Tadrous Y. Malaty - Introduction To The Coptic Orthodox Church

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Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ King of Kings andLord of lords

Icon designed by Dr. Yousef Nassief and Dr. Bedour Latif

H.H. Pope Shenouda III, 117th Pope of

Alexandria and the See of St. Mark

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

COPTIC

ORTHODOX

CHURCH

1993

FR. TADROS Y. MALATY

ST. GEORGE'S COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH

SPORTING - ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

4

BLESSED IS EGYPT MY PEOPLE

Isa. 19:25

God's promise to His people is always fulfilled; He foretold that He would ride on a light and upon a swift cloud and come to Egypt (Isa 19:1); and 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 (Isa 19:19). This promise was fulfilled by the flight of the Holy Family from the face of the tyrant Herod to find refuge among the Gentiles. Thus Jesus Christ came during His childhood to Egypt to lay by Himself the foundation stone of His Church in Egypt which has become one of the four primary "Sees" in the world, among the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome, joined later by the "See" of Constantinople.

The star of the Egyptian Church shone through the School of Alexandria which taught Christendom the allegoric and spiritual methods in interpreting the Scripture, and was the leader in defending the Orthodox faith on an ecumenical level.

The Christian monastic movement in all its forms started in Egypt, attracting the heart of the Church towards the desert, to practice the angelic inner life. This happened at the time when the doors of the royal court had been opened to the clergy, and this consequently endangered the church, as 5

the quiet and spiritual church work was mixed with the temporal authority and politics of the royal court.

The Egyptian Church carried Jesus' cross throughout generations, bearing sufferings even from the side of Christians themselves. She continued to offer a countless number of martyrs and confessors throughout ages. Sometimes the people of towns were martyred and many struggled to win the crowns of martyrdom happily and with a heart full of joy.

Our Church is ancient and new at the same time; ancient in being apostolic, founded by St. Mark the Evangelist; traditional, sticking fast to the original apostolic faith without deviation. She is also ever new through her Living Messiah who never becomes old and through the Spirit of God who renews her youth (Ps. 103:5).

The Coptic Church is rich with her evangelistic and ascetic life, her genuine patriotic inheritance, her heavenly worship, her spiritual rituals, her effective and living hymns, her beautiful icons, etc.. She attracts the heart towards heaven without ignoring actual daily life. We can say that she is an apostolic, contemporary church that carries life and thought to the contemporary man without deviation. One finds in her life, sweetness and power of Spirit, with appreciation to and sanctification of arts, literature and human culture.

This church is well-known for her numerous saints: ascetics, clergymen and laymen. She offered many saints throughout ages and is still offering the same today.... For she believes that practising the sanctified life and communion with God, the Holy One, is prior to satisfying minds with solid mental studies.

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She is the Church of all people, every member has his own positive role, being a clergyman, layman, a man, a woman, an adult or a child.... She is the church of the family as a whole and the church of each member at the same time.

Even a baby finds his pleasure in the church through the simplicity of her rituals and the sweetness of her hymns; you may find him gurgling joyfully as if he was in his own house or in his parent's home. At the same time the theologian finds pleasure through the deep concepts of these same rituals.

Lastly, I hope - in the Lord - to present the main lines of the Church's thoughts and concepts as an evangelic, apostolic and patristic church, which has a heavenly attitude.

She believes in the sanctity of man, in his wholeness, and in awarding every gift, giving interest and care to every soul, so that the heavenly Christ might be revealed within her as the eternal Bridegroom who sanctifies His bride, beatifies her by His Holy Spirit, and embraces her to enjoy His eternal glory.

Indeed, I may have to speak about the Egyptian

nationalistic side, but I hope - in the Spirit of God - that every reader will enjoy the Orthodox thought, regardless of his nationality, being a member of the one Body of Christ, through the one faith and with one spirit.

FR. TADROS Y. MALATY

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1

THE COPTIC CHURCH

AS AN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

TERM "COPTS"1

The term "Copts" is equivalent to the word "Egyptians."

It is derived from the Greek "Aigyptos," which in turns is derived from the ancient Egyptian "Ha-ka-Ptah," i.e. "the house of the spirit of Ptah," a most highly revered deity in Egyptian mythology. From the Arab conquest and until today, this term refers to the Christian Egyptians to distinguish them from the native Muslims.

SONS OF PHARAOHS2

The Copts as the successors of the ancient Egyptians are defined as the modern sons of the Pharaohs. They played an essential role in the whole Christian world, especially during the first five centuries.

Their religious background helped them to accept Christianity with eagerness and to enjoy its depth through their ascetic life, meditation and studying of the holy scripture.

In this topic we wish to throw some light on the ancient Egyptian culture and how it reacted towards the new Christian faith.

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1. Their religious background: It is well-known that ancient Egyptians have been religiously minded by nature and upbringing since the very early times3. Herodotus states that "The Egyptians are religious to excess, far beyond any other race of men." Their religious curiosity was satisfied by the Christian faith that puts no limits to spiritual progress, for it raises the believers towards the bosom of the Father that they might enjoy the likeness of God, fast communion with Him and acknowledgment of the eternal divine mysteries.

2. Their high scientific background: Modern science achieved unceasing progress, particularly in the last century.

Many of the ancient Egyptians' scientific work which took place thousands of years before Christ are still considered to be obscure secrets; for example the pyramids with their scientific wonder and mysteries, the art of embalming, the art of carving, colored painting on walls etc.. All of these arts are still under research to the extent that some believe that the ancient Egyptians were working under the guidance of superhuman (coming from the outer space), or from other stars. Some consider that man would have conquered space much earlier if the library of Alexandria had not been burned, which led to losing scientific secrets of great importance.

In any case, the fact is that the ancient Egyptians put their scientific abilities at the disposal of the religious thinking (such as the building of pyramids, embalming etc.). It had influenced the Copts. They looked, to science not as an enemy of religion or contrary to it, but that science acts in favor of religion. Therefore, the School of Alexandria opened its doors to the scholars and philosophers, believing that science and philosophy could serve the true spiritual life.