Narrative of the “Monastic Utopia” in the Coptic Literature as a Result of Convergence

Abstract

The article investigates one of the “wandering” topics of Christian literature – the image of the monastic earthly paradise or utopia in the writings of the “peregrination” genre. This study is focused on the development of this topic in the Coptic “Life of St Onuphrius the Anchorite”. Some details in the Coptic versions show that their Greek original was different from the extant Greek text. On the other hand, it is possible to trace parallels with the topics of the pseudepigrapha – the legend about the paradise of the Egyptian priests Jannes and Jambres, the pre-Christian legend of the blessed descendants of Rechab. The coincidence of details, especially in some proper names, and the structural similarity suggest that the Coptic text is a result of the convergence of different traditions.

Keywords

• christianity
• patristic hagiography
• pseudepigrapha
• earthly paradise
• theology
• богословие
• раннее христианство
• псевдоэпиграфы
• земной рай