The AIOCS 2024 “Beginnings” Prize Was Just Awarded

AIOCS is thrilled to announce the awarding of its inaugural “Beginnings” Prize. This is a dream come true!

The prize, amounting to AUD 1,000, was awarded to Ramsey Andrews, a Coptic Orthodox theologian and psychologist living in Sydney. The award was handed to the winner at the end of October 2024, for writing a relevant—indeed, exciting—research essay.

The title of the essay is “Deification within the Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Context: Father Matta Al-Miskin and Pope Shenouda III.” The essay weighs over 12,400 words and will be published by AIOCS Press as an ebook, in 2025, with the author receiving 10% of the proceeds in the form of royalties, on a yearly basis.

Warm congratulations to the author!

Stay tuned for updates about the publication of this volume by AIOCS Press.

For information about the annual AIOCS “Beginnings” Prizes, check this out.

Abstract

The Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church is currently shaken by a debate regarding divine participation, which began as a disagreement between Pope Shenouda III (1923–2012) and Father Matta Al-Miskin (1919–2006). Drawing on the Greek patristic tradition, Father Matta subscribed to the theology of deification, whereas the late patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church maintained that no Church father had ever condoned such a doctrine. The present study critically examines the views of the two protagonists of this dispute. It examines Father Matta’s teaching on deification against the backdrop of the Alexandrian tradition. It assesses, furthermore, Pope Shenouda’s understanding of the notion of deification in the light of the Coptic-Arabic literature. The study argues that, while the concept of deification might pose complications to erudite and irenic discussions between Christians and Muslims in Egypt, which could jeopardise peaceful coexistence, the same is not the case of Coptic Orthodox Christians living elsewhere. Indeed, in modern times, the Coptic Orthodox Church expanded in many nonhostile environments abroad. The study suggests, therefore, the necessity of implementing a plurivocal Orthodox approach that avoids Orthodox theological reductionism and that aims to seek unity rather than uniformity among dissenting voices.

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