ABSTRACT
‘Who will inherit the kingdom of heaven and not be a ruler? Is there any (form of) rule except avoiding the coming wrath? Is there any kingdom except ruling over eternal life?’ 1 Shenoute of Atripe (d. 465) punctuates his sermon with a series of rhetorical questions in the style of Paul’s letters, but also in the manner of a philosophical or religious diatribe. Did Shenoute write in Coptic in this manner as the result of formal education? Or was he largely self-taught?
