Thomas Koonammakkal

Indian priest, syriacist, scholar, and church historian
  • Liturgist
  • author
  • Syriacist
  • professor
  • scholar
  • historian
  • monastic

Thomas Koonammakkal (Malayalam: കൂനമ്മാക്കൽ തോമാക്കത്തനാർ, romanized: Koonammakkal Thoma kathanar) is a Syro-Malabar Catholic priest and syriacist, scholar and church historian. He is an expert in Karshoni Malayalam and is the author of the most comprehensive Karshoni Malayalam introduction to date.[1][2][3] He has also authored several critical articles on Early Christianity and on the works of Saint Ephrem.[3] He holds a master's degree in Syriac studies and a doctorate from the University of Oxford. He served as the professor of Syriac and Patrology in SEERI, Vadavathoor Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary and Paurastya Vidyapitham.[4][5] He is the founder of Beth Aprem Nazrani Dayara and is a strong advocate of traditionalism in the Syro-Malabar Church.[6]

Selected publications

  • The Theology of Divine Names in the Genuine Works of Ephrem (1991)
  • Divine Names and Theological Language in Ephrem (in Studia Patristica, volume XXV, edited by Elizabeth A. Livingstone, Peeters Publishers, 1993)
  • St. Ephrem and Greek Wisdom (in IV Symposium Syriacum 1992 edited by René Lavenant, Pontificio Instituto Orientale, 1994)
  • Ephrem on the Name of Jesus (in Studia Patristica, volume XXXIII, edited by Elizabeth A. Livingstone, 1997)
  • An Introduction to Malayalam Karshon (in The Harp, volume XV, 2002)
  • Ephrem's Theology of Humour (in Studia Patristica, volume XLI, edited by Frances Margaret Young, Mark J. Edwards, Paul M. Parvis, 2006)
  • Ephrem’s Ideas on Singleness (in Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, volume 2, no. 1, 2010).
  • Fr. Emmanuel Thelly (in The Harp (Volume 21): Festschrift: Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Thelly, 2011)
  • Syro-Malabar History and Traditions (in Orientalia Christiana: Festschrift für Hubert Kaufhold zum 70. Geburtstag, edited by Peter Bruns, Heinz Otto Luthe, 2013)
  • The Passover celebration of the Mar Thoma Nazranis and the origins of Christianity in India (in Parole de l'Orient (volume 41), 2015)
  • The Church in the Churches: a Syriac ecclesiology (2018)
  • Ephrem on the Icon of Nature (in Edessa in hellenistisch-römischer Zeit, 2009)
  • Karshon: Malayalam in Syriac characters (in The Harp, volume XXX, 2016)
  • Problem of latinization : no exit? (2017)
  • Acts of Thomas re-examined in the light of the Song of Thomâ Ramban (in The Harp, volume XXXIII, 2018)
  • Ephrem's philosophy of theological language (in Parole de l'Orient (volume 46), 2020)

References

  1. ^ Perczel, István (2014). "Garshuni Malayalam: A Witness to an Early Stage of Indian Christian Literature". Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 17 (2): 265. doi:10.31826/hug-2015-170115. S2CID 212688844.
  2. ^ Alumkal, S. (2016). "The Influence of Social Media and the Increasing Awareness of Syriac Language and Traditions in Kerala". Symposium Syriacum 2016.
  3. ^ a b Shepardson, Christine (2008). Anti-Judaism and Christian Orthodoxy: Ephrem's Hymns in Fourth-century Syria (Patristic Monograph Series). ISBN 9780813215365.
  4. ^ "Thomas Koonammakkal".
  5. ^ "Advisory committee of SEERI".
  6. ^ "The Christian Musicological Society of India".