Bishara Ebeid

The Virgin Mary has a prominent place in Coptic Literature, Liturgy and Theology. Scholars have already studied some aspects of Coptic Mariology, but Mariology in Arabo-Coptic literature is yet to be researched, especially in apocryphal and pseudepigraphic patristic works. In this paper I aim to highlight this lacuna by examining the figure of the Virgin Mary in two Arabic apocryphal works – the Lament of the Virgin known also as the Arabic Gospel of Gamaliel and the Martyrdom of Pilate, written and redacted in Egypt during the 11th – 12th century, i.e., during the Islamic Fatimid dynasty. I will focus on the revival of the ancient tradition of Mary Apostola Apostolorum, according to which the Virgin was the first person to meet the risen Christ, and on the reasons behind this phenomenon. In fact, the important role that the Virgin Mary assumes in Arabic Christian apocryphal literature reflects the significant place she occupies in the Qurʾān and Islamic tradition, and therefore makes her the most appropriate figure to be used and instrumentalized as defender of Christian doctrines when Christians face difficult circumstances. She becomes the defender of the Christian faith against Islamic accusations of that period, i.e., the polemics against the resurrection of Christ. This paper, then, will bring to light, a new aspect of the veneration of Mary in mediaeval Egypt.

This paper aims to highlight the original points the West-Syrian and Miaphysite theologian Abū Rāʾiṭah al-Takrītī (d. 838) uses to defend the addition into the Trisagion hymn: his liturgical arguments, his biblical arguments, and his means of relating Theopaschism to what he maintains to be a proper metaphysical system. The main purpose of the essay, however, is to analyse the patristic quotations Abū Rāʾiṭah provides to support his position and to demonstrate its orthodoxy. A comparative analysis of these quotations with some Syriac florilegia compiled by Miaphysites between the eighth and ninth centuries demonstrates that Abū Rāʾiṭah had access to such florilegia and their sources and used them into creating his own florilegium.

The Trinitarian doctrine of Abū al-Farağ ʻAbd Allah Ibn aṭ-Ṭayyib (10 th -11 th c.) may be considered a good example of an interpretation of the Trinitarian theology and metaphysical system of Babai the Great (7 c.). Babai made an effort to discern between metaphysical terms, such as: substance (kyānā), hypostasis (qnōmā), and person (parṣōpā), making a peculiar mixture of Cappadocian, Nestorian, i.e., East Syrian, and Antiochene theology. Ibn aṭ-Ṭayyib, however, did not make use of Babai‟s terminology. Particularly, although he explained the Trinitarian dogma in a similar way to Babai, he did not apply the term person (parṣōpā) to the Trinitarian theology. This paper aims to show the importance of the Trinitarian thought of Ibn aṭṬayyib. It also answers the following questions: 1) how was he able to make an excellent interpretation of Babai‟s thought in the language and ambient of Islam, and 2) why did he consider it the best way to explain the Trinitarian dogma to the Muslims? THE...

This paper aims to study and analyse the Trinitarian doctrine of a Syriac Patristic florilegium of Trinitarian content found in MS London, British Library, Add. 14532, in an attempt to understand the reasons that led to its composition. It will include an analysis of the development of Miaphysite metaphysics during the sixth and the seventh centuries, when the Miaphysites had to deal with various internal controversies, and an analytical presentation of the florilegium and of its contents, with an identification of the patristic quotations used by the compiler. The study of the theology and metaphysics of this florilegium will go on to demonstrate that the Miaphysites, starting from their Christology and
the problems it created in their Trinitarian doctrine, formulated a metaphysical system based on a new comprehension of “substance”, “hypostasis”, “property” and “monarchy” and developed what I call
“Miaphysite Trinitarian doctrine”.

The first Scripture for Christians was the Old Testament, which, however, they read in the light of Christ. For them, in disagreement with the Jews themselves, the prophecies of the OT regarding the Messiah were realized in Jesus Christ. In this case, Christians read the OT differently than did Jews, who continued to read the OT according to their tradition while refusing to accept Christ as the Messiah. The Qur'ān, however, accepts that Jesus Christ was al-Masīḥ, but rejects the doctrines of the Trinity and of Christ as the incarnate Son of God the Father. This was, in fact, one of the main differences between the two religions. For their part, Christians, although they did not recognize prophecy in Muḥammad, used the Holy Book of Muslims in their different writings, especially as proof-texting for apologetic purposes. 1

Quando gli Arabi Musulmani conquistarono le province orientali di Bisanzio e l’impero Sassanide applicarono a ciascuna delle confessioni cristiane, nestoriani, miafisiti giacobiti e melchiti-calcedonesi, già divise in chiese indipendenti gerarchicamente, il termine
tâ’ifah che ha anche il senso di nazione, con diverso significato, però, da quello acquisito in epoca moderna. Scopo del presente studio è mostrare il processo per mezzo del quale la Chiesa giacobita creò la sua identità nazionale. Tale creazione non fu ex nihilo, ma il risultato
dell’insieme di alcuni fattori, dottrinale, storico, linguistico, liturgico e culturale, sviluppati gradualmente nel tempo, che portarono a formare una tradizione propria con la quale la medesima Chiesa arrivò a sentirsi distinta dalle altre chiese. Studieremo, dunque, questi fattori
e illustreremo gli elementi essenziali che contribuirono a “creare” tale identità nazionale per la Chiesa giacobita.

