Apokalipsa Szenute
Przejdź do nawigacji Przejdź do wyszukiwania
The Apocalypse of Shenute is a short Coptic apocalyptic text which purports to be a prophecy of Shenute from Christ about the eschaton (last days).[1] The Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah greatly influenced the text. It is the oldest miaphysite Coptic apocalypse to survive from the Islamic period, a rare contemporary witness to Coptic–Muslim relations in the earliest period, one of the earliest miaphysite Coptic sources to mention the Islamic rejection of the crucifixion of Christ, and a response to the Islamic conversion of Copts.[2]
Textual impression[edit]
The stigmatization of Muslims being evil and to deny their religious claims is the purpose of the text as the text implies it was counter-written to Islamic conversion, stating the world will be deceived by the Muslim rulers who are implicitly compared with the Antichrist; claiming to be Christ, then later revealing himself to be the actual oppressor.[3] The antichrist’s imminent reign is signaled by Muslim rule and their confiscation of property, harassments, and apostasy of Christians.[4] Simultaneously though, those who imitate the „pure ones” by resisting the terror and temptations of the deceiver, will receive God’s eternal reward: the text implies believers not abandon their faith but resist present trials.[3]
Manuscripts[edit]
The Apocalypse of Shenute is preserved both in the Ethiopian and Arabic Life of Shenute[1] and in Sahidic fragments.[5] It was most likely composed in Coptic as the Arabic presents signs of it being translated from Coptic and likely authored in the White Monastery by a miaphysite Copt.[1] The consensus is that the original was a Coptic Life of Shenute dated 685–695.[5] The Ethiopian text relies on the Arabic yet still differs in textual content, and there is also the possibility of the text originally authored in Greek because of the text being dated at an early period.[1] A critical English translation based on the Arabic was published in J. van Lent’s Coptic apocalyptic writings from the Islamic period and a French translation from the Ethiopian in G. Colin’s La version éthiopienne de la vie de Schenoudi.[6]
Date[edit]
The text is estimated to be authored in the 690s as the text most likely alluded to the Dome of the Rock and its starting-construction or completion in 691–692 from the passage that the Arabs will, „rebuild the Temple that is in Jerusalem„, and the afflicted Egyptian society from refugee problems in the start of the new century are nonexistent. The text could possibly be authored not long after 693-94 of the tax reform by Governor Abd al-Azīz as recorded in Eutychius of Alexandria‚s Eutychii Annales (i,p. 41), along with the expanding political and religious assertiveness of Islam that possibly incited fear of a major apostasy outbreak.[3]
Citations[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, p. 182.
- ^ Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, pp. 183 & 184.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, p. 183.
- ^ Pratt & Tieszen 2020, p. 464.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Shoemaker 2021, p. 172.
- ^ Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, p. 184.
Bibliography[edit]
- Pratt, Douglas; Tieszen, Charles L. (2020). Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 15 Thematic Essays (600-1600). BRILL. ISBN 9789004423701.
- Szewc, Stephen J. (2021). Pojawił się prorok: powstanie islamu oczami chrześcijan i Żydów . Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Kalifornijskiego . ISBN 9780520299610 .
- Thomas, David Richard; Roggema, Barbara; Sala, Juan Pedro Monferrer (2009). Stosunki chrześcijańsko-muzułmańskie: historia bibliograficzna (600-900) . SKARP. ISBN 9789004169753 .
- Chrześcijańskie pisma apokaliptyczne
- Literatura koptyjska
- Literatura grecka
- Teksty chrześcijańskie z VII wieku
Shenoute
Apokalipsa i Testament
angielskie tłumaczenie
Antoni Alkok
Obydwa te teksty, Apocalypsis i Testamentum , zostały przetłumaczone z ich kopii dostarczonych przez J. Leipoldta (red.) Sinuthii Archimandritae Vita et Opera Omnia 4 (1913) s. 198-232, który zaopatrzył je także w tytuły . Żaden z tekstów nie jest kompletny i nie jest pewne, czy został napisany przez Shenoute. Szczegóły dotyczące aktualnej lokalizacji i pierwszej publikacji rękopisów zawierających teksty znajdują się na s. XV-XVI książki Leipoldta.
