Thomas Koonammakkal ( ml, കൂനമ്മാക്കൽ തോമാക്കത്തനാർ, Koonammakkal Thoma kathanar) is a Syro-Malabar Catholic priest and

syriacist Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity. A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist. Specifically, British, French, and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of ...

, scholar and church historian. He is an expert in Karshoni Malayalam and is the author of the most comprehensive Karshoni Malayalam introduction to date. He has also authored several critical articles on

Early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

and on the works of

Saint Ephrem Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...

. He holds a master's degree in

Syriac studies Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity. A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist. Specifically, British, French, and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of ...

and a doctorate from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He served as the professor of

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

and

Patrology Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

in SEERI, Vadavathoor Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary and Paurastya Vidyapitham. He is the founder of ''Beth Aprem Nazrani Dayara'' and is a strong advocate of traditionalism in the Syro-Malabar Church.

Selected publications

The Theology of Divine Names in the Genuine Works of Ephrem
(1991)
Divine Names and Theological Language in Ephrem
(in ''

Studia Patristica ''Studia Patristica'' is a peer-reviewed, academic book series established in 1957 and focused on the study of patristics. History The series is the official publication of the Oxford International Conference on Patristic Studies, which was firs ...

'', volume XXV, edited by Elizabeth A. Livingstone,

Peeters Publishers Peeters Publishers is an international academic publisher founded in Leuven in 1857, joining a tradition of book printing in Leuven dating back to the 15th century. Peeters publishes 200 new titles and 75 journals a year. Humanities and social ...

, 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 ''

'', 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 ''

'', 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 Hubert Kaufhold (born March 19, 1943, in Braunschweig, Germany) is a German legal scholar and judge, with special research interests in the languages and legal history of the Christian Orient. Education Kaufhold studied law (1962–1966) at the ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koonammakkal, Thomas 20th-century Indian historians Syro-Malabar priests 1955 births Living people Christian clergy from Kottayam Alumni of the University of Oxford 21st-century Indian historians