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The True Story of Christianity in Egypt

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The True Story of Christianity in Egypt THE STORY OF THE COPTS THE TRUE STORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT by Iris Habib el Masri BOOK 1 FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH BY SAINT MARK TO THE ARAB CONQUEST 2 Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ King of Kings and Lord of lords 3 H.H. Pope Shenouda III, 117th Pope of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark 4 St. Anthony, Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Southern California, U.S.A., introduces "The Story of the Copts" by IRIS HABIB EL MASRI to all Christians and non-Christians; to old and young; men and women; ... to everyone, with or without an interest in studying religion; and to the public in general. Also, the Copts in Egypt and all over the world. May God grant that the reader gain a true knowledge of the Copts and of the history of Christianity of Egypt. ST. ANMNY MONASTERY P.O. BOX 369 MMERRY SPRINGS, CA 923$5 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is with deep gratitude that I offer my thanks to our Heavenly Father whose aid and guidance have been my lodestar throughout the years. My thankful homage to the Spirit of my Father Pishoi Kamil whose encouragement by prayer, words and continued endeavour added to my zeal and fervour, and strengthened me to persevere on the path towards fulfilment. My thanks are extended also to all my family circle and friends, with special appreciation to the budding artist Habib Amin el Masri, my nephew, for giving me some of his paintings to adorn this volume. As for my sister Eva el Masri Sidhom, I consider he my co-writer; she and her husband Youssef did their best in editing and typing this work. Side by side, with all those who encouraged me on this plane, are all those beloved ones who have gone on ahead and whose invisible help has been my sustenance as I pressed forward towards my goals. Iris Habib El Masri 6 INTRODUCTION A. History is Life Not long ago, Providence so willed that I sit at table with a number of foreigners. During the conversation, my host 1 asked: "Since when did you adopt Eutychianism?" I answered: "We ever adopted it, nor ever will. We are Orthodox and have been so since Christianity began until now." My host resumed: "But I read somewhere that you have deviated from Orthodoxy." I rejoined: "We never deviated, nor ever will, by the Grace of God. But it happened, that when we went to Chalcedon . " Here, one of the guests interposed: "When did you go to Chalcedon?" I answered: "We went in A.D. 451." At which all those present roared with laughter, then my host said gently: "To hear you speak thus, one would imagine that you went this year, or at most last year, and that you were among those who went." It was my turn to laugh as I answered: "Such are we Copts 2 -when one of us has attended, we have all attended. And there is no difference between the delegates attending in 451 or in any other year, because our history is one whole indivisible unit. Nay, it is life itself, and not some ephemeral pictures on a screen. The proof of this fact is that the three first ecumenical councils, the only ones acknowledged by the Coptic Church, have decreed laws by which we still abide. Also, we still suffer from the baleful consequences of Chalcedon. History is, therefore, indivisible, though it appears to us in diverse pictures; it is like unto matter which is never destroyed though its forms change." Here, I found it compatible to quote the comment Dr. 7 Cyrus Gordon, the eminent contemporary American scholar, made once on our behavior at Chalcedon. It was: "When the Egyptians went to Chalcedon, they were proud of their Pharaonic heritage, and rightly so; they were proud of their Alexandrian Fathers, and rightly so; they frankly told the whole world what they believed, and, when the world refused to listen, they walked out, and rightly so." And, since history is life, it is consequently the story of the people, wherever they are. For this very reason, it recounts the struggle of the nations for freedom and dignity; their aspirations towards liberty, and their heroic achievements. This yearning after the ideal should be the pivot of our study of history. Moreover, to gain a full appreciation of the history of the Coptic Church, it is essential to know the prominent features of its adherents. The Copts have a very strong leaning towards the mystic and the spiritual. Sir Flinders Petrie depicts this leaning very aptly in the following words: " . a difference in the conception of a period before the existence of time