John Haitham Issak

Dr. John Haitham Issak graduated with his Ph.D. from McMaster Divinity College. His ongoing
research focuses on Syriac and the Syriac church fathers, including Ephrem, Aphrahat, and Jacob of Serugh. Most recently, he has translated several letters of Timothy I of Baghdad from Syriac into English. He also completed the translation of the Syriac church history titled “The Syriacs: Faith and Civilization” from Arabic into English—five volumes. Dr. Issak has taught Patristics, Syriac, and Greek at Syriac Orthodox seminaries in Nineveh (Mosul), Iraq, and in Damascus, Syria. He has also served as a director at the Syriac Orthodox seminary in Mosul. He has presented papers at numerous conferences related to Syriac studies, especially on Ephrem. He regularly participated in the Pappas Patristic Program at the Holy Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Dr. Issak has published several articles, and his first book on Athanasius’ pneumatology is titled The Spirit of Truth: Johannine Pneumatology in the Letters of Athanasius to Serapion.