W swojej monografii o Shenoute Leipoldt omawia Apokalipsę . Na temat tekstu poczynił następujące uwagi:
ma się on znajdować w Egipcie, o czym świadczy użycie egipskich nazw miesięcy, Epip i Mesore;
ma pochodzenie monastyczne, z odniesieniem do zgromadzenia (swoux);
świadczy o elementach stylu i treści nieobcych innym utworom Shenoute, np. zwrotom „spowiadam się” (+xmologei nhtN) i „mówię ci” (+jw nhtN) oraz trudnościom, jakich doświadcza dusza zhańbionego duchownego .
Testamentum zostało po raz pierwszy opublikowane przez G. Zoega Catalogus Codicum Copticorum (1805) nr. cxcix s. 483-486, a poniżej znajduje się angielska wersja tego, co mówi:
Fragment of a sermon which I gather from the subject matter to be that of Shenoute, though the style is more sedate than that which he normally uses. He speaks of a book in which he seems to have given an account of what has happened in the monastery in his own lifetime and predicts that all those curses will come upon those who prevent that book from being read together with that which he has written or will write, while blessings will accrue to those who read his books carefully and observe what is contained in them. He says that he will teach his like-minded brothers to observe all that is written in his books and letters and to preserve his garments which, in great distress and mortification, he has torn repeatedly that they may be shown after his death to all those listen to what is written in his books. And when the latter ask what these torn garments and the contents of his writings mean, those asked are to say that God was sometimes vehemently angry with our monastery and sent upon us great curses and afflictions and temptations. After we had repented in deep and sincere sorrow, He averted His anger, took pity on us and blessed us. He removed corrupt and dishonest men from among us. He did those things for us because we are His servants. He castigated us in mercy because we are His children and He is our father. Those who heed the words in this book will say: Accursed is the one who thinks that the words written in it are idle or cursed. For the dead are unbelievers and
1 J. Leipoldt Schenute von Atripe (1903) pp. 206ff. estranged from their creator. God is not of the dead but of the living.
Both texts, in a sense, belong together: one contains a vision of the afterlife and the other contains instructions perhaps made before departure to the afterlife.
I have no access to Wiesmann’s translation, which can be expected to contain all the Biblical passages cited or alluded to in the text, so I have provided only those which I have been able to identify. The numbers in brackets refer to the page nos. of Leipoldt’s text.
- Emmel Shenoute’s Literary Corpus (2001) cites the two works on p. 922 as part of his description of the contents of Leipoldt’s volume and, on p. 150, has a detailed description of the manuscript containing the Testamentum Sinuthii.
The Apocalypse of Shenoute
(198 )…] I saw one of the saints. He arose, greeted them, blessed them. I heard him saying words, but did not understand what they were. Some replied to those seated that he was blessing them in Hebrew. I asked who this was. They said that it was Paul the Apostle. He is also the one who blesses those are first to arrive at the assembly who meditate on the Holy Scriptures. I confess to you that I see some meditating in joy and grace. I see the one whose book it is, uttering a multitude of blessings on me. And I see their souls, shining from the flashes of lightning that come from the words of God, as happens to iron when it is thrown into the fire and air is added to the fire: the iron glows exceedingly.
This thing, it was in the month of Epip that I saw it. I saw water below the firmament, men on the ground in mourning and grieving, because they wanted to drink from the water. I saw a man standing on the water, shining like the sun and not willing to give to them.2 I was told a number of times that those on earth were begging, while the one over3 the waters held them back. I had seen the ordinance of the water4 many times, but I had never seen it as on this occasion in this form.
(199) When we reached the month of Mesore, I saw the man letting the water down bit by bit. Then I saw a great cloud of hot vapour coming up after the water. It came down on men and animals. I said to them: What is this fire ? They said to me: It is sickness and death.
