Conclusion

Conclusion

It is evident from the foregoing “story” that the Coptic Church is not a Church of the past alone, She is also a Church of the present : stretching across the generations from the moment St. Mark founded Her to the present day. She has conserved the Legacy bequeathed to Her most carefully; at the same time, encouraging the endeavours of the human mind in its search after Knowledge. This encouragement is clearly seen by the member of creative works still extant despite all the destructive forces. To prove this point, we will mention a few books from those little known ages termed “the dark”.

One of the most touching flashes is given us in a few lines in a very dilapidated Arabic Ms. carefully preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale which is a remnant from the eighth century. These lines (in translation) say : “There was a believer who sat at the King’s table (Marawan last of the Ommayads); he was so favoured by the king as to be given the permission to visit the imprisoned pope and his fellow prisoners”. Who could have been this favoured believer, and what caused him to attain such high favour is still unknown.

And while Ibn Tulun reigned (889-894 A.D.), he interviewed a hundred and thirty years old Coptic traveller who went as far as the mountains in the North of Ethiopia. During the interview, Ibn Tulun first asked about the places visited, and found that the centenerian had sailed the Indian Ocean and seen Ceylon. He then asked him about the secret of his longevity. Smilingly, the seasoned traveller answered that he presumed it due to modernation and temperance.

Another prominent personality at the time is Ibn Katib’l Farghani. He built the mosque of Ibn Tulun still a standing witness to the skill of its architect. Before commencing the building, the governor wanted to be assured of its originality. Ibn Katib made for him a model in leather which he approved. This same architect built a palace for the governor in his new city, and erected an aqueduct by which the Nile water could reach it. He is also the builder of the Nilometer still to be seen on the island of Rodah near Old Cairo.

During the thirteenth century, there were :

1. ABBA BOULOS EL BOUSHY, Bishop of Babylon (Old Cairo); he wrote,

(a) an epistle on “the Logical Proofs leading to the Knowledge of God”;

(b) “The Teacher and the Student”, written in the form of question and answer;

(c) “Man’s Freewill versus Destiny” in which he argued that man is free, otherwise how can God compensate him for the good and punish him for the evil he does. It should be noted that one of the most remarkable traits of the time is the great desire to probe into spiritual subjects as is evidenced by the amount of books and epistles still extant. More remarkable still is that these books show us the Muslims the constant questioners and the Copts the constant answerers. Abba Boulos is among the most outstanding answerers of the period.

2. THE MONK BOUTROS ES-SEDMENTI : concerning whom a Dutch Jesuit father — Van Ackberg — presented a thesis for which he got a doctorate. The Coptic monk has written fourteen books, thirteen of which are still in Ms. form. One, however, was published in Cairo in 1872 under the patronage of Abba Kyrillos V; it gives a lucid explanation of the prophecies and their fulfilment in the Incarnation of the Christ.

3. IBN KATIB KAISSAR : whose father was the private secretary of an Ayyubid prince. Ibn Katib preferred study and research to wordly honours. He lived in a monastery and gave us several books, one of which is a most skilful study of the Coptic grammar, and another is an endeavour to explain “the Book of the Revelation”.

4. IBN’L MAKEEN : another monk who legated to us four books, two of which are on history, one on landing the industrious and perseverant, while the fourth is a most erudite research on the Incarnation.

These writers, and others, together with a good number of medical doctors lived under the rule of the Ayyubids (noted for their benevolence) whose greatest figure is Salah ed-Din.

One great personality under the Mamlukes is IBN KABAR. He was private secretary to their most powerful Sultan — namely Beibars. He, then, resigned his post became the priest of the Church of our Lady (Al Mo’allakah). During his priesthood, he wrote :

(a) a book on the freedom of man as against an inexorable fate;

(b) a Coptic grammar;

(c) an encyclopaedia on ecclesiastical matters;

(d) a book on “The Consubstantiality of the Trinity and the Incarnation”. He also helped the Sultan, whom he had served, to write a history book well-known to the West entitled “Zibdo’l fikrati fi Tarikh’l Higrati”.

As for the Turkish rule (1517-1805 A.D.), it was summed up in these terms : “From the time when the Turk assumed away in Egypt until the day he lost it, history and art, alike, cease”. Yet, despite the ruthless brutality of the Turk, the Coptic Church continued in Her incessant striving to guard the spiritual Legacy entrusted to Her. And the wonder of it, is the number of Mss. extant which come to us from this era : La Bibliothéque Nationale de Paris, the Library of the British Museum, New York Public Library, and similar institutions in the world’s famous universities witness to this fact.

An oustanding personality worth mentioning, just as an example is Abu Dhakn’l Menoofi who legated to us a book on the history of the Copts, the Said (Upper Egypt) and Ethiopia. In his book, he describes the social customs and gives a comparison between the schools of the Copts and those of the Europeons. Over and above, he explains the Orthodox Doctrine upheld by St. Mark’s Church.

An outstanding visitor to Egypt during the seventeenth century is a Dominican Father Vansleb. On his return, he wrote a history of the Coptic Church which is a magnificant witness to Her Fathers, and Her firm resolve to uphold the integrity of Her Orthodox Faith.