We should like, with our paper, to highlight another aspect of the Christological controversy that took place immediately after the ‘nestorianization’ of the Church of the East in 612 AD. We mean the controversy of Martyrius-Sahdona and the reaction of the catholicos Gewargis I. In Martyrius’ Christology, the ‘divinization’ of the mystic is seen as a consequence of the ‘divinization’ of the human nature in Christ because of the union of the two natures that occurred in the one hypostasis and person of the Word, refuting in this way, the official doctrine of his Church, i.e. the two natures and hypostases united in the one person of Christ. Against this Christology, the catholicos Gewargis I attempted to intervene on two levels: canonical, through a synod convoked in Qatar in 676, and doctrinal, through a letter written in 679/680 and sent to Mina, a Corepiscope in Persia. In the synod, there was a controversy against certain ‘false monks’ and a focus on the importance of the Orthodox faith to counteract heretics; his letter, on
the other hand, expressed a true controversy against those who taught the hypostatic union, i.e., Martyrius and his followers. In the letter, moreover, the catholicos proposes a doctrine of ‘divinization’, based, however, on the official Christological doctrine of his Church. Their Christologies will be studied and compared so we can illustrate better this important period of the history of this church. We will see also how the catholicos developed the Christology of the two-qnomē so that the doctrine of ‘divinization’ could be applicable in its metaphysical system.

After the publication of the Ms Sinai Arab 580, M. Breydy, the text editor, arrived to a new consideration regarding the existed edition of the Annals by Eutychius of Alexandria (Saʻīd ibn Baṭrīq), edited by L. Cheikho. In Breydy’s opinion the text of the Annals is an elaborated text and not the original work of Ibn Baṭrīq, therefore according to him the text should be called an “Antiochian version”. With respect to this, he suggested that someone else elaborated and completed in Antioch the original and shorter text. However, the text edited by M. Breydy and called by him the “Alexandrian version” is the original text of Ibn Baṭrīq’ Annals. This opinion of M. Breydy was accepted by other scholars and was a reason to doubt the authenticity of another work attributed to Eytuchius called the Book of the demonstration (Kitāb al-Burhān), which later was attributed to Peter of Bayt Raʼsa.
In this paper we would like to open again the discussion on the original text of the Annals and the authenticity of the Book of the demonstration. We will attempt to show that the text edited by L. Cheikho is the original text by Ibn Baṭrīq. This will be achieved by studying the relations between the three theological insertions found in the historical work and the relation found between these insertions and the theological terminology in the historical work.  A new consideration will also be given with respect to the Book of the demonstration and its attribution to Ibn Baṭrīq. The paper’s aim is also to consider Ibn Baṭrīq not only a historian but also a theologian.

Un approccio patristico-liturgico. Parte seconda Nella prima parte di questo studio abbiamo analizzato il simbolo sponsale es-presso nell'AT e nel NT, come una relazione tra Dio e il suo amante — l'uomo. Abbiamo rilevato in quale modo l'incarnazione del Verbo è stata vista come l'unione matrimoniale di amore divino analizzando la dottrina patristica greca. In questa parte vedremo come la tradizione patristica siriaca vide tale immagine simbolica e come si è sviluppata sin dalla tradizione giudeo-cristiana semitica fino a quella dei Padri siriaci dei primi secoli. Alla fine arriveremo a vedere come questa immagine ebbe (e ha ancora) un ruolo semantico nella tradizione liturgica sia bizantino-greca sia quella siriaca.

The Church of the East, even if it was outside the Byzantine Empire and did not take part in the Christological discussions and controversies there, could not be silent. Our analysis of the Christological statements and professions of faith shows the reaction of this Church to the Christological controversies. These statements demonstrate this Church’s own progress in Christological thought, its way of responding to the most important Christological questions, in two different Christological currents: the qnomâ-parúopâ current and the two-qnomê current. This analysis could help scholars understand better the development of the Christology of this Church before the assembly of bishops in 612 and her “Nestorianization,” namely, the doctrine of two kyanê (natures) and two qnomê (hypostases) in the one parsopâ (persona) of Christ. This analysis could also assist scholars who study the Christology of the Church of the East after the year 612, since the controversy between the two different Christological currents did not stop with the victory of the two-qnomê movement in 612.

The relationship between God and human being was seen, already in the OT, as amorous. The image that was most preferred, with which this relationship could be described, was the spousal image. It was used metaphorically to underline, on the one hand, the desire of the man-bride to go back to paradise, after his fall, and to be with his God-bridegroom and to join Him, and on the other, the will of God-bridegroom himself, being in his garden-paradise, to invite His bride to come and to enter to make the nuptial feast with Him. In this first part of our article we will illustrate this symbolic image, starting from its dogmatic base, then presenting its biblical background and at the end analyzing the Greek patristic interpretations of it and how the fathers related this image to the liturgical life of the primitive church.

This book offers a critical edition and an English translation of the Commentary of the Creed (Tafsīr al-amānah al-kabīrah) written by Elias, the then-called Nestorian Metropolitan of Nisibis (975-1046 AD). In his Commentary, Elias quotes sections of the Syriac text of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed which his Church, the Oriental Church, adopted. For each section, he gives an Arabic translation and a brief interpretation. The editor, Bishara Ebeid presents the life of Elias in its historical context and offers a comparative analysis of the Syriac and the Arabic versions of the Creed in his Commentary. He makes remarks and he argues about the biblical quotations the author made in his interpretations and provides a study of the main doctrines developed by Elias, such as the Trinitarian and Christological doctrines. Elias’s Commentary is to be considered as an exposition of his Church’s faith in a polemic and apologetic way. In fact, he defends his position regarding the doctrines of the two major Oriental Churches, the Melkites and the Jacobites, and also regarding Islam and its accusations against Christians concerning the Trinity and the dogma of the Incarnation, God the Word.

The research deals with the presentation of the history of dogma, Trinitarian and Christological doctrines of the Melkite Sa'id Ibn Batriq (Eutychius of Alexandria), the Coptic Sawirus (Severus) Ibn al-Muqaffa' and the Nestorian Elias of Nisibis.