Some men came to me in those days about their animals, saying that perhaps they had been bewitched. I said: No, it is the hand of God.
I asked in accordance5 with the vision: Who are those grieving and asking about water ? My informant told me: These are the angels who rule over the earth. This one who shines like the sun is the angel of the waters. There is no creature apart from the forethought of God, but everything is guided by the ordinance of God and the angels.
I tell you that that I was instructed one day about a presbyter. his soul brought forth from the body, merciless angels seizing him, their faces different from each other, fearful, burning smoke issuing from their mouths. I tell you that there were some with two faces, grinding their teeth against it. 6 After it had been brought from the body, I saw a …7 of fire on its neck, bound by the foot. (200) It was tied to the back of … 8 It was being driven to the west. It was not taken at all to worship the one who had created it, but thrown into a pit of Amente, where it came under the control of the forces of darkness. I confess to you that, like a trap which catches birds and beasts, this is how I saw the whole of the air, full of fearful creatures9 advancing on the soul. I asked why these things were being done to the soul, which was that of a high-ranking cleric. I was told: This presbyter you see, he consumes the property of the church with whores and has not cared in the least for the judgement of God.10 Every person of this sort has been counted together with those whose who have committed grievous sins.
I was called again on day: Look and see this soul about to be brought from the body. I looked and saw one of the [ …… after him, a sharp sword in his hand. He plunged it into the man. After he had plunged it, the man uttered a sound from his mouth. Those around him thought that he was beside himself. They were instructed to put irons on him. He made two sounds of the same sort. Afterwards he was brought forth from the body, his tongue hanging two palms11 out his mouth, a … 12 of fire coming forth from his nostrils. They said: He is making sound from his nose. Those who had come after him would not let (201) him say : ‚Have mercy on me.’ They said: He utters boastfulness13 from his mouth. I saw them taking him trapped like dog. The account of his deeds14 was read aloud, the angels reproving him for his crimes and sexual depravity.
Dusza zostaje wrzucona do głębokiej i gorącej otchłani. Uwagę Shenoute przykuwają mieszkańcy tego domu, którzy są kulawi, ślepi i spaleni. Dalej widzi mnicha 15 otoczonego mocami. 16 Zapytany o duszę, dowiaduje się, że jest to mnich melicjański 17 . Melitianin wydaje się być opisywany jako „pasterz chełpliwych i bluźnierców”. Następnie Shenoute słyszy ogłoszony straszny wyrok. Zgromadzenie zostaje zakończone i pojawia się światło oraz ludzie o jasnych twarzach, ubrani w promienne szaty. Shenoute zobaczył wtedy dwóch braci. W ostatniej części pojawia się odniesienie do istoty kobiecej (być może duszy) z łańcuchem na szyi.
.. czy to mężczyzna, czy kobieta, zostaną nawiedzeni wszystkimi tymi błogosławieństwami.
Wszyscy, którzy w tamtym czasie lub teraz zapobiegną czytaniu wszystkich słów zapisanych w tej księdze lub w listach i innych naszych pismach, które napisaliśmy lub będziemy pisać w przyszłości, oraz ci, którzy uniemożliwią ich przeczytanie przeczytane w tamtym czasie lub teraz, nawiedzą ich wszystkie te przekleństwa.
Jednakże wszyscy, którzy zawsze gorliwie je czytają lub którym podoba się ich słuchanie, przestrzeganie ich i wykonywanie, zostaną nawiedzeni wszystkimi tymi błogosławieństwami.
Dlatego nie tylko nakażę braciom ( 205 ), którzy są z nami zgodni, aby dbali o wszystkie słowa, które zapiszemy w tej księdze i te, które zostaną zapisane w listach, ale także nakażę im aby zachować moje szaty, które w moim wielkim utrapieniu i umartwieniu rozdzierałem tyle razy, że w końcu się rozpadły. 20 Dlatego nakażę braciom, którzy są ze mną jednomyślni, tym, którzy będą w dniach mojej śmierci, 21 aby złożyli moje podarte szaty przed tymi, którzy przyjdą po nas, i przed wszystkimi, którzy słyszą, w tamtym czasie lub teraz wszystkie słowa zapisane w tej księdze lub w listach, które napisaliśmy lub które napiszemy. I powiedzą: Co to za podarte szaty, te zapisane słowa i wszystkie te przekleństwa ?
