Divining Gospel

Abstract

Opening the Gospel 1 1.1 Inscribing a Divining Gospel 1 1.2 Christians and Their Books 3 1.2.1 A Bookish Religion 3 1.2.2 Books Dynamic in Form and Impact 4 1.3 Books as Objects 6 1.3.1 Materiality and Meaning 6 1.3.2 A Case Study: Gewargis' Complex Book 7 1.4 Sacred Books as Objects of Power 8 1.4.1 Inscribing Amulets with Scriptural Potency 9 1.4.2 Magic or Christian Ritual? 10 1.4.3 Ambivalent Attitudes Towards Popular Religious Practices Involving Scriptural Artifacts 11 1.5 Elf-Charms, Incubi, and Codex-Relics: John's Gospel in Popular Imagination and Ritual Use 14 1.6 Divining Gospel: An Overview 17 1.6.1 The Unique Character of the Syriac Version 17 1.6.2 The Plan of the Present Study 18 "Fearsome and Terrible Word of God:" A Closer Look at the Form and History of The Syriac Codex 85 4.1 Listening in on the Story of an Old Book 85 4.2 Origins of a Divining Gospel 87 4.