Haitham Issak

Dr. John Haitham Issak graduated with his Ph.D. from McMaster Divinity College. His ongoing research projects are focused on Syriac and the Syriac church fathers, Ephrem, Aphrahaat and Jacob of Serugh. Most recently, he has translated several letters of Timothy I of Baghdad from Syriac into English. Dr. Issak has taught Patristics, the Syriac language, and Greek in the Syriac Orthodox Church seminaries in Nineveh (Mosul), Iraq, and Damascus. He has also served as a director in the Syriac Orthodox seminary in Mosul. He has presented papers at numerous conferences related to Syriac studies, especially on Ephrem. He regularly participates in the Pappas Patristic Institute 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

Accreditations

PhD

McMaster Divinity College

Hamilton, ON

MTS

University of Toronto, St. Michael College

Toronto, ON

BA

University of Athens

Athens, Greece

Lecturer in Patristics and Syriac

Download Curriculum Vitae

Current Course List

CH 3P1071/TH 3P1101/OT 3P1111/NT 3P1151

Syriac Language I

Instructor icon Haitham Issak

Fall

2025

BS

CW

In-Person/Livestream (Synchronous)

View Course Syllabi