Interview with Fady Ghaṭṭās on the Alexandria School and Christian Publishing in Egypt
Jews, Christians, and Muslims are sometimes described as “people of the book,” language which derives from the Qurʾān. In general, we might say that the spirituality and theology of the three primary monotheistic religions emerges through a complex process of engagement with sacred texts. For this reason, among others, Dialogue Across Borders seeks to pay close attention to religious literature published in Egypt and the braoder Middle East.
I recently had the privilege of sitting for an interview with Fady Ghaṭṭās, publications director for the Alexandria School (Madrasat al-Iskandariyya), an organization which occupies an important place in Christian and Coptic Orthodox publishing and theological education in Egypt. The interview covers some of the history of the Alexandria School, their publications and translations, and aspects of their broader orientation as an important voice shaping modern Coptic Orthodoxy in Egypt. Mr. Ghaṭṭās earned a BSc in pharmaceutical sciences from Ain Shams University and an MTh in Orthodox theology from Agora University. He wrote his master’s thesis on the early Christian theologian, Justin Martyr (d.165 CE), and his theory of logos spermatikos, an early attempt by Christian theology to account for the reason and morality of people who lived and died without exposure to the specifics of Christian doctrine.
(Recent publications from the Alexandria School, including works by Fr. Seraphim Baramousy, Dina Tariq, and N.T. Wright.)
Our interview also offers broader reflections on the landscape of Christian publishing in Egypt, the contributions of Fr. Tādrus Yaqūb Malaṭī (b.1937) and Bishop Epiphanius (d.2018), and the intersection of Coptic Orthodox tradition and modernity. We look forward to visiting Fady and the Alexandria School’s booth at the Cairo International Book Fair (January 23 - February 5, 2025), where several new publications are set to be revealed.
Matthew Anderson
Director - Center for Arab-West Understanding
Executive Editor - Dialogue Across Borders (Brill)
December 15, 2024
Emerging Perspectives on Intercultural and Interreligious Relations
Dialogue Across Borders is a database of summary translations of Arabic newspaper articles with references to their sources about intercultural and interreligious relations, focusing primarily but not exclusively on Muslim-Christian relations. The database also contains articles with editorial analysis and interviews on the subject.