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Coptic Orthodox Christianity is the indigenous form of Christianity that, according to tradition, the apostle Mark established in Egypt in the middle of the 1st century (approximately 42). The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodoxy, and the see of Alexandria. Coptic Christianity has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The head of the church is the Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of the Holy See of Saint Mark, currently His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. More than 95% of Egypt's Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, but other "Patriarchates/Patriarchs of Alexandria" also exist (Coptic Catholic, Greek/Latin Catholic and Greek Orthodox - see Coptic Christianity Today below).

History

Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the Holy Family sought in its flight from Judea: "When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod the Great, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called My Son" (Matthew 2:12-23). The Egyptian Church, which is now more than nineteen centuries old, was the subject of many prophecies in the Old Testament. Isaiah the prophet, in Chapter 19, Verse 19 says "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border."

The first Christians in Egypt were mainly Alexandrian Jews such as Theophilus, whom Saint Luke the Evangelist addresses in the introductory chapter of his gospel. When the church was founded by Mark during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, a great multitude of native Egyptians (as opposed to Greeks or Jews) embraced the Christian faith. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark's arrival in Alexandria as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year 200, and a fragment of the Gospel of John, written in Coptic, which was found in Upper Egypt and can be dated to the first half of the second century. In the second century Christianity began to spread to the rural areas, and scriptures were translated into the local language, namely Coptic.

The Catechetical School of Alexandria, Egypt

The Catechetical School of Alexandria is the oldest catechetical school in the world. Founded around 190 by the scholar Pantanaeus, the school of Alexandria became an important institution of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such as Athenagoras, Clement, Didymus, and the great Origen, who was considered the father of theology and who was also active in the field of commentary and comparative Biblical studies. Origen wrote over 6,000 commentaries of the Bible in addition to his famous Hexapla. Many scholars such as Jerome visited the school of Alexandria to exchange ideas and to communicate directly with its scholars. The scope of this school was not limited to theological subjects; science, mathematics and humanities were also taught there. The question-and-answer method of commentary began there, and 15 centuries before Braille, wood-carving techniques were in use there by blind scholars to read and write.

The Theological college of the catechetical school of Alexandria was re-established in 1893. The new school currently has campuses in Alexandria, Cairo, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, where Coptic priests-to-be and other qualified men and women are taught among other subjects Christian theology, history, Coptic language and art - including chanting, music, iconography, and tapestry.

Egyptian origin of the cross symbol

For over 2500 years the pagan symbol of the ankh cross was a ubiquitous symbol of spiritual life. Unlike most Egyptian sacred images, it was not a human-like god with the head of an animal, or even the disk of Sun, but a pure symbol of deity. Literally it was taken to be the symbol of the Nile, which gave life, dealt death, and offered rebirth when it fertilized lands after flooding. It was not hard to see how that ageless symbol would somehow become connected to a faith, centered around Jesus Christ who had been executed on another kind of cross and who was believed to have risen from the dead after 3 days. Egypt had long associated the ankh cross with all that was unknowable and transcendent in their polytheistic faith. Everywhere else in the Roman influenced world, a cross was merely an implement of execution for slaves and enemies of the Roman state. It was very degrading to connect the memory of the Saviour of the world to something that connotated an ignoble and lingering death. The ankh provided a means to bring the cross into the "pantheon" of Christian symbolism, after 250 years of rejection by the Jewish and Greek followers of Jesus.

Monasticism and missionary work

Many Egyptian Christians went to the desert during the 3rd century, and remained there to pray and work and give their lives to God. This was the beginning of the monastic movement, which was organized by Anthony the Great and Pachomius in the 4th century. By the end of the century, there were hundreds of monasteries, and thousands of cells and caves scattered throughout the Egyptian hills. A great number of these monasteries are still flourishing and have new vocations to this day.

