Ephrem the Syrian

Ephrem wrote in Syriac, not Greek or Latin, and proves that early Christianity had a third intellectual tradition we usually forget. His hymns and theological poetry are still sung in Syriac churches every week, and they pre-date most of the major Greek and Latin Fathers. If you want to feel the texture of a Christianity that grew up outside the Roman Empire — closer to the Aramaic world Jesus actually lived in — read Ephrem. Most people never have, which is why his fingerprint on later Christian theology is invisible to most Christians.