The Foundations of Christian Faith

Composed in thirteenth-century Egypt, al-Muʾtaman ibn al-ʿAssāl’s Majmūʿ Uṣūl al-Dīn wa-Masmūʿ Maḥṣūl al-Yaqīn is one of the great syntheses of medieval Coptic Christian thought.

Across an authorial Introduction, seventy chapters, and a concluding prayer, al-Muʾtaman explores the grounds of religious knowledge, the existence and attributes of God, creation and providence, prophecy and Scripture, the Trinity and Incarnation, the Church and sacraments, repentance, resurrection, judgment, and the life to come.

Drawing together Scripture, patristic teaching, philosophy, ecclesiastical tradition, and Christian–Muslim controversy, the work unfolds through quotations, objections and replies, careful distinctions, and sustained theological argument.

Presented here for the first time in a complete English edition, this landmark of the Coptic Arabic golden age is now available to scholars, clergy, students, and general readers.

Al-Muʾtaman belonged to the learned thirteenth-century Coptic family known as the Awlād al-ʿAssāl; precise dates for his life are not securely established. Generative artificial intelligence was used in preparing this accessible English edition, with final editorial responsibility remaining with the editor. Its source basis includes Vatican manuscript Vat. ar. 103 and printed Arabic witnesses; it is not a new critical edition or a complete collation of all surviving witnesses. It does not replace primary texts, printed editions or surviving manuscripts. Readers undertaking scholarly work should verify quotations, textual readings and academic conclusions against those sources.