Flying Together 5- Sudan

distributed around the world. He is said to have visited Kalyan near Bombay and found a copy of
the Gospel of Mathew in Hebrew. The school of Alexandria became an important institution of
religious learning, Scholars such as Athenagoras, Clement, Didymus, and Origen, came from this
institution.
The question&and&answer method of commentary and bible study began there.
Another major contribution made by the Egyptians to Christianity was the creation and organization of
monasticism. Worldwide Christian monasticism stems, either directly or indirectly, from the Egyptian
example. The most prominent figures of the monastic movement were Anthony the Great, Paul of
Thebes, Macarius the Great, Shenouda the Archimandrite and Pachomius the Cenobite. By the end of
the 5th century, there were hundreds of monasteries, and thousands of cells and caves scattered
throughout the Egyptian desert.It is these traditi ons that produced the Sufi movement within Islam.
The first three Ecumenical councils in the history of Christianity were headed by Egyptian patriarchs.
The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) was presided over by St. Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, along
withSaint Hosius of Córdoba. Patriarch of Alexandria Athanasius, played the major role in the
formulation of the Nicene Creed, which form the standard statement of faith in almost all churches.
The Council of Constantinople (381 AD) was presided over by Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria, while
theCouncil of Ephesus (431 AD) was presided over by Cyril of Alexandria.
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In 451 AD, following the Council of Chalcedon, the Church of Alexandria was divided into two branches.
Those who accepted the terms of the Council became known as Chalcedonians or Melkites. Those
who did not abide by the Council's terms were labeled non&Chalcedonians or Monophysites and later
Jacobites after Jacob Baradaeus. The non&Chalcedonians, however, rejected the term Monophysites
as erroneous and referred to themselves as Miaphysites. The majority of the Egyptians belonged to
the Miaphysite branch, which led to their persecution by the Byzantines in Egypt.