Who Are the Copts, and What Is Coptic History?

[@user-mv1pn2sv3r]

Thank you brother that was very interesting. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

[@AsItWas00]

Same to you!

[@8475143117]

I am a Melkite Greek Catholic and know Copts to be very pius 🙏 and genuine people

[@uuuuuuuu-ko8cr]

I am an Egyptian Muslim and I respect Copts very much (｡◕‿◕｡)

[@Marcosnationalistos]

Become a Coptic Christian then

[@DLR1997]

I love to know more about the Coptic people and lifestyle

[@ianmaccann8042]

As a catholic in Ireland I have great respect and admiration for our christian brothers and sisters in the Coptic tradition your century’s of persecution leave me in awe of your fidelity to Christ the king

[@wesleyferguson9678]

The Coptic church is a lovely tradition. It’s history is so ancient, but often overlooked in the west. Even the greater Coptic culture beyond the church deserves respect and preservation. I will be keeping a close eye on this Channel. Keep honing your craft. I hope you gain many subscribers in the coming days. God bless sir!

[@AsItWas00]

Thank you sir!

[@miroslavakostic]

​@@AsItWas00 Thank you sir. Salute from Belgrade,Serbia.

[@stlouisix3]

I have always loved Copts. This video kept on being recommended for me to watch over the past month.

[@darryldavanon8859]

Beautiful Christians!! Thank you

[@catholiccrusader5328]

Thank you for the education. I learned a lot!

[@AsItWas00]

Thank you! Great to hear so.

[@luannputman9102]

Very interesting.

[@AsItWas00]

Glad you think so!

[@davidfleeman2610]

New to your channel, Im glad to see someone covering our neglected brothers and sisters in Christ.

[@AsItWas00]

Welcome to the channel!

[@realzhella6817]

Central to the coptic faith and the faith of oriental orthodox churches are Cyril of alexandria, Dioscoros of alexandria and Severus of Antioch

[@AsItWas00]

I agree, those three fathers, among many others such as Saint Athanasius the Apostolic and Saint John Chrysostom are the pillars of Orthodox doctrine.

[@LarsLiveLaughLove]

I find the Copts to be deeply, profoundly interesting old Bible times Christians

[@HS-hx8ti]

Freeze, it's the copts.

[@KyrillosWannes]

The video was great except for the one statement you made about Copts not being an ethnic group amongst the various Modern-Egyptian ethnicities, but merely varying in faith from non-Copt Egyptians. That statement, albeit popular and dhimmitic, is simply false. I high recommend you do a DNA-test at '23AndMe, Inc' (US-based). All Copts get 0% Egyptian in that test, because they isolate the Copts as a unique nation amongst the Modern populations of today's Arab Republic of Egypt. (!) According to that test -and they possess the largest data base in that regard-, the difference (DNA-wise) between a Copt (Egyptian or Sudanese), and a non-Copt Egyptian is greater than that between a French man and a German man. Let that sink in. I wish you good luck, and you just got a new subscriber.

[@AsItWas00]

Hello Kyrillos, thank you for your comment. I actually did 23 and me a couple years back and got 100% Coptic, myself. I didn’t mean to claim there isn’t genetic differences between the two groups. However, those differences are minor and both groups have the same ethnic origin though they did diverge overtime. Thank you for subscribing!

[@bobbobb4804]

I’m Greek Orthodox and out of all the other Christians, I feel especially close with the Copts and the other oriental churches.

[@AsItWas00]

I feel the same about the Eastern Orthodox. You are our brothers in Christ.

[@gabrielgabriel5177]

​@@AsItWas00but actually eastern orthodox has the greatest problems with orientals. Copts have lot better relation with catholics that eastern orthodox. Copts even came to agreements of chalcedon with catholics. Also it was byzantine that persecuted copts so history between copts and eastern orthodox is bloody and bad

[@JL-XrtaMayoNoCheese]

​@@AsItWas00orthodox and Orientals have different faiths. Brothers in humanity, not Christ.

[@AsItWas00]

@JL-XrtaMayoNoCheese Dear brother, it has been established through tedious joint theological dialogue that the two communions are both Orthodox in Theology, and that we do not differ in matters of Faith. We may express the faith in different formulas and expressions due to differing regional interpretations of certain terms, but inherently we share the same Faith and Holy Tradition. I would encourage you to read the Agreed Statement of Faith which was adopted by both communions in 1991, which I have provided the link to below. While communion has not been officially reestablished by the Churches, we have hope that it will be re-established soon. Pray that the schisms of the Church may cease! www.trinityorthodox.ca/documents/Agreed%20Statements-Orthodox-Oriental%20Orthodox%20Dialogue-1989-1990.pdf I would also like to add that if we distinguish between our brotherhood with those in the Faith and those without, then we are no better than the Priest and Levite which Christ condemned in the parable of the Good Samaritan. We would be like the young scribe, asking Him "who is my neighbor?" There is One Christ, and all men are His brothers for we were all made in His Image and Likeness. Even unbelievers are created this way and are our brothers in Christ, hence we extend to them the same Christian Love as we were commanded by Christ, "Love your enemies." There is no such thing as brotherhood in "humanity," only brotherhood in Christ. Pray for my weakness.

