Coptic Orthodox Christians

Ayah Abdella Anthropology 101 Dr. William Divale

The Coptic Orthodox Christians

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christian church in Egypt and the Middle East. The foundational roots of the Church are based in Egypt, but are now worldwide. The church was established by Saint Mark, an apostle and evangelist, in the middle of the 1st century. Coptic Orthodox Christianity started in Egypt but has become worldwide and has become a common faith around the world. Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the Holy Family sought in its flight from Judea:

"When he [Joseph] 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 word Copt is derived from the Greek word Aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from "Hikaptah", one of the names for Memphis, the first capital of Ancient Egypt. The modern use of the term "Coptic" describes Egyptian Christians, as well as the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language script. The word ‘orthodox’ literally means ‘straight opinion.' The Coptic church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark , he brought Christianity into Egypt during the roman era when Nero was emperor. Christianity spread throughout Egypt within a half century of Saint Marks arrival in Alexandria. According to the tradition when Saint Mark arrived on his missionary journey to Egypt he found that the Coptic religion was a god centered worship but focused on the pyramids. Before the church was established they took in account all the other ethnicities and religion as Greeks , Jews, Egyptians under the roman rule. The Coptic's were founded originally in theology and other churches in the city looked up to them in great admiration and respect which led to the following of the doctrinal like mindedness and unity. But in 451 A.D The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church split from other Christians, over a dispute about the nature of Christ. Under the Roman Empire the Coptic's suffered severe persecution and death for their faith and beliefs in Christ while refusing to follow the Roman way of worshiping the emperor. By 641 A.D the Arab conquest took over and overthrowing Roman rule and reliving the Coptic from persecution and violence. The societal strength and control of the Arabs caused the Coptic's to endure a major language and culture change as well as confront the Islamic faith. Unfortunately, over the centuries, Christianity lost grip. Today, there is a small population of Coptic Christians remaining in Alexandria. Estimates of the current population of the Coptic Church range from 10 million to 60 million members worldwide . Coptic Christians recognize themselves with being genuine followers of Jesus Christ and a part of his worldwide Church. But, as with Catholicism, they tend to emphasize praiseworthy works in salvation along with liturgical ritual rather than salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Coptic's belief which defined the church at an early stage is called monophytism. Monophytism is the belief that Jesus Christ has only one nature; that his divine nature and his human nature are merged and united, as opposed to two natures united in one person. Also Coptic's believe in seven sacraments which are baptism, confirmation, confession, Eucharist which is known as communion, matrimony, ordination, and unction of the sick. While the Coptic Church forbids the worship of saints, it does teach that they intervene for the faithful. It teaches salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Copts practice fasting; 210 days out of the year are considered fast days. During fasting, no animal products are allowed. No food or drink whatsoever may be taken between sunrise and sunset. These rules are usually set to help people but if certain people aren't able to perform the fast the priest is more lenient about the fasting .The church also relies heavily on tradition, and its members idolize icons. Polygamy is illegal, even if recognized by the civil law of the land. Divorce is not allowed except in the case of adultery, annulment due to bigamy, or other extreme circumstances, which must be reviewed by a special council of Bishops. Divorce can be requested by either husband or wife. The word ‘liturgy’ comes from two Greek words: laos, meaning ‘people,’ and ergon, meaning ‘work.’ Liturgies are the form of service used to celebrate Communion in a Christian denomination, There are three main Liturgies in the Coptic Church: The Liturgy according to Saint Basil, Bishop of Caesarea; The Liturgy according to Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople; and The Liturgy according to Saint Cyril I, the 24th Pope of the Coptic Church. The Liturgy of Saint Basil is the one most commonly used in the Coptic Orthodox Church. On a daily basis the Coptic's pray for the reunion of all Christian churches and the well being of human beings . After going to the Coptic orthodox church of Saint George in Brooklyn with one of my closest friends I found a lot of things I didn't know. I found it very interesting in the way they perform their masses. The service is composed of four parts. The first part is the preparation prayer, in this part the altar boys go around with incenses while chanting in the Coptic language. The second part is for offering, a prayer is said over the holy bread. The third part consists of the preaching mass, here the priests reads sections of the Old and New Testament, as well giving a lecture. The fourth part is the reconciliation prayer, this is when the priest gives the people Christ's forgiveness. The fifth part is the Believer's mass, this is when the congregation has communion, and is supposed to be only attended by those who have been baptized and who have confessed. During the service women and men don't mix, they sit separately on each side of the church. An observation I made was that most of the ladies cover their hair with a scarf out of respect and that made me realize how some aspects of Coptic Christianity is similar to Islam. Also there were many candles and incense during the services. During the services there was music sung by the people of the church and there were many chants that were sung by the priest. The service was mostly in Arabic but then it switched to another language which I found out later was