A oni odpowiedzą i powiedzą: Ponieważ Ten, który czuwa nad całą ziemią i który często po całej ziemi przemierza w ukryciu, o każdym czasie i każdego dnia, to jest Bóg, przez cały czas patrzył na nas w tajemnicy i często przechodził przez nasze klasztory, niewidoczne dla nikogo, czy to mężczyzny, czy kobiety, ale tylko dla Jego aniołów.
I powiedzą: W tym czasie Pan rozgniewał się bardzo na nas i odwrócił swoje oblicze od nas w wielkim gniewie, aby sprowadzić na nas wielkie przekleństwa, niegodziwe uciski i ciężkie doświadczenia, ponieważ zgrzeszyliśmy przeciwko Niemu, gdy szatan przyszedł na nas jak lwa żarłocznego i ryczącego, i uderzył tych, którzy są z nami.
( 206 ) I powiedzą: Kiedy pokutowaliśmy w wielkiej pokorze, w głodzie, pragnieniu, płaczu, łzach z powodu obłudy, Bóg zwrócił swoje oblicze ku nam i wstrzymał swój gniew, aby nie karać nas wielkimi niegodziwymi doświadczeniami i Zdjął z nas całe przekleństwo i okazał nam wielkie miłosierdzie i błogosławieństwo, wyciągając na nas rękę z laską miłosierdzia, stopiwszy nas do czystości, jak jest napisane: „Przyniosę na was moją rękę i stopić cię do czystości. 25 Usunął też spośród nas złych ludzi i nieodkupionych grzeszników, jak napisano: „Wytracę nieposłusznych, usunę od ciebie wszystkich bezbożników wraz ze wszystkimi pychą i ustanowię dla ciebie sędziego, jak na początku i doradcą jak na końcu. 26 I powiedzą: Tak postąpił Bóg, bo jesteśmy Jego sługami, a Pan wychował nas w miłosierdziu, bo jesteśmy Jego dziećmi, a On jest naszym ojcem .
A ci, którzy teraz lub w przyszłości zwrócą uwagę na wszystkie słowa zapisane w tej księdze, odpowiedzą i powiedzą: Przeklęty ten, kto twierdzi, że te słowa są marnościami, przekleństwami lub błogosławieństwami, które ten mówi, a oni na nikogo nie przyjdzie, jak mówi . Wszystkie te przekleństwa spadną na nich w tym czasie lub teraz.
I powiedzą ci, którzy nie wierzą, 27 że Pan uczynił z nami to wszystko, ponieważ zabijają i ( 207 ) oddalają się od Tego, który ich stworzył, jak jest napisane:
Bóg nie jest z umarłych, ale z żywych . 28
Co to oznacza? Czy to znaczy, że wszyscy, którzy umarli, są oddzieleni od Boga? Albo że ci, którzy żyją, należą do Boga? Jeśli Bóg jest tylko z żywych, a nie z umarłych, jak to się dzieje, że Apostoł powiedział: Nikt z nas nie będzie żył dla siebie i nikt z nas nie umrze dla siebie ? 29 Jeśli będziemy żyć, będziemy żyć dla Pana. Jeśli umieramy, umieramy dla Pana. Zatem niezależnie od tego, czy żyjemy, czy umieramy, należymy do Pana. Dlatego Chrystus żył i umarł, aby czuwać nad umarłymi i żywymi. Z tego powodu, gdy mówił, że Bóg nie jest z umarłych , ale z żywych, mówił, że nie jest Bogiem zepsucia, skażenia, bluźnierstwa, kłamstwa, fałszywych przysięg, sporów, sporów, zazdrości, nienawiści, wrogości , niewierność i wszelką niegodziwość. 31 A tak Pan Jezus powiedział w swoich słowach: Bóg nie jest z umarłych, ale z żywych, w czystości, dziewictwie, godności, sprawiedliwości, prawdzie i wszelkiej postaci dobroci . 32
Ci, którzy pozostaną przy słowach tej księgi, aby ich przestrzegać w przyszłości lub teraz, odpowiedzą i powiedzą: Boże, Boże, każdy, kto ukrywa słowa tej księgi lub zgorsza jedno ze wszystkich tych słów, ten Pan sprowadzi na niego wszystkie przekleństwa opisane w Piśmie Świętym 34 , gdy będą przebywać na ziemi, i Pan zwiąże na nich gniew ( 208 ) swego gniewu w dniu gniewu 35 i wrzuci ich do pieca ognistego, który według ewangelii Pismo Święte, jest pełne płomieni.
