Bishop Bulus al-Bushi: A theologian from the 'golden age' of the Coptic Orthodox Church - On 'theosis' (union with God)

Anba (Bishop) Bulus al-Bushi (ca. 1170-1250) was one of a select group of Arabic speaking Egyptian theologians that helped shape the Coptic “golden age” set in the Ayyubid rule of Egypt. His name reflects the fact that he was from “Bush,” a town located in Middle Egypt (just north of Beni Suef). Much of the early part of his career, was spent as a monk, probably at the Monastery of Anba Samuel Qalamun in the Fayum, a large agricultural oasis located adjacent to the Nile Valley, southwest of Cairo. During the last decade of his life, he served as bishop of Old Cairo, the most prestigious of the local Egyptian bishoprics at the time.

Below is an excerpt taken from Bishop Bulus' exegesis of John 6 found in his treatise 'On the Incarnation,' emphasizing the role of the eucharist in theosis. (John 6 is a well known scriptural passage which is incorporated in the liturgies of both the Eastern and Western churches)



The church of the Virgin Mary (Hanging Church) in Old Cairo, dating to the 3rd C.
Bishop Bulus likely prayed many divine liturgies and delivered countless sermons in this ancient church.

Bulus al-Bushi - 'On the Incarnation'

Chapter Eight: God Granted Us Participation in the Body of Christ

"Then in his favour he added a confirmation. He willed to grant us participation in that holy body and a connection with it by a most excellent spiritual kinship that transcends the bodily kinship, to the extent that the eternal life which that body acquired becomes in us completely and rightly natural.