interesting work was composed by Bar Salibi, the famous Syrian bishop of the 12th century. It is in the form of a long address to a certain Rabban 'Isho', a West Syrian monk of some importance, who had evidently shown some leniency towards the Melchites, and was about to leave, or had already left, his own community to join them. He had written a long letter to Bar Salibi on this subject, and it is this lost letter that has given birth to the present treatise. Bar Salibi analyses verbatim his opponent's missive, and refutes it. Within the ten chapters of his refutation he deals with many interesting topics such as the form of the Trisagion, of making the sign of the cross, and of liturgical tradition.