Download PDF | (Oxford Early Christian Studies) Stephen J. Davis - Coptic Christology in Practice_ Incarnation and Divine Participation in Late Antique and Medieval Egypt-Oxford University Press, USA (2008).
390 Pages
Preface
Throughout its long history, the church in Egypt has been home to a dynamic, multi-sensory tradition of reXection on the person and work of Jesus Christ. In the second century, Clement of Alexandria speaks of Christ, the divine Word, as a ‘New Song’ that has ‘many tones of voice, and many methods for the salvation of humankind’.1 In an early Wfth-century sermon, Theophilus of Alexandria calls Christ’s body in the eucharist ‘the fruit of obedience that wards oV the evil of the terrible one’, and repeatedly exhorts his listeners to ‘taste and see that I, the Lord, am good’.2
A generation later, Cyril of Alexandria uses the metaphor of a Xower and its aromatic fragrance to describe the relation of the divine and the human in the person of Christ.3 For other Copts in late antiquity—from Coptic-speaking pilgrims to the increasingly Arabized theological elite—the powerful touch of Christ’s hand in the Gospels and in local traditions about the Holy Family’s Xight into Egypt was seen as tangible evidence for his divine power and lordship. Finally, in antiquity as well as today, from the Upper Nile Valley to the modern Coptic diaspora in Europe and North America, Egyptian Christians have worshipped in churches and monasteries where their eyes gaze on images from the life of Christ—images woven into textile hangings, carved into limestone and marble reliefs, and painted on wooden icons and plastered walls. As seen in these examples, the history of Egyptian Christology cannot be traced merely through an examination of systematic rubrics in theological treatises: also required is a keen sensitivity to diVerent social and linguistic contexts, to diVerent media and metaphors of communication.
The aim of this book is to narrate some of the contours of this history. While my primary focus will be on late antique and medieval Egyptian Christology—especially the ways that Coptic Christians represented (and worshipped) Christ from the fifth to the thirteenth century—I plan to use my introduction and conclusion to situate this material within an even longer history of christological reXection and interpretation. Thus, I begin my study with an extended introduction to early Alexandrian Greek Christology in late antiquity, in order to lay the groundwork for showing how early Alexandrian writings served as an interpretative basis for later Egyptian discourse (both verbal and visual) about Christ. Building on this, Chs. 1–4 explore the way that this Alexandrian Christology was contextualized in the teachings and ritual practices of Coptic-speaking communities in the Nile Valley. Here, I guide the reader on a virtual tour of various ritualized sites for the transmission of christological knowledge and praxis, with special attention to the monastic literature of Shenoute and the White Monastery (Ch. 1), Coptic liturgy (Ch. 2), processional and pilgrimage practices (Ch. 3), and the role of Coptic visual art in the christological construction of human bodies and church space (Ch. 4). Finally, in my last two chapters, I examine the early Arabization of Egyptian Christology in the tenth-century writings of Sa¯wı¯rus ibn al-MuqaVa # (Ch. 5) and the continued Arabic Christian reception of Alexandrian Greek Christology into the thirteenth century (Ch. 6). Thus, my story formally ends with the Copto-Arabic ‘Golden Age,’ a Xourishing of theological literary expression that took place in the context of Christian– Muslim cultural encounter. In my postscript, however, I provide the reader with something of an epilogue to this tale—a few select glimpses into how Coptic christological reXection and practice has continued into the modern period, in the writings of such Wgures as Patriarch Matthew IV (17th century), Matta¯ al-Miskı¯n and his fellow monks at the Monastery of Saint Macarius (20th–21st century), and Pope Shenouda III (20th–21st century). In tracing this history, my intention is not to provide a comprehensive account of two millennia of Egyptian reXection on the person and role of Christ. Nor do I aspire to provide an encyclopedic treatment of each Wgure or work that I discuss in this book. Such an approach to this topic would require multiple volumes, an undertaking that lies well beyond the scope of this study. Instead, I intend to present a series of vignettes, or illustrative case studies, that will shed light on two particular aspects of the