Egyptian monasticism attracted the attention of Christians in other parts of the world, who visited Egypt, many bringing monastic ideas home with them, and spreading monasticism through the Christian world. Basil, organizer of the monastic movement in Asia Minor visited Egypt around 357 and his rule is followed by the eastern Churches; Jerome, en route to Jerusalem, stopped in Egypt and left details of his experiences in his letters; Benedict founded monasteries in the 6th century on the model of Pachomius, but in a stricter form.

Council of Nicea

In the 4th century, an Alexandrian priest called Arius started a theological dispute about the nature of Christ that spread throughout the Christian world. The Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325) was convened by Constantine to resolve the dispute and eventually led to the formulation of the Symbol of Faith, also known as the Nicene Creed. The Creed, which is now recited throughout the Christian world, was based largely on the teaching put forth by a man who eventually would become Saint Athanasius the Apostolic of Alexandria, the chief opponent of Arius.

Council of Constantinople

In the year 381, Saint Timothy I of Alexandria presided over the second ecumenical council known as the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, which completed the Nicene Creed with this confirmation of the divinity of the Holy Spirit:

"We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-giver, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified who spoke by the Prophets and in one Holy Universal Apostolic Church. We confess one Baptism for the remission of sins and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the coming age, Amen."

Council of Ephesus

Another theological dispute in the 5th century occurred over the teachings of Nestorius, a Patriarch of Constantinople who taught that God the Word was not hypostatically joined with human nature, but rather dwelt in the man Jesus. As a consequence of this, he denied the title "Mother of God" (Theotokos) to the Virgin Mary, declaring her instead to be "Mother of Christ" (Christotokos). When reports of this reached the Apostolic Throne of Saint Mark, the Coptic Pope Saint Cyril I acted quickly to correct this breach with orthodoxy, requesting that Nestorius repent. When he would not, the Synod of Alexandria met in an emergency session and a unanimous agreement was reached. Pope Cyril I of Alexandria, supported by the entire See, sent a letter to Nestorius known as "The Third Epistle of Saint Cyril to Nestorius." This epistle drew heavily on the established Patristic Constitutions and contained the most famous article of Alexandrian Orthodoxy: "The Twelve Anathemas of Saint Cyril." In these anathemas, Cyril excommunicated anyone who followed the teachings of Nestorius. For example, "Anyone who dares to deny the Holy Virgin the title Theotokos is Anathema!" Nestorius however, still would not repent and so this led to the convening of the First Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431), over which Cyril presided.

The First Ecumenical Council of Ephesus confirmed the teachings of Saint Athanasius and confirmed the title of the Holy Ever-Virgin Mary as "Mother of God". It also clearly stated that anyone who separated Christ into two hypostases was anathema, as Athanasius had said that there is "One Nature and One Hypostasis for God the Word Incarnate" (Mia Physis kai Mia Hypostasis tou Theou Logou Sasarkomeni). Also, the introduction to the creed was formulated as follows:

"We magnify you O Mother of the True Light and we glorify you O saint and Mother of God (Theotokos) for you have borne unto us the Saviour of the world. Glory to you O our Master and King: Christ, the pride of the Apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the rejoicing of the righteous, firminess of the churches and the forgiveness of sins. We proclaim the Holy Trinity in One Godhead: we worship Him, we glorify Him, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord bless us, Amen."

The Orthodox faith is considered to have prevailed at the council. Unfortunately, Saint Cyril I of Alexandria died soon afterwards. Saint Dioscorus, the archdeacon of Alexandria (considered a saint by the non-Chalcedonians but a heretic by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics) was elected as Saint Cyril's replacement. The Nestorians took the opportunity of Saint Cyril's death to revive their campaign against Cyrillian Christology.

Council of Chalcedon

When the Emperor Marcianus interfered with matters of faith in the Church, the response of Saint Dioscorus, the Pope of Alexandria who was later to be exiled, to this interference was clear: "You have nothing to do with the Church." It was at Chalcedon that the emperor would take his revenge for the Pope's frankness.

