This week's episode looks at something brand new for the podcast, the emergence of Islam from a Christian perspective. Laura Estes studies the period at Saint Louis University and is our guest. We focus on how Christians understood this new religious movement and what that meant for Syriac Christians in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is not exhaustive, but it is an important part of the history of the two major world religions.

Dr. Wickes is the Associate Professor of Ancient Christianity at Saint Louis University. In this podcast, Dr. Wickes gives some background on Syriac Christianity; explores the import of poetry in this tradition; and even liken Ephrem the Syrian to DC Talk and Reliant K. He also goes into his own journey of how he came to love Ephrem and studying early Christian history.