Egyptian christological tradition: (1) the doctrine of the Incarnation (i.e. the divine Word’s act of becoming Xesh in Christ), and (2) its implications for human salvation—especially notions of human participation in the divine, sometimes described by Alexandrian patristic theologians in terms of human deiWcation. How have Christians in Egypt understood the union of the divine and the human in the person of Christ? In what terms have they addressed the problem of embodiment as it relates to the divine Word? How have Christians in Egypt understood the act of Incarnation itself to be related to human salvation? What were its consequences for human nature, and more speciWcally, what were its eVects on the human condition of embodiment? How have Egyptian Christians understood the Incarnation to enable human participation in divine or heavenly realities? In what ways have such christological beliefs been enacted in the life of local communities? In order to answer such questions, I seek to analyse Coptic Christology from an interdisciplinary perspective. If one wants to understand how the doctrine of the Incarnation functioned—how notions of human participation in the Incarnation were lived out in the life of Egyptian communities—it is necessary to focus not simply on the traditional literary sources for histories of doctrine (i.e. theological treatises and letters), but also on other non-traditional sources. I have in mind here monastic, hagiographical, homiletical, and liturgical texts, as well as visual art—alternative media that provide the historian with more direct access to church practices intimately tied to christological reXection. In using this range and diversity of sources, one of my goals is to break down (or at least destabilize) the customary methodological divide between the disciplines of historical theology and social history. In the end, my goal is to provide a more textured description of how the history of doctrine may be fruitfully related to a history of religious practice. This book, therefore, seeks to forge a new path in the study of early Christian Christology. In addition to the well-tried approaches of historical theologians, I will draw on the Welds of social history, discourse theory, ritual studies, and the visual arts in order to show how Christian identity was shaped by a set of replicable christological practices. How exactly did Egyptian Christians represent—and ritually enact—their beliefs about Christ in monastic liturgy, in pilgrimage, and in the visual production of sacred space? In what ways were such christological practices contested—i.e. shaped by theological controversy and inter-religious debate? Egypt provides an ideal geographical setting for the exploration of these questions: not only is it rich in ancient Christian documentation, but it is also a place where the survival of the Coptic church under medieval Islamic rule allows for a diachronic study of literary and material sources across periods of linguistic change—from Greek, to Coptic, and eventually into Arabic. As a social historian of late antiquity trained in theology, I am keenly interested in investigating how the Coptic church negotiated the cultural transition from late antiquity to Dar al-Islam both in thought and in practice. One of the challenges in attempting to write a book that spans hundreds of years is the need to give adequate account of both discontinuities and continuities over such a long period. By organizing my chapters as a collection of vignettes or case studies, I try to convey something of the distinctiveness (or contextualization) of the Christologies produced by individuals and communities living in diVerent eras and locales. At the same time, however I also point to certain diachronic continuities in the production of Egyptian Christology. To this end, I have chosen to highlight three key factors that deWnitively marked the way that early Alexandrian understandings of the Incarnation were received and ‘traditioned’ across subsequent generations in Egypt: (1) the interpretation of biblical texts and patristic authorities, (2) the production of apologetical literature in the context of theological controversy, and (3) worship and other ritual activities that functioned as privileged venues for christological communication and performance. These three themes—interpretation, apologetics, and especially ritual practice—serve as consistent points for conversation throughout this book as I seek to show how Egyptian images of the Incarnation were variously reappropriated, contested, and enacted in the life of the church.
