Great is the mystery of piety:
God was manifested in the flesh
(1.Tim.3:16)

A Critical Commentary on the book ”On the Nature of Christ”
by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
By Seminarian Nicholas Vester,
St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Autumn 2005.

Introduction

In 1984 Pope Shenouda III gave a series of lectures at the Seminary of St. Mark, about the Christology of the Coptic Church. The Coptic Church later decided to publish the lectures for educational purposes, and subsequently they were translated into English to be presented as a paper at a meeting of the Pro-Oriente Group* in October 1991. This small book bears the signature of Pope Shenouda III and can be taken as the official Coptic Christological Position. Most of the below critical commentary has been compiled from the exegetical and dogmatical writings of the Fathers of the Church. The reason for this is that Holy Scripture must be understood within the Tradition of the Church, which is the experience of the Church, and this experience is handed down to us through the writings of the Fathers. Pope Shenouda quotes many scriptoral passages, but very rarely does he quote any of these exegetical and dogmatical Patristic writings. Recognizing with great respect and love the ancient Tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and especially Pope Shenouda’s steadfast defence of Orthodox Christianity through many struggles his homeland, Egypt, I shall nevertheless venture to give a critical commentary on the most important christological statements made by Pope Shenouda III in his book, as seen from a Chalcedonian, or Byzantine Christological position. In his book Pope Shenouda often seems to identify the term ”nature” with ”person”, which in my understanding results in a misinterpretation of the Byzantine Christology. Hopefully the following will explain and clarify the Byzantine Christological position on the person and natures of Christ the Incarnate Logos. Due to limited space, I have been forced to paraphrase most of Pope Shenouda’s statements, but have done my utmost to retain the essence of his statements without alteration. The statements of Pope Shenouda is in bold, and the commentary in normal typeface and the commentary follows the chapter headings in Pope Shenouda’s book.
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*A Standing Commission of Oriental Orthodox Churches following the Oriental Orthodox Tradition

>>> To be continued