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August 25, 2013 |
| Coptic Christians | ||
Coptic Christians have been in the news a lot recently. They are being killed and their churches are being burned by Muslims. But most people in the western world are only familiar with the Roman Catholic branch of the Christian church. In this lesson we will cover the early history of the Christian church, the branches that formed from it and where Coptic Christians fit in those and what they believe.
At the time of Jesus death Christians considered themselves part of Judaism. In fact they saw themselves as the next phase of Judaism, the post-Messiah phase. Jewish Christians were allowed in the synagogues and the temple and they worshiped with the Jews while spreading the gospel message. Gentile Christians, of course, were not allowed in the synagogues or temple.
But the gospel message contained elements that were not compatible with Jewish thinking – the Messiah had come, not only was he God but he was the previously unknown son of God, and the Jews had killed him. The Jews reacted violently to this. The stoning of Stephen1 is one well known story and of course Paul’s experiences with being stoned and thrown in jail repeatedly are well known.
Judaism had sects within it and still does. The Bible mentions the Sadducees and Pharisees and there were others. Romans and other gentiles viewed Christianity as a new sect of Judaism. But the Jews were not going to accept them as a sect. They began to persecute the Christians so harshly that most Christians could not live in Jerusalem2.
The apostles began their ministries and traveled outward from Jerusalem. The gospel message was delivered "to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles" because it traveled through the Jewish synagogues. By that time there were large Jewish populations throughout much of the world and they had built synagogues wherever they settled. Because Jews had the same foundational beliefs as Christians they were the most prepared to accept the gospel message. Using each synagogue as a base the apostles would spread the message outward from there to the Gentiles.
We are most familiar with the travels of Paul because they are best documented in the Bible. But the other apostles also spread the message. The apostles who were Jesus disciples worked mostly with the Aramaic speaking countries surrounding Israel. That covered the area from the Mediterranean in the west to the desert in the east and from Syria and Asia Minor in the north to Ethiopia in the south. But Paul’s travels took him into Gentile lands in the north and northwest, through Greece, Rome and as far as Spain.
At the end of the Apostolic Era the center of the Christian church had moved from Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Romans, to Asia Minor, now called Turkey. In the book of Revelation John names seven churches3. These are all churches in western Asia Minor. They were called the Church of the East
Two of the churches that were planted were growing very quickly, Rome, Italy and Alexandria, Egypt. The Church of Rome was started by Romans and Roman Jews who had been in Jerusalem and discovered Christianity. When they returned home they started their own churches. Because of the great distance from Jerusalem it was a long time until an apostle made it there.
At first the Church of Rome adhered to Christian doctrine. This was probably because the wealth of Romans made it possible for them to get Bibles (Old Testament), early epistles, and to travel to Jerusalem and other Christian churches. Therefore they were able to learn the truth from other churches and they also had Messianic Jews in the church to provide a foundation.
But early on the government of Rome decided to kick all the Jews out of Rome4 5. People from the Aramaic speaking regions were not well liked by Romans and this was especially true of Jews. These peoples were considered barbarians and as people who could barely understand the greatness of Rome. The Jews were disliked the most because they were always causing trouble in the Roman Empire. It was because of these troubles that Jerusalem was destroyed.
The result of the Christian church in Rome losing its Jewish Christians was that the church lost its roots and began to adopt pagan beliefs. The early church fathers in Asia Minor had to make trips to Rome to correct the false beliefs and practices that were creeping in. But the Church of Rome was becoming bigger and beginning to flex its muscles and to reject the correction of the churches in Asia Minor6.
The church in Alexandria, Egypt claims it was started by Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, and they are probably correct. It grew quickly but also began to adopt pagan beliefs. It’s less clear how this happened in Alexandria. It may just have been that the gentile population was much greater than the Jewish population so growth would come mostly from Gentiles and eventually the Gentiles would outnumber the Jewish Christians in the church. Perhaps the growth of the church was just too quick and the church could not instruct the new Gentiles quickly enough. But some of the pagan influence certainly did come from the Church of Rome.
The Church of Alexandria mostly served the Egyptian people. A Greek term meaning "Egyptian" is "Coptic". Therefore the Church of Alexandria was also known as the Church of the Copts.
During this period Roman civil government figured out that the Jews did not consider the Christians part of Judaism. Also Christians would not respect the Roman emperor as god. Therefore Christianity was declared an illegal religion throughout the Roman Empire. As a result the church was persecuted both by Jews and Romans.
Despite the persecution the churches in Rome and Alexandria were growing. As they became stronger they began to get into struggles with each other for power. As mentioned earlier, the first problems appear between the Church of Rome and the Church of Antioch. Rome is losing the battle with false theology and the church in Antioch quietly begins to reject all theological teachings coming out of Rome.
The Church of Rome also begins to believe that it should be the head of the entire church. Until that time the church had been organized into regions with each region having a bishop. None of the bishops were considered superior to the others. The other bishops ignored Rome’s claim to superiority. Rome was not yet strong enough to do anything about it.
