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Egyptian Evangelical Conversion: A Case Study of Fam Istifanus (1813-1890)
Abstract
F?m Is?if?n?s wrote the first-two known Egyptian Evangelical books to defend and define his conversion and that of his community in 1867-8. Is?if?n?s was born into a Coptic Orthodox family from Q?s, Qin? (South Egypt), but later became an Evangelical. In the 1860s, he and some other villagers formed the Q?s Evangelical Church, and they encountered resistance from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch and priests, and the local government in 1867-8. Therefore, Is?if?n?s wrote two works --al-Rafsh al-Q???, and al-’I‘tr?f b?-?urr?yat al-im?n-- to explain the beliefs and practices of his community. These writings did not only reach the Coptic Orthodox leaders, but also became popular among Evangelicals and potential converts. His writings expressed and impacted the early indigenous Evangelical identity. What are the characteristics of Is?if?n?s’ conversion and how did it enmesh with powers of the Egyptian state, the Orthodox Church, and the American Mission? This study will analyze the writings of Is?if?n?s in order to understand his conversion and that of his community, as well as its impact on the socioreligious powers in 1867-8. Is?if?n?s’ books explore what I call a “partial conversion” which would express his own apologetic, realistic, and compromising theological opinion. His writings also negotiated his community agency among different state-church powers. Is?if?n?s’ works could help us to understand the role of the South Egyptian Evangelical laity in forming their history, identity, and their own agency in the face of the Orthodox Church, the American Mission, and the Egyptian state. This research will benefit from recent scholarly developments in the historical study of the Egyptian Christian communities of the 19th and 20th centuries. Several scholars, such as Heather Sharkey, Paul Sedra, and Beth Baron have enriched the scholarship of American-European missions and Egyptian Christianity. They have highlighted the need for the re-reading of the history of Christianity and its context in distinctive ways. Moreover, they have investigated indigenous sources, marginalized groups, social-political power, and conversion processes. My analysis will build on these studies, and present a new viewpoint about the Egyptian Evangelical thoughts and the American-European impact. It will examine the writings of indigenous and marginalized groups which have not yet been studied. Although this study will mainly focus on the writings of Is?if?n?s to understand his and his community’s partial Evangelical conversion, it will also use Egyptian and American-European primary and secondary sources to comprehend the conversion process and the question of power dynamics.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
None