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The concept of historical cause in Flavius Josephus

The concept of historical cause in Flavius Josephus Historical explanation by means of causes is the all-important prime requisite for a historical text to be presented with guarantees of faithfulness to historical truth. I therefore propose to analyse the two aspects announced at the beginning of this chapter. In the first section I shall classify …

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ANSWER

Dictionaries / By Youssef Matta

ANSWER Passing over the very large number of occurrences of this word in the common sense of ‘reply’ (ἀποκρίνομαι, ἀπόκρισις), there are one or two interesting usages to note before we come to the most theologically significant use of the term. Thus in Tit 2:9 slaves are enjoined not to ‘answer again’ (AV; RV ‘gainsay,’ …

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Trinity and Oneness and the Incarnation (20)

Spiritual Life / By Youssef Matta

Trinity and Oneness and the Incarnation Introduction Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to Him, told His disciples, “and you shall be witnesses to Me.” (Acts 1: 8) This witness is based on two main pillars: first, bearing witness to the true doctrine, and second, bearing witness through Christian behavior. It is not possible to …

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How to pray- The prayer response secret (2) (14)

Spiritual Life / By Youssef Matta

How to pray- The prayer response secret (2) (14) Introduction Why are some people’s prayers answered, while others don’t!! as if they don’t pray, or pray to another God who doesn’t respond?! There is a secret in prayer’s responding: 1st: Expectation. 2nd: Patience. Patience is important not only in the spiritual life, but in …

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Figures in the Carpet and Monastic Spirituality in the Wadi al-Natrun (Scetis)

Eminent, Places / By Armia FAYEZ

Figures in the Carpet: Macarius the Great, Isaiah of Scetis, Daniel of Scetis, and Monastic Spirituality in the Wadi al-Natrun (Scetis) From the Fourth to the Sixth Century Not many years ago I read a very good scholarly book on Palestinian monasticism in Late Antiquity. In my review of that book I observed, however, that …

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The Sabbath

Theology / By Youssef Matta

The Sabbath The sanctity of the Sabbath was instituted at Creation. After His creative work of six days, God rested on the seventh day and hallowed it. By hallowing it, God set the seventh day apart. He consecrated it as holy. Proper observance of the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments given at Mount …

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The Glory of Christ

Theology / By Youssef Matta

The Glory of Christ We tend to think of glory as something achieved by extraordinary athletic victories, business achievements, or personal fame. In the Bible, however, it has to do with the radiant shining forth of the transcendent majesty of God. At crucial moments the splendor of Jesus’ deity burst through the cloak of His …

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Funerary Aspects in the paintings from the Apollo Monastery at Bawit

Heritage, Places / By Armia FAYEZ

Funerary Aspects in the paintings from the Apollo Monastery at Bawit Introduction Much has been written about the monastic settlement of Bawit and it seems a daring task to try and add something substantially new to this. First of all, we have limited access to the material on which we can base our conclusions. Only …

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St. Mary In The Coptic Rite

Liturgy, Eminent / By Armia FAYEZ

ST. MARY IN THE COPTIC[1] RITE It is too difficult to give an account of the prominent place of St. Mary in the Coptic Church in this short treatise. For St. Mary is commemorated and invoked in every daily hymn and liturgy, and even in every canonical hour, day and night. Various Marian feasts are …

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Toward an Understanding of the ‘Akhmim Style’ Icons and Ciboria: the Indigenous and the Foreign[1]

Heritage / By Armia FAYEZ

Toward an Understanding of the ‘Akhmim Style’ Icons and Ciboria: the Indigenous and the Foreign[1] THE LATE FOURTEENTH-century painting by Gherardo Starnina, La Tebaide in Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, provides perhaps the last medieval visualized memory of the (ideal) Christian sacred landscape along the Nile in Upper Egypt, densely inhabited by hermits tending their …

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