Over the last few weeks, our church has been going through a series on Wednesday nights called Ask The Pastor. We would like to bring these questions to our readers to see what answers you can come up with! Can you answer these Bible questions?
Question: Who are the Coptic Christians?
Answer: The term "Coptic" means "Egyptian." Therefore, Coptic Christians are people who associate with Christianity from Egypt. Tradition suggests that the denomination originated in Alexandria, Egypt when John Mark visited between AD 42 - 62. Tradition also adds that when John Mark arrived on a missionary journey to Egypt, the Egyptian religion of that day was still focused upon the pyramids and astrology. The preaching of the gospel brought the truth and started a revolution.
Modern Coptic Christianity is very similar to Roman Catholicism. In 2017, the term "Christian" is very broad and no longer refers to those who have been saved by grace through faith. While Coptics profess to be genuine followers of Jesus Christ and a part of his worldwide Church, they tend to emphasize salvation as a process of works along with ritual instead of salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For may Americans, a Coptic church service would be no different from a Catholic church service.
Coptic Christianity has been featured in the news lately because of persecution from the Muslim Brotherhood. Coptics are being crucified and killed if they associate with Christianity. This is a tragedy. Only the genuine gospel of Jesus Christian bring peace and hope to any Egyptian without Christ as Savior. Martyrdom cannot bring salvation to the martyr or the murderer.