I’m pleased to announce a programme of Study Days for the latter part of 2024 on the theme of Early Egyptian Christianity.
In Roman times Alexandria was a cultural and intellectual hotspot, in second place to Rome itself (until usurped by “New Rome” – Constantinople – in 330 AD). Tradition has St Mark leaving St Peter in Rome and travelling to Alexandria to establish the church there in the middle of the first century.
Over the next 400 years Christianity transformed from being seen as a proselytising secret society with subversive tendencies, suitable only for the ignorant or slaves (according to the 2nd century philosopher Celsus) into the official religion of the Roman Empire.
This transformation was assisted in the 2nd and 3rd centuries by teachers and apologists such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen. And once the Church was more established, the bishops of Alexandria (including notably St Athanasius and St Cyril) played a leading role in the international theological debates of the 4th and 5th centuries in which key doctrines on topics such as the Trinity and Christology were debated and hammered out.
The focus of this programme on Early Egyptian Christianity is therefore not merely of parochial interest but is a way into some of the key topics & debates of the early church period.
Whilst the bulk of the programme consists of four Study Days on four individuals, there is also an online Advent Reading Group in which we’ll work through Athanasius’ classic text “On the Incarnation”.
If you have any questions, please get in touch. I hope to see you at one or more of these events!
A PDF of the programme is available here, with a preview shown below.
OrdinaryTheology-Sept-Dec-2024-Programme