The Coptic Orthodox Christian Community

The Libyan born Presbyter and theologian, Arius (d. 336), believed that Jesus was created by god and therefore not eternal. He taught many things in his church in Alexandria and he attempted to address complexities such as the divinity of Christ in relation to God according to monotheism. Perhaps God had a reason for the work of Arius in the Empire. Until now the church hadn’t resolved an issue of this magnitude and Arius brought it to the main stage. Perhaps Arius was meant to argue for the sake of change within the church according to God’s ultimate design, saving the dissolution of the Roman Empire. In this paper I will describe the beliefs held by Arius on eternity and the divinity of Jesus, as well as the issue of Monotheism in both points of view and the controversy that enveloped. I will then talk about the views and response of the church to Arius’ teachings and the reasoning behind the formation of the Council of Nicaea, as well as attempt to prove that Arius was wrong in his belief. Lastly I will discuss the influence of Emperor Constantine in the formation of the council and the politics within the church in regards to the growing issue that Arius started, as well as explain the role of argumentation that Arius had (knowingly or unknowingly) in the preservation of the church according to God’s ultimate plan for Christianity.

A micro-culture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong. As a member of the Christian faith, a micro-culture that I strongly associate myself with is Coptic Orthodoxy. There are many branches of Christianity all over the world today and Coptic Orthodoxy is one that is constantly growing.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is of his greatest theological works, passed down for thousands of years and still as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes statements such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18), one may say that current times have changed. Some may say that the issues Paul addresses are acceptable in today’s society. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

Up until the mid to late 1900’s the knowledge about Marcion and the Gnostics was only known through the heresiologists. (Gonzales 1984, 70) Heresiologists – Christian writers that argued against Gnosticism and its tenets. In 1945 a large collection of Gnostic writings were discovered in Egypt; they included the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Truth of Valentinus, a leading Gnostic teacher.

It is with great pleasure that I write Jonathan Gergis' recommendation to Princeton on behalf of the Archdiocese Bishop David head of New York and New England Coptic Orthodox Church.

It spread rapidly from Jerusalem in all directions. Christianity impacted Egypt, North Africa, Syria, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Southern Europe. “In the beginning there were no such entities as denominations and the church was one unified body”(Bailey 49). As the church grew, organization was needed and it was divided into patriarchates, or geographical units. Its earliest patriarchates were in Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome. Constantinople joined in the fourth century and Jerusalem joined in the fifth century. “The conversion of the Emperor Constantine confirmed the progressive Christianization of Byzantine Empire from the fourth century A.D. on” (Bailey 6). Despite Jerusalem’s smaller patriarchate, it was honored because it was the “Mother

Under Ottoman rule, the Greek Orthodox Church acquired power as an autonomous millet. Islamic sacred law prescribed religious toleration, meaning that the Greek Orthodox Church was given a privileged position within the empire. Instead of imposing mass conversion to the Greek population, the new Muslim rulers showed tolerance and even respect for the conquered populations. This respect was very much linked to the belief that Christians are fellow "people of the

Contents 1 Description 2 Western Church 3 Age 4 Imagery 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Description The Catechism of the Catholic Church

The standard religion in Ancient Egypt wasn’t really one set religion at all. It was more a mix of all of the main principles of the different, and most prominent religions we observe being practiced around the world today. Like most religions, they had a belief in a higher power, they were polytheistic that went with an extensive mythology for all of the gods they worshipped, whilst having a very strong belief of spiritualism, and having magic incorporated into many parts of their religion. They also had a more scientific aspects of their religion such as psychiatry, herbology, and medicine. Contrarily, the religion of Byzantium wa much more predetermined, standard, and while being Christianity at the specific time of those people, their religion is very similar to that of today’s Christianity. They were monotheistic, meaning they only worshipped one god, unlike the Ancient Egyptians. While they only worshipped one god, they believed that there were three elements to him: God the Father; God the Son and the Holy Spirit. They followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, also viewing him as the son of God, and the messiah promised in the Old Testament. They obtained this information from their holy book called the Bible, and worshipped and were taught lessons from the Bible in churches, by their religious leaders called Priests or Ministers. Other

Many people around the world are unaware about these attacks on Coptic Christians. They continue to happen on a daily basis throughout Egypt and other parts of Africa. One can only pray that one day there is peace among the various religious groups in the world.

There are several areas in the early church on essential issues such as the deity of Christ, nature, and humanity. This period of dispute was also characterized with the emergence of groups like Gnostics, which brought a completely new set of presumed beliefs to the faith that came alongside the faith and in total compromised tenets of the faith. These new beliefs were supposedly based on the truth of Christ’s teachings as presented to his followers. Consequently, there was a great need to explain the true writings that presented the truth of Christ. The need for clarifications of these truths was necessary because of the fact that heretical parties involved would constantly present texts and teach them as being the writings of the Apostles. This process should include clarification of key events and movements that impacted the acknowledgment of the canonical books.

Throughout time, there have been deep misconceptions on who the fathers of philosophy and greatest contributors to civilization. In the 1954 book, Stolen Legacy, George James, a Guyanese historian and author, argued that the highly acclaimed Greek philosophy actually originated in ancient Egypt. James’ arguments on Ancient Egypt being the basis of Greek philosophy will be discussed as it relates to the goals of Egyptian theory of salvation and Egyptian Mystery system.

We see that each Ecumenical Council brings about different theological claims that would later shape the idea of orthodoxy. What is important in relation to these theological claims in the councils is the take away from each. They each bring a new idea, and tradition, into the next time period. While they still continue to have multiple councils, we see the adapting and changing of each because of how the Church’s themselves operate. The councils bring forth lessons to be learned with regards to valuable information that is put toward the idea and culture of orthodoxy. The 3rd Council in Ephesus focuses on Cyril and Nestorius in relation to Theotokos (Cyril -bearer of God) and Christotokos (Nestorius -Christ bearer). The 4th council in Chalcedon

We will perceive, into this paper that how St. Paul articulated his upward perceptive of the characteristics of the Church in different images and metaphors; secondly, we will look at it more direct at two of these reflections: the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ; thirdly, we will test the organizational configuration of the Church as mentioned by St. Paul; to end with we will learn how St.

On the eve of Vatican II, the Church struggled with the maximalist interpretation of the two dogmas; at the same time, Vatican II took up the concerns of the minority bishops as a bridge in order to discuss further the compatibility of the dogma of infallibility with a communion ecclesiology. “The work of Vatican II has remained a building site,” whose attempts “to end Vatican centralization by means of its teachings on collegiality.” The challenges that Vatican II needs to deal with are two major concerns: “to rebel against centralization, and to bring the church out of its ghetto into the modern world.” Lumen Gentium offers very little attention to the two concerns, and the appearance of the phrase “hierarchical communion” “weakens the idea of communion without actually saying anything new.” After Vatican II, Pottmeyer observes, “The fear of a shared governance by bishops” had remained. For example, in 1965, Pope Paul VI “established the synod of bishops and published the norms for its operation.” This form of “permanent participation of the bishops in the leadership of the church” also made many of the council fathers disappointed. Fifty years after Vatican II, the leadership struggle remains by unsuccessfully overcoming and reconciling with tradition and former dogmas. According to the biblical and patristic concept, the development of a primacy in communion is “to move beyond centralization to a restoration of the communion of churches within the unity of the