The Copto-Arabic
Tradition of Theosis
A Eucharistic reading of John 6:5157 in Bulus al Bushi treatise on the
incarnation
Stephen J. Davis
Assistant professor of the religious studies at
Yale University (author of several books)
‫الكنيسة القبطية االرثوذكسية‬
Anba Bulus al Bushi
‫االنبا بولس البوشي‬
• ‫(أبونا اندراوس االريزوني‬Anouna Andraus El Arizoni)
• 1170-1250
• In the Ayyubid rule rule of Egypt
• Was a monk.
• Served as bishop of Old Cairo
Wrote many biblical commentaries ,
books and homilies on the life of
Christ corresponding to to eight major
feasts in the Coptic calendar
• The Coptic feasts are (feasts of the Lord, feasts of
St. Mary and the Saints)
• Eight major feast of the Lord (feasts related directly
to our salvation), and eight minor feasts of the
Lord.
The Lord’s
Feasts of
Salvation
•
The Annunciation
•
The Nativity
•
The Epiphany
•
Palm Sunday
•
Easter
•
Ascension
•
Pentecost
Minor
Feasts
of
• The Circumcision
• The entrance
the
Lordof the
Lord into the Temple.
• The Escape of the Holy
Family to Egypt
• The first miracle of our
Lord at Cana.
• The Transfiguration
• The great Thursday
The 13th and 14th centuries
in the Coptic church
• The "Golden age" for production of
theological literature in Arabic.
• Coptic vs Arabic
• Received little attention from the western
scholars.
What the author wants
from this essay?
• How Anba Boulos interpreted the Gospel of
St John emphasizing human participation in
the divined body of the incarnate Word.
• The richness of the Arabic Christian
theological tradition as a resource for
scholars.
A. Bulus al Bushi treaties
on the Incarnation
• 3 parts and 9 chapters : 1) How God the Word
became Incarnate. 2) Why God became
Incarnate.3) the fruits of the Incarnation.
• How important the first 2 questions are, till
now in Egypt
• The third part is about how the incarnation of
the Word provided human salvation by
granting us eternal life and participation in
the Body of Christ.
• Anba Bulus relies on the Gospel of St. John (
6:51-57) to develop a sacramental theology of
Incarnation to emphasize our participation in
Christ’s body.
• The Christology in his writings could be examined
in two interpretive contexts:
• Christian apologetic with an
Islamic religious environment.
• 2) The hermeneutic tradition of Egyptian patristic
writers (St. Athansious and St. Cyril)
The Science of the word
‫علم الكالم‬ilm al Kalam
• It is a dialogical question-and-answer style
• In order to construct an apology for “right belief”
• It is a method used by Muslim authors to defend
their theological viewpoints against challenges from
other religious perspectives (including other
muslims who differ in viewpoint).
Anba Bulus and style of
al-kalam
• From chapter 2 throughout chapter 6, he
introduces each chapter with a question
posed by a group of anonymous muslim
interlocutors
examples on the incarnation
please check book, page 165
•
Chapter 4, sec. 1 (64-65) and if they say, “what is the proof
that this incarnate one is the creative power for all created
things?”
•
To them i said, .....(argument from Christ’s works)
•
each is introduced with the words:
•
if they say .... fa in qalu .... ‫فان قالوا‬
•
or ... if they ask .... fa in sa’alu ... ‫فان سآلوا‬
•
following each question anba Bulus presents an apologetic
response introduced by the words, “To them it is said ...
yuqalu lahum ... ‫يقال لهم‬
from the Quran ...
Al Imran 49
• “I have come to you with a sign from your
Lord. I create for you out of clay the
figure of a bird; then I breathe into it,
and it becomes a bird by God’s leave.
And I heal the blind and the leprous, and
I revive the dead, by God’s leave. And I
inform you concerning what you eat, and
what you store in your homes. In that is a
sign for you, if you are believers.”