The Council of Chalcedon abandoned Cyrillian terminology and declared that Christ was one hypostasis in two natures. However, in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, "Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary," thus the foundation according to non-Chalcedonians is made clear. In terms of Christology the Oriental understanding is that Christ is "One Nature--the Logos Incarnate," of the full humanity and full divinity. The Byzantine understanding is that Christ is in two natures, full humanity and full divinity. (Just as all of us are of our mother and father and not in our mother and father, so too is the nature of Christ. If Christ is in full humanity and in full divinity, then He is separate in two persons as the Nestorians teach. Imagine your nature in your mother and your father; you are then two different people. If however your nature is of your mother and your father, then you are one person *.) This is the linguistic difference which separated the Orientals from the Byzantines.

The Council's findings were rejected by many of the Christians on the fringes of the Byzantine Empire, including Coptic Christians of Egypt, Syrians, Armenians, and others. From that point onward, Alexandria would have two patriarchs: the non-Chalcedonian national truly Egyptian one, now known as the Coptic Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and Apostolic See of St. Mark and the "Melkite" or Imperial Patriarch, now known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. Almost the entire Egyptian population rejected the terms of the Council of Chalcedon and remained faithful to the national Egyptian Church (now known as the Coptic Orthodox Church). Those who supported the Chalcedonian definition remained in communion with the other leading churches of Rome and Constantinople. The non-Chalcedonian party became what is today called the Oriental Orthodox Church.

The Coptic Church regards herself as having been misunderstood at the Council of Chalcedon. Some Copts believe that perhaps the Council understood the Church correctly, but wanted to exile the Church, to isolate her and to abolish the Egyptian, independent Pope, who maintained that Church and State should remain separate. The Coptic Church regarded that the ousting of Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria in the council of Chalcedon was in part due to the rivalry between the Bishops of Alexandria and Rome. The Tome of Pope Leo of Rome was considered influenced by Nestorian philosophy. It is important to note that Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria was never labeled as heretic by the council's canons. Copts also believe that the Pope of Alexandria was forcibly prevented from attending the third congregation of the council in which he was ousted, which apparently was a result of the conspiracy tailored by the Roman delegates. For further info, please refer to this key paper on the subject by Professor Fr. John S. Romanides, a prominent Greek Orthodox scholar.

Before the current positive era of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox dialogues, Chalcedonians sometimes used to call the non-Chalcedonians "monophysites", though the Coptic Church denies that she teaches monophysitism, which she has always regarded as a heresy. They have sometimes called the Chalcedonian group "dyophysites". A term that comes closer to Coptic doctrine is "miaphysite" *, which refers to a conjoined nature for Christ, both human and divine, united indivisibly in the Incarnate Logos. The Coptic Church believes that Christ is perfect in His divinity, and He is perfect in His humanity, but His divinity and His humanity were united in one nature called "the nature of the incarnate word", which was reiterated by Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Copts, thus, believe in two natures "human" and "divine" that are united in one hypostasis without mingling, without confusion, and without alteration. These two natures did not separate for a moment or the twinkling of an eye (Coptic Liturgy of Saint Basil of Caesarea).

From Chalcedon to the Arab conquest of Egypt

Copts suffered under the rule of the Byzantine Eastern Roman Empire. The Melkite Patriarchs, appointed by the emperors as both spiritual leaders and civil governors, massacred the Egyptian population whom they considered heretics. Many Egyptians were tortured and martyred to accept the terms of Chalcedon, but Egyptians remained loyal to the faith of their fathers and to the Cyrillian view of Christology. One of the most renowned Egyptian saints of that period is Saint Samuel the Confessor.

The Arab conquest of Egypt

The Arab conquest of Egypt took place in 641. Although the Imperial forces resisted the Arab army under Amr ibn al-As, the majority of the civilian population, having suffered persecution for their differing Christian beliefs, were in the beginning not hostile to the new rulers. Considered "People of the Book", Christians were allowed to practice their religion, under the protection of the Islamic Shari'a law. This protection stemmed in part from a Hadith of the Prophet (whose Egyptian wife Maria had borne him a son who died in infancy, named Ibrahim) that advised "When you conquer Egypt, be kind to the Copts for they are your proteges and kith and kin" .

