An early work of the Coptic philosopher Zakaria Ibrahim written around the time he was invited to contribute to the Sunday School Magazine by Archdeacon Habib Girgis.
To the Youth
Messages in Words
1. Be Men
The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying: “Be men. Be strong” (1 Cor 16:13).[1]This is the literal translation of the Arabic text of this verse: Kūnū rijālān (1 Cor 16:13). The NKJV renders the Greek ἀνδρίζεσθε κραταιοῦσθε (andrizesthe krataiousthe) as “be brave, be strong.” The Greek root verb here, ἀνδρίζω (andrizō) means to make a man of, make manly, come to manhood, or even dress like a man. In the ancient cultural environment of the Gospels, this was synonymous with being brave or courageous. I have chosen to maintain the more literal translations of “man” (rajul) and “manliness” (rujūla) to preserve to original flavour of the text rather than impose an anachronistic modern political correctness upon it, but readers are free to read “courage” and “strength” instead. Without doubt, manliness involves burdens and costs, for manliness is not worldly strength, expressed in the body, nor an external appearance perfected in mature age, but spiritual strength manifest in the soul and translated into the works of the individual and the flourishing of his behaviour.
How many youth I have seen who outwardly appear to be fully-grown men; but in whom the manliness of their bodies contradicts the childishness of their works! Do they know that the measure of manliness lies in how ready a person is to accept whatever life brings in terms of costs and burdens? Christianity is a religion of strength, so nothing that weakens the meaning of manliness in his soul is of Christianity, neither is anything that erases from his soul the marks of strength. But this strength that is required by the life of manliness is that a person compel himself to rule over his desires and his lusts, not yielding authority to them nor surrendering to them, but rather saying “No!” to them, at times when others find nothing to say to them except, “Yes!”
Therefore let us be men, and know that tribulations and adversities are a test of our manliness, and from adversity comes the test!
2. Close Your Eyes
The eye is the quickest of the senses to respond, so all desire that comes upon a person typically originates from eyesight. If sin is a chain of sequential links, its first link is the reckless look.
It is futile to delude ourselves into thinking that it is within our power to see evil and enjoy its alluring sights without them affecting our souls, and without our being moved by them. It is best then, that a person turn their eyes away from depraved images, and distance themselves from all manner of lusts of all varieties.
Thus, St Augustine referred to lust in general as ‘lust of the eyes,’ because he understood how the eye sometimes takes advantage of a negligent conscience,[2]al-‘ayn tu-ghāfil al-ḍamīr wrapping sin in a beautiful, charming appearance …
Therefore, shut your eyes from seeing evil (Isaiah 33:15),[3]The Orthodox Study Bible renders this verse, “he who shuts his eyes from seeing wrongdoing.” and remember that in no way can there be any other consequence to a reckless look
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than a fall, and know that in the end nothing can be built upon the lust of the eyes except for destruction, for it is impossible that “a person can take fire into his bosom without burning his clothes, or walk upon burning coals without scorching his feet” (Proverbs 6:27–28)[4]The Orthodox Study Bible renders these verses, “Shall anyone bind fire to his bosom, And his garments not burn? Or will anyone walk about on coals of fire, And not burn his feet?” (Proverbs 6:32–33 in the LXX).
3. Do Not Be Burdened By His Commandments
The apostle John says: “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn 5:3). God does ask of us that which is beyond our capacity, but wills that we reform our souls. The commandments have no other purpose than the refinement of the human soul.[5]al-sumuww bi-l-nafs al-insāniyya. It is therefore impossible for them to be burdensome to human nature, which in fact longs for such refinement. And if these commandments went along with the soul’s untrained inclinations and its unreformed tendencies, they would be [called] commandments in vain. But they are commandments, for their intention is to take a person by the hand and guide him to what is good, and to nurture whatever is in human nature that tends towards the sublime and to improvement.
Some say that man is evil by nature, and that there is no hope for the goodness of the human being.[6]Possibly a reference to the Protestant Calvinist doctrine of “total depravity”—the belief that human nature is so utterly corrupted that no goodness remains within it, and it is thus utterly incapable of moving towards goodness without he grace of God. But in reality, the seeds of goodness are hidden within the human soul: in order for the true alloy of the divine soul, which is so often covered over with rust that conceals its true nature, to shine forth, we need only eliminate those external factors which prevent goodness from emerging.
If we knew the true nature of our souls, we would become able to exclaim with the apostle, saying, “His commandments are not burdensome.” But we ought to remember that what makes the commandments burdensome for us are the heavy chains which often bind us to the evil world which we created with our own, heavy hands.
(To be continued)
Zakaria Ibrahim
Licenciate in Philosophy[7]A licentiate is a three to four year university degree roughly the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree.
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Notes:
| ↑1 | This is the literal translation of the Arabic text of this verse: Kūnū rijālān (1 Cor 16:13). The NKJV renders the Greek ἀνδρίζεσθε κραταιοῦσθε (andrizesthe krataiousthe) as “be brave, be strong.” The Greek root verb here, ἀνδρίζω (andrizō) means to make a man of, make manly, come to manhood, or even dress like a man. In the ancient cultural environment of the Gospels, this was synonymous with being brave or courageous. I have chosen to maintain the more literal translations of “man” (rajul) and “manliness” (rujūla) to preserve to original flavour of the text rather than impose an anachronistic modern political correctness upon it, but readers are free to read “courage” and “strength” instead. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | al-‘ayn tu-ghāfil al-ḍamīr |
| ↑3 | The Orthodox Study Bible renders this verse, “he who shuts his eyes from seeing wrongdoing.” |
| ↑4 | The Orthodox Study Bible renders these verses, “Shall anyone bind fire to his bosom, And his garments not burn? Or will anyone walk about on coals of fire, And not burn his feet?” (Proverbs 6:32–33 in the LXX). |
| ↑5 | al-sumuww bi-l-nafs al-insāniyya |
| ↑6 | Possibly a reference to the Protestant Calvinist doctrine of “total depravity”—the belief that human nature is so utterly corrupted that no goodness remains within it, and it is thus utterly incapable of moving towards goodness without he grace of God. |
| ↑7 | A licentiate is a three to four year university degree roughly the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree. |
How to cite this text (Chicago/Turabian):
Ibrahim, Zakaria. “To the Youth” [Ilā al-shabāb]. Sunday School Magazine 1, no. 2 (1947): 9–10. Translated by Fr Antonios Kaldas in Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/zi-youth/.
(For more information, see Citation Guidelines)
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