986 - Letters to George
Friends: A book has been published containing several of Abba Philemon’s letters to our great spiritual friend George Bebawi. The story and a link to the book is below. Blessings, Bob
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Spirituality Column #986
October 7,
2025
Common
Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Letters
to George
By
Bob Walters
“He
is very dear to me … both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.” – Philemon
16.
From
the fall of 2004 through 2017, Dr. George Bebawi (1938-2021) taught a series of
Bible and theological classes in the fall and spring at East 91st
Street Christian Church here in Indianapolis.
All
who spent any time in the class remember George’s copious pre-class notes
filled with his own observations, writings of the ancient Christians, various
Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic Bible translations with contexts and evaluations
of modern Christianity. This was no light
Bible study; it was a deep dive into the spirit of the Lord.
And
a special treat most weeks would be a brief piece of wisdom tucked in his class
handout, a letter excerpt from George’s spiritual mentor, a monk he once knew named
Philemon at the Monastery of St. Macarius in the desert north of Cairo, Egypt.
George
grew up Jewish in a Muslim neighborhood in Cairo, learning the Koran with his young
neighbors and then preparing for rabbinical school as a teenager. Raised by his
Jewish maternal grandmother, George’s father, a Christian physician, was the
one who said George ought to learn about the people around him, mostly Muslims.
This
obviously gave George a 360-degree perspective of the Abrahamic religions, but
the big surprise came at age 18 when both he and his grandmother converted to Christianity.
George soon went to seminary, and became a priest in the Coptic (Egyptian Orthodox)
Church founded by St. Mark in the first century.
It
was early in his priesthood that George investigated becoming a monk and on a
visit to Macarius monastery met Abba Philemon, an older, quirky brother of
extreme biblical learning and spiritual depth whose birthplace and birthdate
were unknown.
In
his mid-20s, George was off to Cambridge University, England, for a masters in Christian
Theology and a doctorate in Orthodox Studies. George became a renowned Eastern
church scholar and expert on the Patristic period of the church fathers in the
earliest Christian centuries. Google “George
Bebawi” (or GeorgeBebawi.com) and many resources pop up including his
organizations and full Wikipedia biography.
Until
Philemon’s passing in 1977, George regularly corresponded with him on deep
personal and spiritual matters. This included frequent letters from Philemon in
reply to George’s questions or difficulties. They also had numerous
conversations at the monastery which George recorded from memory. Philemon
claimed to be uneducated and most brothers thought him illiterate, but his
letters belie a powerful intellect.
George
often regaled our E91 class with stories about Philemon, many of them situated
between hilarious, charming, and Oh My God revealing anecdotes. I still have 14
years of George’s class handouts plus my own notes, all peppered with
Philemon’s erudite nuggets of faith, truth, Godly love, scriptural revelation,
and the truth of Jesus.
The
class ended in December 2017, and George died February 4, 2021. Three years later, a surprise showed up, a
book of Abba Philemon’s Letters to George (LINK).
Last
fall a friend of George’s wife May – my classmate Joyce Van Atta – handed me a
small book of Philemon’s letters to George. I couldn’t find any information
about it then, but now it is available on Amazon.
George
was a good man and a dear brother in the Lord, and I know many of his students
and friends will be happy to hear that Philemon’s words live on.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com)
coordinated George’s classes at E91, but has no idea who actually published the
Philemon book.