Despite the political upheaval, Egypt remained a mainly Christian land, although gradual conversions to Islam over the centuries had the effect of changing Egypt from a mainly Christian to a mainly Muslim country by the end of the 12th century. This process was sped along by persecutions during and following the reign of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (reigned AD 996-1021) and the Crusades, and also by the acceptance of Arabic as a liturgical language by the Pope of Alexandria Gabriel ibn-Turaik.

During Arab rule, the Coptics needed to pay a special tax called the "gezya" in order to practice their faith. This tax was abolished in 1855.

From the 19th century to the 1952 revolution

The position of the Copts began to improve early in the 19th century under the stability and tolerance of Muhammad Ali's dynasty. The Coptic community ceased to be regarded by the state as an administrative unit and, by 1855, the main mark of Copts' inferiority, the Jizya tax, was lifted. Shortly thereafter, Christians started to serve in the Egyptian army. The 1919 revolution in Egypt, the first grassroots display of Egyptian identity in centuries, stands as a witness to the homogeneity of Egypt's modern society with both its Muslim and Christian components.

Coptic Christianity today

The current Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of the Holy See of Saint Mark is Pope Shenouda III (his title should not be confused with that of the Roman Catholic Pope). There is also a Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. The most recent Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is Theodoros II *. There is a small Coptic Catholic Church (Eastern Rite Catholic) which is headed by a Patriarch of Alexandria. The Melkite Catholic Church (Eastern Rite Catholic) has little presence in Egypt, but is headed by a Patriarch of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Small Protestant and Anglican denominations also exist.

By some accounts there are about 50 million Coptic Orthodox Christians in the world: they are found primarily in Egypt (roughly 8 million), Ethiopia (roughly 38 million, which is over half of Ethiopia's population *), and Eritrea (roughly 2 million), but there are significant numbers in North America, Europe, Australia, Sudan and Israel, and in diaspora throughout the world making approximately another 3 to 4 million. However, as applied to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which in 1959 was granted her first own Patriarch by Coptic Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, the word Coptic can be considered a misnomer because it means Egyptian. The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church similarly became independent of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church during the 1990s. These three churches remain in full communion with each other and with the other Oriental Orthodox churches.

Since the 1980s theologians from the Oriental Orthodox and Chalcedonian Orthodox churches have been meeting in a bid to resolve the theological differences, and have concluded that many of the differences are caused by the two groups using different terminology to describe the same thing (see Agreed Official Statements on Christology with the Eastern Orthodox Churches). In the summer of 2001, the Coptic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates of Alexandria agreed to mutually recognize baptisms performed in each other's churches, making rebaptisms unnecessary, and to recognize the sacrament of marriage as celebrated by the other. Previously, if a Coptic and Greek wanted to marry, the marriage had to be performed twice, once in each church, for it to be recognized by both. Now it can be done in only one church and be recognized by both.

According to Christian Tradition and Canon, the Coptic Church only ordains men, and if they wish to be married, they must be married before they are ordained. In this respect they follow the same practices as does the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Traditionally, the Coptic language was used in church services, and the scriptures were written in the Coptic alphabet. However, due to the arabisation of Egypt, service in churches started to witness increased use of Arabic, while preaching is done entirely in Arabic. Native languages are used, in conjunction with Coptic and Arabic, during services outside of Egypt.

Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January which, since 2002, is an official national holiday in Egypt.

Prominent Copts

See also

External links

Bibliography

Ancient Roman Christianity | Coptic Orthodox Church | Religion in Egypt

كنيسة قبطية أرثوذوكسية | Koptische Kirche | Iglesia Copta | Chiesa Copta | קופטים | Koptesch Kierch | Koptisch Christendom | コプト正教会 | Koptisk kristendom | Igreja Copta | Коптская Православная Церковь | Коптска црква | Koptisk-ortodoxa kyrkan | 科普特教派

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Coptic Christianity".

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