would seem purely academic and indifferent to a Western mind . To the Egyptian mind, however, this difference was in the essence of things. The distinction of eternity before time which the West could hardly grasp or feel to be of any importance has been fastened by the two Egyptian 3 presbyters upon all later Christianity." Reflecting on the profound impact of the Coptic Church on the Church Universal, this same Egyptologist remarks: "If, now, we try our historical imagination by supposing that there never had been any of the refinements of the Trinitarian controversy; that no monastery had ever sterilized the best of the race; and that 8 the Madonna and Child were alike unknown to devotion and to art, we may gain some sense of what changes Egypt wrought in Christianity, and how utterly foreign to 4 the Judaic origin was its influence.” B. T7ie Light that never Fades In the dawn of Creation, when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of the serpent, the justice of God banished them into the earth. But His love necessitated that He redeem them. Thus was the promise 5 of the Redeemer made by God to man. This Divine Promise, being given to the father of the human race, was carried within its collective subconscious. Hence, we hear of the Messianic hopes among different groups of peoples, at different ages, and in sundry climes. The literatures, the wise sayings, the sacred writings, all reflect 6 the hope of the Advent of the Redeemer. Among the Hebrews, it attained its crescendo, while among other nations, it was sounded with varying strength, according to the temper and spiritual susceptibility of each group. In Egypt, the people were given countless gods and godesses to revert to for different needs, yet the priests and sages expressed their faith in the one God, and spoke of the coming Redeemer. They conceived of a triad of gods, and they worshipped the Mother Isis suckling the Child Horus. They, therefore, glimpsed the Light of Christianity beforehand, and many of their writings run 7 parallel with those of the Hebrew prophets. According to the measure given them, they were on the lookout for the Light. And when the Light did come to them, their hearts were filled with gladness. Their spiritual unfoldment 9 across the ages led to their acceptance of the New Faith, which was compatible with their sense of mysticism. This concord was doubtless due to their share in the legacy bequeathed by God to man. Because they kept their Inward Light burnished, they could easily perceive the True Light when it shone upon them: "The True Light which lighteth every man coming into the world. Little wonder then, that the Prophet declared, "Out of Egypt 9 have I called my son." Thus it was prophesied, and thus did it come to pass. No trumpet heralded the entry of the Christ Child into the Nile Valley. He came quietly and gently, as comes the dawn, to take refuge in Egypt when 10 Herod wanted to kill Him. Tradition says that as His foot trod on Egyptian soil, the idols in all the temples fell 11 down before the eyes of their bewildered worshippers. The import of this legacy lies not only in its veracity, but rather in the qualities of the national temperament which it uncovers-a temperament which could be imbued with such an interpretation. In due season, the Word was sown in Egypt, and 12 brought forth fruit: thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Before beginning the story, however, one remark is necessary. James H. Breasted, the eminent American Egyptologist and one of the greatest historians of all times, said that what seems fabulous in other countries is natural in Egypt. Also, during the less complex and less sophisticated ages, man was in closer contact with God, and a sort of fellow-feeling bound them. With these two facts in mind, it is easier to comprehend the Copts and their history. 10 NOTES 1. Eutyches denied the humanity of the Christ, pretending that His body was ethereal and not of flesh and blood like ours. This is a heresy, indeed, denying the very Incarnation. It shall be dealt with in its sequence of time. 2. The word "Copt" means literally, Egyptian. It is an echo of the ancient Egyptian name "Hakuptah," and the Greek nwne "Aegyptus," both used for Egypt. And since the Arab Conquest in 641 A.D., Copt was narrowed down to designate the Christian Egyptian. 3. In his book Egypt and Israel, London, 1911, pp. 135-6. The two presbyters he mentions are Athanasius the Apostolic, and most formidable champion of Orthodoxy, and Arius who denied the divinity of the Christ. 4. Ibid, pp. 137-8 and 140-1. 5. Genesis III. 6. James H. Breasted: The Dawn of Conscience, New York, 1934. Chapter XI.
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