Osoby, które nie śpią, szybko usłyszą wołania do nich. A ci, którzy jeszcze śpią, jeśli wielokrotnie ich wezwiecie, obudzą się ze snu. Natomiast zmarli, ukryci pod ziemią lub leżący w grobach, nie usłyszą, nawet jeśli zostaną wezwani z mocą i wieloma słowami. Ale zaiste, z trudem dostrzegą w ostatecznym dźwięku trąby Dzień, w którym zabrzmią trąby i umarli zostaną wskrzeszeni niezniszczalni. 36
W ten sposób także ludzie, którzy budzą się gorliwie poprzez postrzeganie i miłość do Boga, szybko usłyszą święte słowa Pana Jezusa od tych, którzy ich uczą w bojaźni Pańskiej. A ci, którzy są nieco pod kontrolą zapomnienia i oszołomienia, jeśli raz i dwa razy nauczą się ich z Pisma Świętego od tych, którzy ich prowadzą, usuną się [ze swoich grzechów 37
Apocalypse of Shenute
Jump to navigationJump to search
The Apocalypse of Shenute is a short Coptic apocalyptic text which purports to be a prophecy of Shenute from Christ about the eschaton (last days).[1] The Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah greatly influenced the text. It is the oldest miaphysite Coptic apocalypse to survive from the Islamic period, a rare contemporary witness to Coptic–Muslim relations in the earliest period, one of the earliest miaphysite Coptic sources to mention the Islamic rejection of the crucifixion of Christ, and a response to the Islamic conversion of Copts.[2]
Textual impression[edit]
The stigmatization of Muslims being evil and to deny their religious claims is the purpose of the text as the text implies it was counter-written to Islamic conversion, stating the world will be deceived by the Muslim rulers who are implicitly compared with the Antichrist; claiming to be Christ, then later revealing himself to be the actual oppressor.[3] The antichrist’s imminent reign is signaled by Muslim rule and their confiscation of property, harassments, and apostasy of Christians.[4] Simultaneously though, those who imitate the „pure ones” by resisting the terror and temptations of the deceiver, will receive God’s eternal reward: the text implies believers not abandon their faith but resist present trials.[3]
Manuscripts[edit]
The Apocalypse of Shenute is preserved both in the Ethiopian and Arabic Life of Shenute[1] and in Sahidic fragments.[5] It was most likely composed in Coptic as the Arabic presents signs of it being translated from Coptic and likely authored in the White Monastery by a miaphysite Copt.[1] The consensus is that the original was a Coptic Life of Shenute dated 685–695.[5] The Ethiopian text relies on the Arabic yet still differs in textual content, and there is also the possibility of the text originally authored in Greek because of the text being dated at an early period.[1] A critical English translation based on the Arabic was published in J. van Lent’s Coptic apocalyptic writings from the Islamic period and a French translation from the Ethiopian in G. Colin’s La version éthiopienne de la vie de Schenoudi.[6]
Date[edit]
The text is estimated to be authored in the 690s as the text most likely alluded to the Dome of the Rock and its starting-construction or completion in 691–692 from the passage that the Arabs will, „rebuild the Temple that is in Jerusalem„, and the afflicted Egyptian society from refugee problems in the start of the new century are nonexistent. The text could possibly be authored not long after 693-94 of the tax reform by Governor Abd al-Azīz as recorded in Eutychius of Alexandria‚s Eutychii Annales (i,p. 41), along with the expanding political and religious assertiveness of Islam that possibly incited fear of a major apostasy outbreak.[3]
Citations[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, p. 182.
