Julien Delhez: The Bible, the Monastic Fathers, and the Road towards Wisdom: Transmission and organisation of knowledge in Shenoute’s Canons

Shenoute, abbot of the White Monastery (†465), ruled a monastic federation of Upper Egypt for most of his life. His Canons, collections of works written for an internal audience, contain numerous hints on the attitudes encouraged or discouraged among his monks, especially when it comes to the attitudes deemed appropriate for receiving the knowledge offered by Shenoute. In this paper, passages of the Canons are first used to show the nature of the knowledge provided by Shenoute to the monks, a knowledge which came from the Bible, from the Monastic Fathers, and from Shenoute himself. Secondly, a lexicographical analysis based on co-occurrences shows more precisely what attitudes are associated, in Shenoute’s view, with knowledge (ⲙⲛⲧⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ) or with ignorance (ⲙⲛⲧⲁⲧⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ). Thirdly, using quantitative methods makes it possible to better assess the distribution and context of biblical quotations related to knowledge. The paper ends by discussing Shenoute’s epistemological paradigm, which emphasised both the necessity of distinguishing real knowledge from “false” knowledge (that of Shenoute’s opponents), and the necessity, for the monks, of realising their limitations, as when he points out: “we are not wiser than those who set the rules for us” (Canon 9). It is likely that Shenoute wanted to encourage them to pay attention to the teachings of the Scriptures and to accept him as their only interpreter, instead of relying on themselves and being “wise for themselves alone” (Is 5:21).

Shenouda Boutros: The Good Life: According to a critical reading of Shenoute of Atripe's text : I Have Been Reading the Holy Gospels.

Throughout the long history of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the 5th century Shenoute of Atripe stands not only as leader of one of it’s largest monastic communities but also as the most prolific author of Coptic literature.  Despite the great size of the corpus of Shenoute’s literature, relatively little research has been done to critically analyze his writings.  This paper will examine the understanding of Shenoute on the “Good Life” in his discourse: “I Have Been Reading the Holy Gospels.” Focus will be given to Shenoute’s understanding of the ultimate good, happiness and what is the ‘good life’.  Such a short paper does no justice to this great and important figure, but it is a preliminary attempt to study the moral theoria of Shenoute.

Anba Suriel: Highlights of the Arabic Manuscripts of the Life of St. Shenoute of Atripe

St. Shenoute is considered the most prolific and original Coptic writer. The life and works of St. Shenoute were neglected for a long time and, until recently,  Western scholars painted a rather negative image of him. The rediscovery of St. Shenoute, his life and writings has shed new light on his profound legacy.
Much research continues on the Coptic literary corpus of St. Shenoute of Atripe but little work has been done in particular on the Arabic manuscripts of the life of St. Shenoute. There are no less than fifteen partial or complete Arabic manuscripts in existence located in Egypt, London and Paris, the earliest of which dates back to the early 14^th century A.D. and can be found at St. Anthony Monastery near the Red Sea in Egypt.
The research into the legacy of St. Shenoute and his influence on Monasticism and Christianity for many centuries after his departure would not be complete without a thorough study of the Arabic version of his Life in comparison with the Bohairic text. There also exist a Syriac and an Ethiopian version of the Vita, which show that St. Shenoute's influence crossed the borders of Egypt. A major research project on the Arabic manuscripts is currently been undertaken.