Coptic. For the reading of the bible all the people stood up out of respect . After the service was over there was bread given out to all the people. some of the rituals that were interesting was the prayer over the holy bread. Also it was interesting in how the women and men are separated and the women showed respect to the church by covering their hair. around the church there was artwork made out of wood and from paint and they all were beautiful they expressed so much in so little. also some other things that were noticed is that there was a hanging chandelier that was enormous and was in the middle of the room. The architecture of the church is amazing with all the details and the domes and their archways. The setup of the church was interesting but was similar to many other setups in other religions where there is the stand where the priest in the middle of church then there is the two sides where the people sit. it's amazing how the religions are the same but still there is differences but they are mostly different. There are many rituals that Coptic's practice and those are adoration of the Cross, Facing the East, The sanctuary and the altar Incense, Lights and candles and Pictures and icons. adoration of the Cross to the Coptic orthodox is different then it is for the Protestants while orthodox do not sign themselves with the sign of the cross before or after prayer, and say: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” They do not sign food with the sign of the cross before eating, nor do they use the cross to bless people or clothes. they have great respect and adoration for the cross. next is the ritual of facing the east which most orthodox churches are built facing eastwards and they pray towards the east because the east has become a symbol to the Coptic's since it directs to their hearts and their thoughts. also it is important to them because Before God created man, He created the East as a source of light for him, and God saw that the light was good. God created the sun on the fourth day and man on the sixth (Gen. 1).The rising of the sun is a symbol of Christ and His light. The sanctuary and the altar Incense is another ritual which is important because There is neither a sanctuary nor an altar in Protestant churches and The reason for this is that there is no Sacrifice so in orthodox churches there are altars. Incense are important also because to the Coptic's it symbolizes something important, Because of the importance of incense, only priests were allowed to offer it. So incense is in a higher position than prayer because prayer can be raised by any individual to the Lord. The Holy Bible conditions incense to be sweet incense. Whoever smells the incense remembers that man's life should be a fragrant perfume before God. The Holy Bible says: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ... through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place” (2Cor.2: 15,14).The last ritual mentioned is Lights and candles and Pictures and icons. The Orthodox Church is characterized by its lights. Coptic's use candles in their prayers, during the Bible reading, in front of the icons of the saints, on the altar, in the sanctuary in general and in front of the altar on its eastern side, and the church remains lighted constantly. They also believe that these lights that are always lighted is considered to be angels and they call them "angel of lights". the last thing mentioned is the pictures and icons. this has been an issue with other churches over the years and has caused wars against this idea of having icons to pray to or to even to represent something. While the Protestants do not believe in the pictures and icons in the Orthodox Church or in the statues in the Catholic Church. They consider them against the second commandment, in which the Lord says: “You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them” (Ex.20: 4,5); (Deut.5: 8,9). When I visited Egypt last summer I made a trip to one of the famous churches in Egypt which was called the hanging church. This church is one of the oldest churches in Egypt. the mosaic art on the windows and the architecture was a beautiful site to see. When I arrived at the church there was incense everywhere, it kind of reminded me of being in a mosque and also how they have the priest on a higher area and how the benches are set up it shows how all religions have commonalities. After looking more into the history and their rituals I realized why there are altars and why there are so many lights and incenses. Another thing I learned is that most Coptic churches are built faced to the east so that the congregation faces East in prayer. This has been one of the most interesting papers I have written because I got to go around and find out more about other religions other than my own. It has been an experience that I will never forget, I interviewed some of my friends who have been practicing this religion and went with them to the services. It made me realize how similar Coptic orthodox Christians are to Muslims in some aspects. For example, both religions after fasting there is always a celebration the only difference is Coptics' aren't allowed to eat meats and dairy product while Islamic fasting you do not eat at all till sunset. It amazes me how similar the two religion are.

This fieldwork was an interesting experience, it made me learn things I didn't know before. it showed how similar but different some religions are to each other. I found joy in watching the rituals and their masses and enjoyed to know how other religions pray and have theses masses. Also the history behind the Coptic orthodox was very interesting to me because it brings you back to the origins of how it all started and shows you how the Coptic's became what they are today. Also all the information I found out made me what to find out more about other religions because we can't be ignorant about all the other religions because when you come to think about it there are many commonalities but there are still different which makes each religion unique in its own way.

Work Citied * The Coptic Church and Dogmas - Part 1." III - The Coptic Church and Dogmas - Part 1. N.p., 2005. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. * The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments. New York: American Bible Society, 1962. Print.