- ^ Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, pp. 183 & 184.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, p. 183.
- ^ Pratt & Tieszen 2020, p. 464.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Shoemaker 2021, p. 172.
- ^ Thomas, Roggema & Sala 2009, p. 184.
Bibliography[edit]
- Pratt, Douglas; Tieszen, Charles L. (2020). Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History Volume 15 Thematic Essays (600-1600). BRILL. ISBN 9789004423701.
- Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2021). A Prophet Has Appeared: The Rise of Islam Through Christian and Jewish Eyes. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520299610.
- Thomas, David Richard; Roggema, Barbara; Sala, Juan Pedro Monferrer (2009). Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History (600-900). BRILL. ISBN 9789004169753.
Shenoute
Apocalypse and Testament
English translation
Anthony Alcock
Both of these texts, the Apocalypsis and the Testamentum, are translated from the copies of them provided by J. Leipoldt (ed.) Sinuthii Archimandritae Vita et Opera Omnia 4 (1913) pp. 198-232, who has also furnished them with titles. Neither text is complete and it is not certain that either was written by Shenoute. Details of the current location and first publication of the manuscripts containing the texts are to be found on pp. xv-xvi of Leipoldt’s book.
In his monograph on Shenoute1 Leipoldt discusses the Apocalypsis. He makes the following points about the text:
it is to be located in Egypt, the evidence for which is the use of Egyptian month names, Epip and Mesore;
it is of monastic origin, with its reference to the assembly (swoux);
it evidences elements of style and content not unfamiliar from Shenoute’s other works, e.g. the phrases ‚I confess to you’ (+xmologei nhtN) and ‚I say to you (+jw nhtN) and the difficulties experienced by the soul of the disgraced cleric.
The Testamentum was first published by G. Zoega Catalogus Codicum Copticorum (1805) no. cxcix pp. 483-486, and the following is an English version of what he says:
Fragment of a sermon which I gather from the subject matter to be that of Shenoute, though the style is more sedate than that which he normally uses. He speaks of a book in which he seems to have given an account of what has happened in the monastery in his own lifetime and predicts that all those curses will come upon those who prevent that book from being read together with that which he has written or will write, while blessings will accrue to those who read his books carefully and observe what is contained in them. He says that he will teach his like-minded brothers to observe all that is written in his books and letters and to preserve his garments which, in great distress and mortification, he has torn repeatedly that they may be shown after his death to all those listen to what is written in his books. And when the latter ask what these torn garments and the contents of his writings mean, those asked are to say that God was sometimes vehemently angry with our monastery and sent upon us great curses and afflictions and temptations. After we had repented in deep and sincere sorrow, He averted His anger, took pity on us and blessed us. He removed corrupt and dishonest men from among us. He did those things for us because we are His servants. He castigated us in mercy because we are His children and He is our father. Those who heed the words in this book will say: Accursed is the one who thinks that the words written in it are idle or cursed. For the dead are unbelievers and
1 J. Leipoldt Schenute von Atripe (1903) pp. 206ff. estranged from their creator. God is not of the dead but of the living.
Both texts, in a sense, belong together: one contains a vision of the afterlife and the other contains instructions perhaps made before departure to the afterlife.
I have no access to Wiesmann’s translation, which can be expected to contain all the Biblical passages cited or alluded to in the text, so I have provided only those which I have been able to identify. The numbers in brackets refer to the page nos. of Leipoldt’s text.
Emmel Shenoute’s Literary Corpus (2001) cites the two works on p. 922 as part of his description of the contents of Leipoldt’s volume and, on p. 150, has a detailed description of the manuscript containing the Testamentum Sinuthii.
