• Books – Egypt

    The earliest Christian idea of reform, as revealed in both the New Testament and patristic writings, was that of personal ascetic reform. But, as we have seen, the reach of that reform was always limited by the sphere of one’s “ascetic influence,” that is, the reach of one’s capacity to disciple. This explains the peculiar failure of top-down legislated ecclesial reforms in the past two millennia, for hearts can never be transformed from above. Programs of reform, one scholar [Stephen R. Lloyd-Moffet in Beauty for Ashes: The Spiritual Transformation of a Modern Greek Community] writes, may give an appearance of efficacy, and dynamic clergy may even bring people to the altar, but none of these produces lasting change when compared to even one “encounter with genuine holiness.” “Holiness,” in the words of Bishop Meletios of Preveza, “will beget more holiness”…What began in the Church of St Menas in Old Cairo would end, a few decades later, in the transformation of an entire Church. Few could have suspected the influence of a mostly silent urban recluse and his handful of restless disciples…That same method of kenotic and ascetic personal reform was imparted to his disciples, and through them it discipled the next generation of clergy and laity. To my knowledge it is one of the most profoundly tenacious, diffuse, and transformative spiritual revolutions in the history of Christianity since the Apostolic Age. – Daniel Fanous, A Silent Patriarch

    See also books on the Middle East.

    Return to general books page.

     

    A Sword Over the Nile: A Brief History of the Copts Under Islamic Rule

    by Adel Guindy  – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here

     

    A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI Life and Legacy

    by Daniel Fanous  – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here

     

    The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs

    by Martin Mosebach – To read the Open Library entry for this book click here