Acknowledgements The roots of Coptic Christology in Practice trace back just over half a decade to the autumn of 2001, when the editors at Oxford University Press prompted me to submit a proposal for a new book that would allow me to explore the reception of Alexandrian patristic theology in later Coptic and Copto-Arabic literature, material culture, and ritual practice. Little did I know at the time how many people would serve as indispensable companions and guides over the course of my research and writing. Here, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all those who helped facilitate this work and who have so often steered me around hazards and missteps along the way. I want to begin by expressing my gratitude to Andrew Louth, Gillian Clark, and the other editors at OUP—Hilary O’Shea, Lucy Qureshi, Tom Perridge, Georgia Berry, Alice Jacobs and Sylvia JaVrey—for the conWdence they invested in me and for their excellent work in shepherding this project from its beginning to its completion. In addition, I have also beneWted from the critical eye of several colleagues who took time from their busy schedules to read my manuscript and oVer advice on speciWc points. Three deserve special mention. First, Bentley Layton, as always, has been my most trusted scholarly mentor, friend, and advocate. Once again his unfailingly detailed and insightful comments have enhanced my work in innumerable ways. Second, Mark Swanson has demonstrated a deep reservoir of patience in Welding an array of questions about Arabic Christian literature by email, over the phone, and while rooming with me at conferences.Without his guidance, Iwould surely have lost my way as I tried to develop a workable basis of expertise in that Weld. Third, Stephen Emmel (along with his wife Barbara), has shown incredible generosity to me and my family during my Humboldt fellowship year in Mu¨nster, Germany. Stephen proved to be an exemplary host and invaluable conversation partner in Coptic studies during the Wnal stages of my writing. Among the others who oVered feedback on my text, I particularly want to thank Warren Smith for his thoughtful advice regarding my treatment of Alexandrian Greek theology, as well as Janet Timbie for her knowledgeable comments related to Coptic language and literature. Many other persons and institutions have also oVered intellectual, emotional, and material support to me over the course of my research and writing. This project began while I was professor at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, and I must thank in particular the seminary president Atef Mehanny Gendi and my other colleagues from that institution—especially the former coordinators of graduate studies, Michael Shelley and David Grafton—for their friendship and support of my research interests. I am also very grateful to Hani Yusef Kostandi and Safwat Adel Henein for many entertaining and informative conversations related to Arabic language and theology. The framework of this book was considerably Xeshed out in a masters-level course on Coptic Christology that I taught as a visiting professor at the seminary during my Wrst leave from Yale in the spring of 2005, and I thank the students of that class for their challenging questions and their lively engagement with the topic. My interest in the Arabic language was originally cultivated while living and working in Egypt from 1998 to 2002, and I want to express my gratitude to the Dar Comboni Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, and especially to Ashraf Fawzi and Ashgan Ahmad, for the intensive linguistic instruction I received under their tutelage. Shukran min # umq qalbı¯. Since my relocation to New Haven in 2002, the faculty, students, and administration at Yale University have supported my research in a myriad of ways. Departmental chairs Dale Martin and Skip Stout have given their full support and encouragement to me as I have applied for fellowships and grants to fund my leaves and Weld research. My colleagues and friends Ludger Viefhues, Shannon Craigo-Snell, and Frank GriVel have provided counsel on scholarly matters ranging from cultural criticism to Islamic studies, and on personal matters ranging from parental worries to Wnding good cuisine. I have also beneWted in concrete ways from the insights of both undergraduate and graduate students in my courses on related subjects like patristic Greek, late antique pilgrimage, and Arabic Christian literature. Finally, from the Yale administration, I have been fortunate to receive monetary support in the form of a Morse Fellowship in the Humanities (2004–5), and two Griswold research grants (awarded in 2003–4 and 2004–6) for archival research at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the Bibliothe`que nationale in Paris, the Bibliothe`que orientale at the Universite´ St-Joseph in Beirut, the Bibliothe`que du Centre d’e´tudes orientales chre´tiennes, the Socie´te´ d’arche´ologie copte, and the Coptic Museum in Cairo, and the British Library in London. This archival research was simply indispensable for the completion of my project. At the Field Museum in Chicago, I was able to examine the Coptic tunic with images