The Apocalypse of Shenoute
(198 )…] I saw one of the saints. He arose, greeted them, blessed them. I heard him saying words, but did not understand what they were. Some replied to those seated that he was blessing them in Hebrew. I asked who this was. They said that it was Paul the Apostle. He is also the one who blesses those are first to arrive at the assembly who meditate on the Holy Scriptures. I confess to you that I see some meditating in joy and grace. I see the one whose book it is, uttering a multitude of blessings on me. And I see their souls, shining from the flashes of lightning that come from the words of God, as happens to iron when it is thrown into the fire and air is added to the fire: the iron glows exceedingly.
This thing, it was in the month of Epip that I saw it. I saw water below the firmament, men on the ground in mourning and grieving, because they wanted to drink from the water. I saw a man standing on the water, shining like the sun and not willing to give to them.2 I was told a number of times that those on earth were begging, while the one over3 the waters held them back. I had seen the ordinance of the water4 many times, but I had never seen it as on this occasion in this form.
(199) When we reached the month of Mesore, I saw the man letting the water down bit by bit. Then I saw a great cloud of hot vapour coming up after the water. It came down on men and animals. I said to them: What is this fire ? They said to me: It is sickness and death.
Some men came to me in those days about their animals, saying that perhaps they had been bewitched. I said: No, it is the hand of God.
I asked in accordance5 with the vision: Who are those grieving and asking about water ? My informant told me: These are the angels who rule over the earth. This one who shines like the sun is the angel of the waters. There is no creature apart from the forethought of God, but everything is guided by the ordinance of God and the angels.
I tell you that that I was instructed one day about a presbyter. his soul brought forth from the body, merciless angels seizing him, their faces different from each other, fearful, burning smoke issuing from their mouths. I tell you that there were some with two faces, grinding their teeth against it. 6 After it had been brought from the body, I saw a …7 of fire on its neck, bound by the foot. (200) It was tied to the back of … 8 It was being driven to the west. It was not taken at all to worship the one who had created it, but thrown into a pit of Amente, where it came under the control of the forces of darkness. I confess to you that, like a trap which catches birds and beasts, this is how I saw the whole of the air, full of fearful creatures9 advancing on the soul. I asked why these things were being done to the soul, which was that of a high-ranking cleric. I was told: This presbyter you see, he consumes the property of the church with whores and has not cared in the least for the judgement of God.10 Every person of this sort has been counted together with those whose who have committed grievous sins.
I was called again on day: Look and see this soul about to be brought from the body. I looked and saw one of the [ …… after him, a sharp sword in his hand. He plunged it into the man. After he had plunged it, the man uttered a sound from his mouth. Those around him thought that he was beside himself. They were instructed to put irons on him. He made two sounds of the same sort. Afterwards he was brought forth from the body, his tongue hanging two palms11 out his mouth, a … 12 of fire coming forth from his nostrils. They said: He is making sound from his nose. Those who had come after him would not let (201) him say : ‚Have mercy on me.’ They said: He utters boastfulness13 from his mouth. I saw them taking him trapped like dog. The account of his deeds14 was read aloud, the angels reproving him for his crimes and sexual depravity.
The soul is driven into a pit that is deep and hot. Shenoute’s attention is drawn to those in that house, who are lame and blind and scorched. He further sees a monk15 surrounded by powers.16 On asking about the soul, he is told that it is a Melitian17 monk. The Melitian seems to be described as a ‚shepherd of boasters and blasphemers’. Shenoute then hears a dreadful sentence pronounced. The assembly is dismissed and the light appears, with bright-faced people in radiant garments. Shenoute then saw two brothers. The final section contains a reference to a feminine being (a soul perhaps) with a chain on its neck.
.. whether man or woman, they will be visited by all these blessings.
All those who will prevent, at that time or now,19 all the words written in that book or in the letters and our other writings that we have written or are going to write in future from being read and those who will prevent them from being read at that time or now, they will be visited by all these curses.