[@AsItWas00]

@gabrielgabriel5177 Dear Gabriel, the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox were a single Church at the time of the persecution. Justinian and Heracles the two emperors that did the most damage had the support of both Rome and Constantinople. We do not favor one Chalcedonian communion over the other, we view them both with equal love and we have been open to dialogue with both for the sake of Christian unity. However, we have made greater strides towards restored communion with the Eastern Orthodox than we have with the Catholics.

[@coptictunes]

@asitwas00 how does one get in touch with you?

[@AsItWas00]

@coptictunes Hello! Feel free to email me at [e-mail]

[@supermavro6072]

Copts and Greeks ancient brothers Gr ❣❣Eg

[@Dogsnark]

What about the relationship with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church? Is it not also Coptic?

[@AsItWas00]

Great question! Coptic means Egyptian, so it only refers to the Church of Egypt. The Ethiopian church until 1959 was under the jurisdiction of the Church of Egypt. This is because the Pope of Alexandria (Egypt) was also Patriarch of All of Africa. Because of this, some early Western Orientalists lumped the two churches together and called them "Coptic." In actuality, however, there has always been two Churches, the "Coptic" Church of Egypt and the "Ethiopian" Church of Abyssinia (Ethiopia and Eritrea), each possessing unique traditions, Biblical canons, and liturgical rites, all while sharing one primate/patriarch, the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa. In 1959 the Pope of Alexandria appointed an autocephalous Patriarch for Ethiopia; another autocephalous Patriarch was appointed for Eritrea in 1993. All three churches remain in communion, and the new Patriarchs recognize the Pope of Alexandria to have primacy among them as Patriarch of all Africa; similar to how the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople has primacy among the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs. Hope this answered your question.

[@noblemottythomas7664]

Mar Antonios who was well known for hermit life Mar Gregorius Mar Baselious brethren

[@Thomas-ORaghaill]

Judaism has always allowed conversion. The first known being Ruth, grandmother of King David, so I have no idea where you got we didn't allow conversions.

[@AsItWas00]

Hey Thomas! Ancient Judaism was a religion tied to land and ethnicity. It was actually more of a nationality than a religion. While Ruth declared loyalty to the God of Israel, she was not considered an Israelite or "Jew" by anyone in the narrative; hence the continued references to her as being a Moabite and a foreigner. Meanwhile Solomon, her great-grandson worshiped the gods of the nations, and set up shrines for idols in Jerusalem, yet was still viewed as being Jewish. When we read the story of Ruth through our modern eyes we see it as a story of conversion, but this would not have been the original interpretation of the text. There was no such thing as “religious conversion” in the time of Ruth. In fact, the concept of conversion to Judaism was not a thing until around the first century BC. Even then, converts were not viewed as being Jewish, but rather as God fearing gentiles. Foreigners who recognize the Jewish God because they live in his land. They were allowed to live with Jews, and were treated fairly under the law, but were not fully Jewish and had to remain separate. The New Testament, having been written around the first century AD expands on these concepts. The concept of conversion to Judaism as it is understood today, a convert becomes a full-fledged Jew, is a Rabinic development unparalleled anywhere in the Bible. Here are a few sources about the history of conversion in Judaism that I personally found helpful: 1. blogs.timesofisrael.com/did-ruth-convert-to-judaism/ 2. www.myjewishlearning.com/article/conversion-history-ancient-period/ 3. www.jpost.com/blogs/torah-commentaries/can-a-person-convert-to-judaism-409549 4. oxfordre.com/classics/classics/abstract/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8130?rskey=6CBllV&result=14 5. www.thetorah.com/article/in-the-torah-is-the-ger-ever-a-convert 6. www.convertingtojudaism.net/torah/laws-on-conversion

[@Thomas-ORaghaill]

@@AsItWas00 Love this response! I was raised in an interfaith household, Jewish & Catholic, but lived my life practicing Catholicism while doing a lot of Jewish cultural practices. I'm now a Coptic Christian!

[@AsItWas00]

@@Thomas-ORaghaill I am glad you liked it! Welcome brother!

[@Thomas-ORaghaill]

@@AsItWas00 Thank you! I'm still new to the Church. Still trying to be a better Christian and more Christ-like, but I'm coming around. Pray for me.

[@AsItWas00]

@@Thomas-ORaghaill We are all in need of God's grace. Keep me in you prayers as well.

[@Busson_0]

Long story short: Copts are Egyptians(true Aegyptians not arab colonisators).

[@edermanutencaoejardim9138]

The question is this: how did the Copts survive 1000 years of massacres by the terrorist religion of Mecca??🤔☝️

[@AsItWas00]

I don't agree with your general characterization of Muslims as terrorists. Egypt has been under Islamic control for 1400 years, and while there were periods of persecution, there were also periods of relative peace. The answer to how the Church survived, and will continue to survive, however, is quite simple; because Christ promised that the gates of hell will never prevail against His Church. (Matthew 16:18).

