Dr Wagdy Samir, AIOCS Director of Orthodox Studies offered a paper for the conference Emerging Coptic Theology in Australia, organised by St Athanasius College (University of Divinity) and St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College (Sydney College of Divinity). 14-15 October 2022.
Abstract: The paper examines Fr Matta’s views on divine participation within the context of humankind’s indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The paper emphasises the interconnectedness of Fr Matta’s soteriology, pneumatology, trinitarian theology, and sacramental theology with Christology as the central locus of humankind’s union with the divine. Fundamentally, Fr Matta speaks of divine participation’s real and transformative power in humankind. He argues for the continuity in God’s plan to unite humankind to himself since before the foundation of the world. He acknowledges the dynamics of the divine activity in facilitating participation and humankind’s free response to it. He also emphasises that union with God does not lead to human beings becoming ontologically divine. Finally, for him, humankind’s participation in God begins in this life and reaches its zenith in eternity.
Video recording
Further details can be found here.
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