All those, however, who are at all times zealous in reading them or those who are pleased to hear them, to keep them and to perform them, they will be visited by all these blessings.
For this reason, not only will I enjoin the brothers (205) who are of one mind with us to care for all the words which we will write down in that book and that which is written in the letters, but I will also enjoin them to preserve my garments, which my great distress and mortification I have torn so many times that they have finally come apart .20 For this reason I will enjoin the brothers who are of one mind with me, those who are in the days of my death,21 to lay down my torn garments before those who come after us and everyone who hears, at that time or now, all the words written in that book or that which is is written in the letters that we have written or will write. And they will say: What are these torn garments and these written words and all these curses ?
And they will answer and say: Because the One who looks over the whole earth and who often passes through the whole land secretly at all times and every day, that is God, has looked down upon us secretly at all times and often passed through our convents, not visible to anyone, whether man or woman, but only to His angels.
And they will say: At that time22 the Lord became very angry with us and turned His face from us in great wrath to bring upon us great curses and wicked tribulations and severe trials because we had sinned against Him, when Satan came against us like a ravenous and roaring lion, and He23 struck those who are with us.
(206) And they will say: When we repented in great humility, in hunger, thirst, weeping, tears for out hypocrisy, God turned His face towards24 us and suspended His anger so as not to punish us with great wicked trials, and He removed the entire curse from us and showed us great mercy and blessing by bringing His hand upon us with a staff in mercy, He having melted us to the point of purity, as it is written: ‚I will bring my hand upon you and melt you to purity.’25 He has also removed from us evil men and irredeemable sinners, as it is written: ‚I will destroy those who are disobedient and I will remove all the lawless from you together with all the overweening and I will establish for you a judge, as at the beginning, and a counsellor, as at the end.’ 26 And they will say: This is how God behaved, for we are His servants and the Lord has brought us up in mercy, for we are His children and He is our father.
And those who take or will take heed, now or that time, of all the words written in this book, they will answer and say: Accursed is the one who says that these words are vanities or curses or blessings which this one says and they will not come upon anyone, as he says. All these curses will come upon them at that time or now.
And they will say, those without faith,27 that the Lord has done all these things with us, because they kill and (207) are estranged from the One who created them, as it is written:
God is not of the dead, but of the living.28
And what does this mean ? Does it mean that all those who have died are estranged from God ? Or that those who are living belong to God ? If God is of the living only, but not also of the dead, then how is that the Apostle has said: None of us will live for himself and none of us will die for himself ? 29 If we live, we will live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this reason Christ lived and died, so that He might watch over the dead and the living. For this reason, when he30 said that God is not of the dead but of the living, he was saying that He is not the God of depravity, pollution, blasphemy, lying, false oaths, contention, strife, envy, hatred, enmity, faithlessness and every form of wickedness.31 And this is how the Lord Jesus said in his words: God is not of the dead but of the living, in purity, virginity, worthiness, righteousness, truth and every form of goodness.32
Those who will stand by33 the words of this book, that they should heed them in the future or now, they will reply and say: God, God, everyone who conceals the words of this book or scandalizes one of all these words, the Lord will bring upon him all the curses in the Scriptures34 while they are on earth and the Lord will bind the anger (208) of His wrath against them on the day of anger35 and cast them into the fiery furnace, which, according to the Scriptures, is full of flames.
People who are not asleep will quickly hear those calling them. And those who are still asleep, if you call them repeatedly, they will awake from sleep. But dead people, concealed beneath the earth or lying in graves, they will not hear even if they are called forcefully with many words. But truly, with difficulty, they will perceive in the final trumpet on the day when the trumpets sound and the dead will be raise incorruptible.36
In this way also people who awake zealously through perception and the love of God, they will quickly hear the holy words of the Lord Jesus from those who teach them in the fear of the Lord. And those who are somewhat under the control of forgetfulness and stupefaction, these, if they are taught once and twice from the Scriptures by those who guide them, they will remove themselves [from their sins37