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Metropolitan Athanasius

of Beni Suef
(1923–2000)
Anba Athanasius of Beni Suef 3
Christian experience may be said briefly to consist of belief, joyful acceptance of the mystery of recreation and continuous, conscious participation in the new eternal life.

(Met. Athanasius of Beni Suef, The Doctrines of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, 1977, p. 20)

Biography

Metropolitan Athanasius (May 2, 1923– Nov 16, 2000) was the bishop of Beni Suef and Bahnassa in Egypt from 1962 until his departure in 2000. Born Abd al-Masih Bishara, he was a Professor of English Literature before he joined the monastery.[1]Maged Kamel, “Bishop Athanasius (1919–2000), the Late Bishop of Beni Suef.” ACCOT, 2020.

He is particularly remembered for his work in establishing orders of consecrated women.[2]See Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, Contemporary Coptic Nuns. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. For a fuller biography, see Maged Kamel’s article here.

Browse Texts on ACCOT

Bibliography

A. Works

Metropolitan Athanasius was fluent in English, but published mostly in Arabic. Maged Kamel lists several important publications in his biographical article, but no complete bibliography of his works is currently available. We provide here a partial list of his books and articles, with PDFs where available.

In English
In Arabic

Books

  • The Gospel of John [Injīl Yūḥannā]. Cairo: Dar al-Jīl li-l-Ṭabā‘a, 1973.
  • Family Guidance in the Church [al-Irshād al-usrī fī-l-kanīsa]. Usqufiyyat al-khadamāt al-‘āmma wa-l-ijtimā‘iyya, 1981.
  • Christ and Humanity [al-Masīḥ wa-l-insāniyya]. al-Abbasiyya: al-Anba Ruweis, 1987.
  • Meditations on the Song of Songs [Ta’āmulāt fī nashīd al-ānshād]. Dar al-Jīl li-l-Ṭabā‘a, 2004.
  • The Unity of the Holy Bible [Wiḥdat al-kitāb al-muqaddas]. Fagala, Egypt: Dar al-Jīl li-l-Ṭabā‘a, no date.
  • The Letter to the Romans [Risālat Rūmiya]. Dār al-yanbū‘ al-thiqāfī, no date.
  • How to Conduct Oneself in a Mixed Society [al-Sulūk al-salīm fī-l-mujtami‘ al-mukhtalaṭ]. Dar al-Jīl li-l-Ṭabā‘a, no date.

Articles

  • Bishara, Abdelmasih. “Drama Performances in Sunday School” [al-Ḥaflāt al-tamthīliyya bi-madāris al-āḥad], Sunday School Magazine 8, no. 6/7 (Jun 1954): 49–53.
  • Bishara, Abdelmasih. “Solitary Prayer and Family Prayer” [al-Ṣalāt al-fardiyya wal-ṣalāt al-‘ā’iliyya], Sunday School Magazine 11, no. 6 (Aug 1957): 8–9.

B. Further Reading

Guirguis, Magdi, and Nelly van Doorn-Harder. The Emergence of the Modern Coptic Papacy. The Popes of Egypt, vol. 3. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo, 2011 (on pages 125, 140, 147, 149, 164, 166–7, 174, 176, 184). (Amazon)

Hasan, S. S. Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic Equality. Oxford University Press, 2003: 65, 87, 95, 110–11, 114–15, 137–40, 233.

Kamel, Maged. “Bishop Athanasius (1919–2000), the Late Bishop of Beni Suef.” In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology. Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College, 2020. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/bishop-athanasius-maged-kamel/.

Anba Athanasius (Arabic, St-Takla.org Biography)
Anba Athanasius’ Memorial Facebook Page (Arabic)
Writings of Anba ِAthanasius (Arabic, ChristianLib)

Media

50+ Sermons by Anba Athanasius (Arabic, Deacon Boules Malak, YouTube)
Sermons on the Christian Family (Arabic, CopticVideos.org)
Pope Shenouda’s Eulogy for Bishop Athanasius (Arabic, YouTube)

Notes:

Notes:
↑1 Maged Kamel, “Bishop Athanasius (1919–2000), the Late Bishop of Beni Suef.” ACCOT, 2020.
↑2 See Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, Contemporary Coptic Nuns. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1995.

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