[@MarioBishara]

@@AsItWas00 Christ promised that to all churches, yet Christianity was eradicated from Maghreb, so does Christ in your opinion care about specific churches and ignore others?

[@MarioBishara]

The answer to that is simple, if the Arab hordes exterminated Copts very early on, they would have starved to death, since they were illiterates and knew nothing about agriculture or taking care of lands, so they needed to keep Copts as serfs and make them work for them forcibly whenever the opportunity arose, and so slowly but surely when more people converted to Islam, they started the real persecution, ethnic cleansing and forced cultural assimilation using the Coptic Church as their puppet to force Copts to obey whenever they revolted. And the actual saviour of Copts is Napoleon in my opinion, because when he arrived in Egypt the population was already decimated by diseases famines and wars, and of course Copts were by this time a minute fraction of the population, although certain Mamelukes liked Copts because they were namely Christians from the Caucasus especially from Georgia by the 18th century, so they had good relations with Copts, but anyway it was Napoleon who brought enlightenment to Egypt and Copts started prospering again accordingly under more fair conditions, I hope this covered your question.

[@AsItWas00]

@@MarioBishara Hey Mario, thank you for your comments. Christianity was never the major religion of Maghreb, like it was in Egypt. The Church there was urban in character. In Modern day Tunis and the Maghreb, only a few Christian centers were present in Hippo, Carthage, and other coastal cities. These Christian cities were Roman colonies that spoke Latin, and their bishops were under the jurisdection of Rome. In Libya Christianity was common in the Five coastal cities which were Greek colonies similar to Alexandria, and were under the church of Alexandria's jurisdiction. The Amazigh tribes who lived in the deserts and made up a majority of the population of North Africa were never fully Christianized. North Africa was also conquered and controlled by the Arian Vandals shortly before the Arab conquest, causing division between the Christians there and making them easier prey for Islamic conversion following the Conquest.

[@MarioBishara]

@@AsItWas00 Thanks for telling me what I already know, that wasn't the purpose of my comment, you could have answered him in details as you did, not just simply stating a verse from the Bible that applies to all Christians, despite that there was still a bishop in Carthage attested as late as the 17th century, so it did survive for a while in Maghreb and the Amazigh tribes were overwhelmingly Christians, of course they followed Donatism but that doesn't mean that because of that Christianity stopped existing there, it is because of the Muslim atrocities and forced conversion that continued throughout the ages.

[@Dlee-eo5vv]

Coptics decided to separate from christ and his body.

[@AsItWas00]

I believe that is how some of the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics view the results of Chalcedon, but this is an oversimplification. I encourage you to look at the issue from both sides to gain a clearer understanding of what happened. I actually have a few videos on the subject, if you are interested in learning more about it: kzbin.info/aero/PLt5K3EPCIKc07M4bFucyAMi-m0XPFIQIF&si=YJZOfQw06w_GKGkn I would recommend that you also research the subject for yourself. Also, please keep in mind that both the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox communions have signed several mutual statements in the 1980s and 1990s, accepting each other's Christology; meaning that there is no longer any grounds for schism between the two communions. The only thing remaining to mend the schism is to formally lift the mutual anathemas. As always, we pray for the schisms of the Church to cease.

[@Dlee-eo5vv]

@@AsItWas00 individual opinion or research that goes against the catholicity of the church and her determination is standing against the mind and voice of God, as a former protestant preacher I experienced the disaster of personal or even group rebellion thinking we were protecting God.

[@AsItWas00]

The mutual agreements signed between the communions in the 80s and 90s were the fruit of a dialogue between the top theologians and hierarchs on both sides, which lasted for decades. These statements were also called for and approved by the synods of the churches in both communions; none of it is individual research, but the consensus of Church fathers inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Orthodox Church is a synodal Church, not one given to individual opinions, and the Catholicity of the Church stems from the consensus of the Fathers, not from the opinions of the few. No one in the Orthodox Church acts under the misguided conception that they are protecting God. God is the Pantocrator, and we are all in need of His protection. As for His Church, He has promised that the gates of hades shall not overcome her. What the fathers seek to achieve is the unity of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic, Orthodox Church of God; this is a fulfillment of God's commandments concerning love, fellowship, and unity. The goal of Christianity is to restore man to love, fellowship and unity with God, and with his fellow man. Those who stand in the way of love, fellowship and unity, under the Orthodox faith, are in the wrong. I would encourage you to read through the joint statements of faith: www.trinityorthodox.ca/documents/Agreed%20Statements-Orthodox-Oriental%20Orthodox%20Dialogue-1989-1990.pdf As always, may the schisms of the Church cease.

[@epchoisnainan1110]

If you’re a Melkite then you should be the last person accusing Oriental Orthodoxy of separating Christ. At least get your slander right. Also it’s Copts not “Coptics”

[@Dlee-eo5vv]

@epchoisnainan1110 it's not slander, it's history.