Because the conflict between Muslims and Jews is such an explosive element in today's news from the Middle East, information about the Christians* of the region has been sidelined. In Egypt, they are less visible as well.

Although Coptic Christians today are a minority (somewhere between 6% and 20% of the population, depending on the source) they were at one point the dominant religion in Egypt.  Today, the church is forging a regeneration.

Beginnings

St. Mark brought the religion to Egypt in the first century after the death of Christ and it spread, in part because it sequenced comfortably, especially among the fellahin. From pharonic beliefs: the idea of one God, of life after death and of the good mother, blended the lore of Isis with that of the Virgin Mary.

Christianity was left to grow un-bothered until the 3rd century when the Roman Empire, of which Egypt was a part, declared it illegal, mandating instead the worship of many gods.  In Egypt the decree twisted into persecution, generating a host of martyrs and driving Christians deeper and deeper into the deserts of southern Egypt.

The persecution profoundly marked the Coptic faith.  It gave new drive to the monastic movement, which originated in Egypt, not only animating the building of monasteries and the scouring out of caves but scoring the virtues of austerity, focused work, and scrupulous self-discipline into the soul of the church.

The suffering of the martyrs is esteemed by church members to this day.

In their isolation and sorrow, the Copts created a distinctive and highly regarded art style which merged characteristics of pha=pronic, folk and Roman art.

Contemporary Coptic Christianity

At the end of the 19th century, the church was in poor health.  Its monks were pieceived as little more than beggars, if not theives; its priests - especially in the villages in the south - were often the least promising sons of their priest fathers. (Priests must be married in order to hear the confession of women).

In cities, by contrast, lay Copts were succeeding as entrepreneurs, industrialists, merchants and professionals, due in part to the virtues transmitted to them by the monastic tradition.  They had social status, didn't like the blight on their religion and so began agitating for reformation, demanding greater accountability and more democracy within the church.  Over the next 50 years, and in spite of many unpleasant shifts in the constituencies in power ( complete with exiles, kidnappings and threatened assassinations), the demand for modernzation bore fruit.

A remarkable revitalization had taken place.

Nourishing Identity

In what is called the "Sunday School Movement," the church began recruiting more educated men into the priesthood, built four high quality colleges and began the process of recovering the church's past - researching the lives of the martyrs as well as ancient Coptic art and the music of the church.

It undertook a revival of the Coptic language, digging out the traces the late pharonic tongue in which the church was founded.  It sent priests out to visit their parishioners; introduced sermons into the three hour masses, giving the priests an opportunity to address the problems of the people with  a combination of the latest knowledge in the social sciences with theology.  They've produced colorful books which tell the stories of the saints, films explaining the tenets of the faith; introduced new hymns into ritual; expanded the role of the laity and sent young men to reclaimed monasteries for religiou sojourns.

In the 1990's the church with the support of USAID and UNESCO and under the leadership of Abouala Maximus el-Anthony, began major restoration projects of its monasteries and cathedrals. 

With satellite broadcasting, it communicates to a growing radio and television fellowship.

Inspired young men, like the one who was to become today's Coptic Pope Shenouda III, demanded greater democracy in decision-making.  Some in the leadership reached out to diaspora Copts, serving them and attracting their financial support.  Others participated in the founding the World Council of Churches.

Democratization

Not to say that the Coptic Church has achieved democracy.  S.S. Hasan, in her excellent book (upon which this article heavily depends, ) Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century Long Struggle for Copric Christianity, predicts that the "struggle for democratization of the Egyptian Orthodox Church will be a long and bitter one; the reformers know this and seem resigned to sit it out."

The cultural context of Egypt, in which the Church is embedded, is authoritarian, and the yoke of that culture--to which must be added the high prelate's own monastic tradition of unquestioning obedience to one's superiors--weighs heavily on the Church, not only in its relationship to its congregation but also in its internal relationships.

Interfaith Harmony

Long too will be the coming to terms of Muslims and Copts, who have not lived easily together in Egypt.  Recent outbreaks of violence between some parts of the Muslim community and some Copts have added fuel to the long-burning pyre.  The sources of the conflict are complex and we'll wait on further independent research as well as information from members of both communities before attempting a summary of the issues. 



*Note: Although Coptic Christians are culturally dominant in Egypt, other Christians organizations are active.  We look forward to reporting on them in the future.

SGF:July 2009

Read more:

• "The Meaning of the Koran," Robert Wright, New York Times. Wright "tests" our religious literacy: what the Koran maybe surprisingly says about Jesus and Jews and war; and what the Bible says about its infidels.
• Coptic website

• Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century Long Stuggle for Coptic Equality by S.S. Hasan

Read other backstories

• Egypt's Muslims
• Democracy in Egypt
• Art in Egypt
• Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
• Economy in Egypt

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