Mardin on the Margins

Last updated on: July 27, 2026 at 1:38 am by Ben Witherington

Mardin on the Margins 2026-07-25T10:57:22-04:00 Ben Witherington

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The city of Mardin is located in Turkiye but very close to the border with Syria. During the Syrian war, many Syrian orthodox Christians fled to Mardin and Midyat, which was even closer to the border, and took refuge in the Orthodox monasteries in those two cities. With the war over, many have gone back to Syria, but the monasteries are still alive and well. I and three of my doctoral students and my friend and constant guide in Turkiye, Meltem, traveled to these two monasteries and also sites nearby including the most ancient church in the region where Ephrem of Syria lived and wrote his influential tracts, which proved very influential including on my own spiritual father– John Wesley. Here are some pictures from Mardin, including with Bishop Gabriel and also with Simon Crepe who kindly read to us from the Syriac NT Matthew 5, the Lord’s Prayer in Mt. 7, Luke 15, and the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here are some shots both from the monastery visit, and from our nice dinner out in Mardin

Mezas

The main reason for our visit to these monasteries is in order to hear the teaching of Jesus in as close to the original Aramaic as possible. Syriac is a variant or sister language to Aramaic, and if pronounced with the right sort of Arabic accent, it comes close to the original. We recorded Simon Crepe who knows all these languages. I also had a very interesting discussion with Bishop Gabriel about the Council of Chalcedon, and the theory of the two natures of Christ endorsed there in 450. I agree with Bishop Gabriel that the NT says nothing about Jesus having two natures. Everything is predicated of Jesus as a whole person.

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