But Rome was strong enough in its own region to define doctrine and to enforce it. Those who did not agree with the Church of Rome were persecuted and often killed.
Due to corruption the Roman Empire became weak and came under attack from various groups. The city of Rome in particular began to come under attack. A new city called Constantinople "was founded in 330 AD at ancient Byzantium, as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great, after whom it was named."7 "The Roman persecution of Christians ended in AD 313 when Constantine the Great adopted the religion."8
While the end of Roman persecution was good for individual Christians, it began a struggle to define official doctrine for the church. This resulted in removing many false teachings from the church but it also became a tool by which the bishop of one church could exert his authority over other bishops. Theological matters that had no Biblical basis and which should have been too trivial for consideration became grounds for bitter disputes.
One of these disputes centered on the nature of Jesus. He was plainly a combination of man and god but the fight came down to exactly how those two natures existed. It was mainly a fight between the Church of Rome and the Church of Alexandria and it was really more of a power struggle than doctrinal struggle.
By that time Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. As a result Roman Emperors were very involved in the church. "The Roman Emperor Theodosius II called two synods in Ephesus, one in 431 and one in 449, with the intention of settling the issue. The councils ultimately rejected [one] view. Many churches who followed [that] viewpoint broke away from the Roman Church, causing a major [split]. The [breakaway] churches were persecuted and many followers fled to the Sassanid Empire where they were accepted."9 These came mostly from Asia Minor.
It has to be asked why this trivial doctrinal difference was so important that it would justify these actions. It wasn’t so important by itself but the Roman Church had built a major false teaching on top of it. By this time the Church of Rome had elevated Mary, the mother of Jesus, to nearly God-like status. This theology was, and still is, based on the nature of Jesus. If the nature of Jesus was viewed the Roman Church’s way then Mary had given birth to a god and therefore must have been sinless and almost a god herself. In the other viewpoint Mary had given birth to the Messiah and so she was no one special, except that she was chosen by God to be used for this purpose.
"In 451 the Council of Chalcedon was held to further clarify the [issue]. The council ultimately [ruled in favor of the Roman Church and the decision was rejected by the others]. The resulting [split] created a communion of churches, including the Armenian, Syrian, and Egyptian churches. Though efforts were made at reconciliation in the next few centuries the [split] remained permanent."
The Church of Alexandria, also known as the Church of the Copts or Egyptians, became the Coptic Church. The Church of Rome began persecuting and killing the people from that church. At the same time the Church of Rome started creating Roman churches in Egypt. They had very little success. By far the majority of Christians in Egypt now are part of the Coptic Church.
Beginning around 600 AD a warrior called Muhammed managed to unite many of the Arab peoples and to conquer the rest. Then he and later his followers went on to conquer many other lands, spreading the new religion called Islam. This included Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and much of the Roman Empire.
In many places the Christians were allowed to live under Dhimmitude, an arrangement that allows non-Muslims to live in safety in a Muslim land by paying a tax called the Jizya. Ever since they were conquered Egypt has been a Muslim country and the Coptic Christian church has been required to pay this tax.
Dhimmitude was supposed to guarantee the safety of those paying the tax, but practice has often been different. That is the situation now in Egypt. The police forces often cannot or will not protect the Christians and the Christians become a second class people in the eyes of the Muslim. The Christians are abused, persecuted, and killed.
"The Coptic Christian Church shares many beliefs and practices with the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Copts split from the Catholic Church and have their own pope and bishops. The church is steeped in ritual and tradition and places a heavy emphasis on asceticism, or denying the self.10
"Baptism - In the case of adult baptism, the person undresses, enters the baptismal font up to their neck, and their head is dipped three times by the priest. The priest stands behind a curtain while immersing the head of a woman.
Confession - Copts believe verbal confession to a priest is necessary for forgiveness of sins. Embarrassment during confession is considered part of the penalty for sin. In confession, the priest is considered a father, judge, and a teacher.
Communion - Recipients must fast nine hours before communion. Married couples are not to have sexual relations on the eve and day of communion, and menstruating women may not receive communion.
The Bible - The Coptic Christian Church considers the Bible "an encounter with God and an interaction with Him in a spirit of worship and piety."
Saints and Icons - Copts venerate (not worship) saints and icons, which are images of saints and Christ painted on wood. The Coptic Christian Church teaches that saints act as intercessors for the prayers of the faithful.
Salvation - Coptic Christians teach that both God and man have roles in human salvation: God, through Christ's atoning death and resurrection; man, through good works of merit, such as fasting, almsgiving, and receiving the sacraments, which are the fruits of faith."
1 Acts 6:5 to 7:60
2 Acts 8:1
3 Revelation 2 and 3
4 Acts 18:2
5 This may have happened twice within 10 years or so
6 See Polycarp
7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantinople
8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity
9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity
10 http://christianity.about.com/od/Coptic-Orthodoxy/a/JZ-Coptic-Christian-Beliefs.htm