Maimonides
Arabic Jewish writer (1135-1204)
‫موسي ابن ميمون‬
‫משה בן מימון‬
•
Witnesses four religious beliefs that were fundamental to alkalam literature:
•
the creation of the world
•
the existence of God
•
the unity of God
•
the incorporeality of God
•
these themes were shared by muslim, Jewish and
Christian mutakallimun.
Distinctive theological challenges
“medieval”Copts face in dialogue
with muslims
• for example: “how God did not send a messenger
(rasoul - ‫ )رسول‬for the salvation of God’s people?
• This is to start discussing the rolls of the Lord Jesus
Christ and Muhammad.
• The role of Christ has been always a key issue of
debate in Christian - Muslim apologetic encounter in
the kalam tradition.
Good example:
•
The excellent refutation of the Divinity of
Jesus from the Text of the Gospel (Al Rad al
gamil li-ilahiyat isa bi-sarih al-Ingil ‫الرد الجميل‬
‫)الالهيات عيسي بصريح االنجيل‬
• It was attributed to the famous Muslim writer
el imam al-Ghazali (pseudo-ala-Ghazali)
The Hermeneutical Tradition
of Egyptian Patristic Writers
• The author focused on how anba Bulus
interprets St. John 6:51-57 in developing his
eucharistic Christology.
• Anba Bulus’ aim is to show how humans are
made able to participate in the body of Christ,
first through baptism and then through the
Eucharist.
St John 6 : 51- 57
•
Anba Bulus begins with verse 51 and proceeds step-bystep to verse 57.
•
His aim to draw his readers through a series of logical
steps.
•
Christ’s “life-giving body” is the sign of God’s Grace
•
Christ added to us in Grace with regards to the state
Adam was in before his error.
•
Christ gave us His life-giving body.
51: I am the living bread which
came down from heaven. If anyone
eats of this bread, he will live
forever; and the bread that I shall
give is My flesh, which I shall give
for the life of the world.”
The life-giving body =
the life-giving bread
Then Jesus said to them, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink His blood, you
have no life in you.
53
The life-giving body =
eternal life
For My flesh is food indeed,and My
blood is drink indeed. 56 (He who
eats My flesh and drinks) My blood
abides in Me, and I in him.
(ο τρωγων μου την σαρκα και πινων μου το)
55
The two Greek/Coptic verbs = Pres. Act. Nom. Sg. M = keep on eating and keep on
drinking (not a one time action = sign of eternity). Only God is eternal.
My body is the true food, (Christ’s
body and Eucharist bread)= Christ
divinity
As the living Father sent Me,
and I live because of the
Father, so he who feeds on
Me will live because of Me.
57
Whoever eats me= witness
to the truth of incarnation
Conclusion
• Early Christian apologetic literature was directed to
the larger non-Christian society (including muslims).
• It functioned to mark boundaries and shape group
identity within christian communities, rather than
being directed to Muslim audience.
• Anba Bulus borrowed from his eight earlier homilies
on the life of Christ , which he preached to Copts.
• The boundaries are very clear at his final reflections
on the sacraments.
examples of the
boundaries:
• Immediately after his commentary on St. John 6:
• Whoever:
• does not have portion of faith in him
• has not received baptism
• has no communion in his living thrones
• ==> does not truly have a portion or a
share in the inheritance of eternal life.
Internal sociological function
of anba Bulus apologetic
• Is included in:
• kalam dialogical tradition (answer, defend and
reinforce the coptic church’s understanding).
• his commentary on St. John (sacramental
enactment of coptic church’s own
Christological doctrine).
Historical identity
• His Historical identity was formed through
reading the Gospel of St. John through the
lens of his own Egyptian interpretive tradition.
• Was the historical identity of his Arabicspeaking Christian readers, as theological
heirs to the ancient church (St Athanasius “Pi
Apostolicos” and St. Cyril “The Pillar of
Faith”).
• Like Athanasious and Cyril in the 4th and 5th
century, anba Bulus composed his
Christology in the midst of larger theological
debates that had implications for the selfidentity of the Egyptian church.
May their holy prayers be with us
all, amen.
Glory be to God
foreverAmen