from the life of Christ that I discuss in Ch. 4. I want to thank Vasileios Marinis for initially acquainting me with this piece and curator Steve Nash for facilitating my visit to the museum in May of 2004. At the Bibliothe`que nationale in Paris in June and July of that same year, due to the kind intervention by Michel Garel and Anne Boud’hors, I was able to gain access to BN Copte 68, a manuscript that contains the early medieval Coptic liturgical procession that I discuss in Ch. 3. During my time at the Bibliothe`que orientale at the Universite´ St-Joseph in Beirut (January 2005), I was able to study and acquire digital copies of two Arabic manuscripts of the Precious Pearl by Sa¯wı¯rus ibn al-MuqaVa # discussed in Ch. 5: my thanks to the director, May Seeman Seigneurie, for making that research possible and for her warm hospitality. During my stay in Lebanon, I also enjoyed the hospitality of the Near East School of Theology, where I beneWted from the company of Islamic studies professor Jon Hoover and his family. In Cairo, during the spring of 2005, Father Wadi Abullif was incredibly helpful in giving me access to holdings at both the Bibliothe`que du Centre d’e´tudes orientales chre´tiennes and the Socie´te´ d’arche´ologie copte in Cairo, including allowing me to photograph his own copy of Maiberger’s unpublished edition of chs. 6–15 from the Precious Pearl (see again Ch. 5 of this book). During that same visit, the Director of the Coptic Museum, Philippe Halim, kindly helped me acquire permission to reproduce an image of Coptic textile depicting the Holy Family’s Xight to Egypt (see Fig. 4.12). Finally, I also want to thank the British Library for allowing me the opportunity to examine several Copto-Arabic manuscripts during my visit to London in August of 2006. My Wnal year of writing and revision was made possible by a research leave funded by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and hosted by Stephen Emmel and the Institut fu¨r A¨ gyptologie und Koptologie at Westfa¨lische Wilhelms-Universita¨t Mu¨nster. I want to express my profound thanks to the Humboldt Foundation for their generous support of my work and language study while in Germany, and to Ursela Michels and Ca¨cilia Nauderer for providing such eVective guidance on Wnancial and practical matters. I am also deeply appreciative of the academic support I received from colleagues at the Institute for Coptic Studies in Mu¨nster, especially Susanna Hodak, Siegfried Richter, and Samuel Muawwad. Last but not least, I need to acknowledge Stephen and Barbara Emmel once again, along with their neighbours Wolfgang and Heidi Zierau, who quickly became surrogate kin for my family and me in Germany and who went to extraordinary lengths to make our stay a comfortable one, including providing transportation and helping to arrange our housing and our children’s schooling. Many, many thanks to them for all their acts of kindness. Academic conferences and study groups have also provided a crucial settingfor developing and presenting my work in conversation with colleagues. I presented diVerent pieces of my research at the Zamalek Group for Christian–Muslim Relations in Cairo, at annual and regional meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature, at the Fayoum and Sohag Symposia on Christianity and Monasticism in Egypt, at the Partakers of the Divine Nature Conference at Drew University, at the North American Patristics Society, at the Eighth International Congress of Coptic Studies in Paris, and at the St Shenouda Society Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. The questions and comments raised by my listeners at these sessions helped me reWne my argumentation at various points. Finally, my three years of chairing the Society of Biblical Literature consultation on ‘Christian Late Antiquity and Its Reception’ gave me the opportunity to proWt from a series of excellent contributions on the ways that early Christian theology and material culture were reinterpreted and reworked in later historical settings. My thanks go especially to my steering committee: Christopher Beeley, Kimberly Bowes, and Mark Swanson. The generosity of everyone mentioned above has been overwhelming and humbling, but even so pales in comparison to the gifts I have received from my family over the past Wve years. During that time, I have taken great joy in watching my three children, Evanleigh, Harrison, and Rowyn, grow and mature before my eyes, while adapting to the cultures and languages of three diVerent countries. I am grateful for the patience, love, and forgiveness that they demonstrate to me every day, and my love for them knows no bounds. I also want to extend my gratitude to my parents, Donald and Esther Davis, for their unXinching spiritual support, and to Mom and Dad Smith for trusting me with the greatest gift I have ever received—my life-partner, Jenny. Words are not suYcient to sum up what she has contributed to this book as wife, lover, mother, editor, chef, caretaker, counsellor, conWdante, and fellow seeker-in-faith. I keep my promise: this book belongs to her. S.J.D. Mu¨nster, Germany Epiphany 2007
Link
Press Here
0 التعليقات :
إرسال تعليق