“In this compelling analysis, Peppard astutely considers iconography and inscriptions in their actual liturgical and cultural contexts. Not only is it a methodological milestone and a good read, it unravels a few mysteries and undermines some long-standing assumptions about the ‘world’s oldest church.’"—Robin M. Jensen, University of Notre Dame

“Michael Peppard brings new life to the tantalizing wall paintings of the pre-Constantinian church at Dura-Europos. Using a careful process of historical imagination, he draws meaning from the paintings through an illuminating marriage of images with texts, Greek and Syriac, that are inevitably later in date.”—Sebastian P. Brock, University of Oxford

“Skillfully weaving his analyses of art  and ritual with texts popular among ancient Syrian Christians, Michael Peppard invites us to enter an interpretive world distinctively different from that which we encounter in the Christianity of the Greek East and the Latin West. An innovative and engaging exploration of a famous early Christian site.”—Elizabeth A. Clark, Duke University

“Michael Peppard offers not only revelatory interpretations of the Dura-Europos murals but also a rich reconstruction of the baptismal spirituality of one early Christian community.  A landmark in the study of early Christian art and ritual.”—David Brakke, The Ohio State University

“Peppard provides a wonderful interdisciplinary study of this ancient Syrian Church, attending not only to its architecture and art, but especially to the liturgical context of its murals within the unique Syrian rites of Christian initiation, focused on pre-baptismal anointing as the ritual high point. This book will be of value not only to historians in general, but to art historians, students of ancient Middle Eastern culture, and, not least, to liturgical historians and theologians.”—Maxwell E. Johnson, author of The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation, second revised edition