Attila Jakab: The mysteries of Egyptian Christianity in the first three centuries.

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleAttila Jakab: Enigmele crestinismului egiptean în primele trei secole.
3. Language term Georgian
4. lemma author Stavinschi, Alexandra
5. lemma category Orthodox theological tradition and practice > Patristic studies - Scientific theories and disciplines > Religious studies - Orthodox theological tradition and practice - Concepts of knowledge and modes of reasoning > Mysticism and Orthodox spiritual experience
6. Publication date 24-1-2017
7. lemma work Bădiliţă, Cristian [Author]. Attila Jakab: The mysteries of Egyptian Christianity in the first three centuries.
8. lemma manifestations Stiinta dragoste credinta. Convorbiri cu patrologi europeni. [Science faith love. Conversations with European patrologists]
9. Keywords Early Church Fathers - Alexandrianism - Athanasius of Alexandria - monasticism - Origen
10. Citations
    1. 100-111
11. Lemma body

    1. This is the fifth dialogue of Cristian Badilitas’s book Science love faith. It is based on a conversation held in 2002 in Geneva with Attila Jakab, a young historian of Christianity, born in Romania. Jakab was an assistant at the University of Geneva and then went on to work in Budapest as a researcher . We are told that he is an expert on Alexandrian Christianity - his great passion - and the first book he published in Switzerland is a superb anthology devoted to prayer: 20 siècles de prières chrétiennes. He starts by talking about his relationship with prayer and about his favourite prayers in the in this series that he has just published. He strongly believes that through prayer, even in the most desperate situations, it is possible to keep our humanity. His thesis about the first three centuries of early Alexandrian Christianity (Strasbourg, 1998), was the foundation for a major publication (over a thousand pages) that has become a reference tool for professionals. In 2001, together with Alexandre Faivre, he founded the series called Christianismes anciens, published by Peter Lang in Bern; the first publication was a synthetic version (three hundred pages) of his thesis, Ecclesia alexandrina. Evolution sociale et institutionnelle du christianisme alexandrin (IIe et IIIe siècles). Badilita believes that this book deserves a closer look and invites his guest to expand on a number of topics. The first one is the very concept of "Alexandrianism". The questions are: Is this picture of Alexandria only a utopian projection of posterity or a fact? To what extent have things changed since the entry of Alexandria under Roman political protection? According to Jakab, Early Christianity is a type of spirituality that proposes faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and a new way of life. He believes that those who in the first three centuries - and later - "built" the Christian religion - in terms of doctrine and institution - belonged to the privileged class. This is because he believes that success does not depend so much on numbers as on the intellectual capacity and on the economic and financial possibilities of a group. In what follows, Jakab analyses the life and impact of Origen’s work, his condemnation and his exile, which was a very delicate moment in history, and about the setting up of the institution of the monoepiscopate in Alexandria, towards the end of the second century. Badilita challanges his guest to talk about the advent of the "monastic movement" in the fourth century, which swept away the open, pluralistic, urban Christianity, in favour of an ultraradical and somewhat monolithic version. The elite itself was accused by monks - who in general came from the humiliores - and fruitful dialogue was replaced with a strident and often violent monologue. Jakab agrees that this type of open and pluralistic Christianity was disappearing along with the strengthening of the bureaucratic institutions. From that moment onwards power and domination ability had a crucial impact on how problems were raised and solved. The fourth century means a significant change. The privileged qualities became: good management, respect for the hierarchy and identification with the institution. Under these conditions, the dialogue was to become increasingly difficult because any innovative or sofisticated theological creation was seen as suspicious. Athanasius embodies the ascetic who is revered and admired, and who respects the hierarchy and the church functions without producing controversial theological treaties. However it is worth emphasizing that in the fourth century, Origen had not been condemned yet and that his theology was still influential. Jakab tends to think that after sixteen centuries the "Alexandrianism" as vision, lifestyle and thought, made an indirect return in our midst. In his opinion, Alexandrianism means respect for diversity, difference and otherness, as well as the striving for incessant research to understand in depth the various issues, especially those related to our existence. He concludes that perhaps it is time to go back, finally, to a more personal Christian belief - which might also be more authentic since it is freer - by following the example of the early Christians.