The Passion of Christ

Few medieval Coptic works approach the Passion with such sustained intellectual and pastoral attention.

Writing in Arabic in thirteenth-century Egypt, the monk and theologian Buṭrus al-Sadamantī begins with an ambitious account of interpretation itself. He then reads the four Gospels together as a sequence of searching questions. Why did Christ pray three times? Why did an angel strengthen Him? How can the differing accounts of Peter’s denial, the hour of the Crucifixion, the women at the tomb and the Resurrection appearances be understood together?

Al-Sadamantī answers through close scriptural comparison, logical distinctions, inherited exegesis and theological argument. Yet analysis repeatedly becomes spiritual counsel. Christ’s prayer teaches surrender to God; Peter’s tears reveal the difference between regret and repentance; the women at the tomb become witnesses whose love outlasts fear; and the wounds of the risen Christ answer doubt while accommodating human weakness.

Translated from the late nineteenth-century Cairo printing, this English edition includes an editorial introduction and ninety-six Scripture, historical, philosophical, textual and explanatory notes. It follows the author’s sequence and arguments while disclosing uncertainty where the printed witness is damaged or compressed.

Generative artificial intelligence assisted the preparation of this accessible English edition. The translation follows the late nineteenth-century Cairo printing and discloses uncertainty where that printed witness is damaged or compressed. It does not replace primary texts, printed editions or surviving manuscripts. Scholars should verify quotations, textual readings and academic conclusions against those sources.