In addition, the number of Statesmen in the eighteenth century is certainly amazing. To name but a few, we cite;

RIZK AGHA; minister of finance to Ali Bey al Kabir who succeeded in making Egypt independent of the Turks for seven years (1769-1776 A.D.);

MALATI : chief judge of the Committee formed by Bonaparte;

IBRAHIM EG-GOHARI : minister of finance and assistant-governor to the two Mamluk princes Ibrahim Bey and Murad Bey . The well-known historian ad-Djabarti wrote a most flattering eulogy on him; his brother GIRGIS who lived through the Bonaparte expedition and served as Chief director of finance during the first years of Mohammad Ali Pasha’s rule.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Copts shared with their Muslim compatriots the risks and vicissitudes of the three successive national revolutions : Arabi’s, Zaghlool’s and Nasser’s. side by side, they withstood the Khedive then the British until they succeeded together in winning the independence of their beloved country. At present, they are not only cabinet ministers, but one of them — Foad Ghali is General of the Second Army.

It should be noted — before closing — that the Coptic Church became a member of the World Council of Churches since 1948. In 1954, Father Makari As-Suriani (now Bishop Samuel), Father Saleeb Surial, and Prof. Dr. A. S. ‘Atteya attended its second General Assembly held at Evanston, Illinois, USA. Since then, She has sent Her deputies regularly to conferences and committee meetings. At the same time, She is member in the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches . In addition, Her deputies have been delegated to attend the Christian Peace conferences.

Also, due to the large scale immigration movement to the U.S.A., Europe and Australia, there are Coptic churches now in all these countries served by Coptic priests. While for France, Pope Shenouda III consecrated two bishops : Abba Marcus, and Abba Athanasius, his assistant. They were consecrated in the new grand Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo, on the Day of Pentecost (1st of June 1974).

This contact of the Coptic Church with the outside world is no new thing to Her; it is but a resurgence .Because the Alexandrian Fathers carried the Good news to diverse lands. Pantaenus, Dean of the School of Alexandria was deputed (about 199 A.D.) by Abba Demetrius the Vinedresser to go to South India and Ceylon. Finding there the Church founded by St. Thomas the Doubter, he journeyed to the North of Yemen where he sowed the Seed. The same venerable Pope sent Origen to Arabia, to the North of Iraq and to Achaia.

St. Mark, himself, had preached the world in the Pentapolis (five cities in Libya which kept close contact with the Church of Alexandria. Many letters were exchanged between the bishops of these cities and the Successors of St. Mark. Of special interest are those exchanged between Bishop Synesius of Cyrenaica and Abba Theophilus — 23rd Pope of Alexandria, 384-412 A.D., and maternal uncle to Abba Kyrillos I the Pillar of Faith. He was noted for his zeal in building churches. Among the edifices which he erected is the monastery of Al-Moharraq. The Popes of Alexandria continued ordaining bishops for the Pentapolis until the Turks conquered it and massacred all the Copts living there).

Also, in A.D. 326, Abba Athanasius the Apostolic consecrated the first Bishop for Ethiopia. He was entitled by the grateful Ethiopians “Bearer of Light”. The link between the two churches has continued across the ages.

During the sixth century, the monk Longinus carried the Good News to Nobia. His efforts bore such fruit as to necessitate the ordination of a bishop. Since then, the kings of Nubia become loyal subjects to the Successors of St. Mark. But here again, the ruthless Turk put an end to Christianity. Needless to say that both in the Pentapolis and Nubia, there were those who succeeded in finding refuge in Ethiopia and the Sudan where there are two Coptic bishops at present : one for Khartoum and its region, the other for Atbara and its provinces.

A point of interest to remark in passing : when scholars from different countries hastened to rescue Abu Simbel and other Pharaonic temples from the flooding of the High Dam, they discovered, inadvertently, a number of churches buried beneath the sands, some of which were in a fair state of preservation ,and interestingly enough containing a number of documents which scholars are busy translating in order to publish them.

These efforts of the Coptic Church among Her neighbours are known and their history recorded. But other efforts have been expended : For example in Glastonbury (north of England) influences of Coptic sculptor and carving have been found, but how and by whom they were carried is unknown. The same is the case with Lyons, (in France), for its coast of arms has a palm tree with a lion crouching under it — both emblems of St. Mark. Whereas there are three heads of Coptic martyrs on the banner of Furich.

On the other hand, seven Coptic are buried in the isle of Iona (Ireland); while the word designating a monastery in that region is “desert”, for example desert Olidh means the monastery of Olidh.

In addition, there is a Coptic woman — St. Verena — who was born and bred in Qoos (Kena) in Upper Egypt, who was trained to be a nurse. She accompanied the Theban (Luxor) Legion to the region now Switzerland when they were called for Service by emperor Maximus (co-ruler with Diocletian). Finding Christians, he massacred them to the last man. And it is still unaccountable why he spared the nurses. Verena reasoned within herself that God must have a purpose in allowing her to come all that way. So she remained in the region of the present-day Geneva. She taught the people about the Christ, and also trained them to keep the hygienic method. When she died, she was buried under the altar of a church in the city of Zurzach built in her name. Her icon pictures her standing holding a comb in one hand and a water jug in the other. She is still commemorated by the people whose ancestors she served.

The flashes show us that the Coptic Church was, from the beginning, oecumenically minded. The isolation resulting from Byzantine policy in A.D. 451 was no shoice of Her.