Interesting perspective from a Coptic friend

[tomarin]

I was chatting with a friend this morning who is an Egyptian Copt and he made a startling assertion: that the Coptic Church taught the western Catholic Church in the early days of Christianity. Not knowing what exactly he was referring to, I did some research and came across this:

The Coptic’s were one of the earliest Christian groups to see Christ as being both God and Man or what is called “one hypostasis in two natures.” Only later would the Eastern Orthodox, the Catholic and the Protestant churches come to this conclusion. The Coptic Christian tradition says that when John Mark took a missionary expedition to Egypt he was well received because many of the Egyptians had already believed in eternal life but in a different setting. They were more eager and willing to believe this because this was not that different than what they believed happened after death; that they passed from death to the Underworld and then to the next life. This was the primary reason why the Pyramids were built…to supply provisions for the Pharaohs so that they could pass from this life into the next as well as protect their valuable treasures.

Not sure what the credentials of this blogger are but what do you think? Is it historically accurate to say that the Coptic Church taught the Catholic Church things?

 

[Imprimartin]

It seems to me that the role of the church is to confirm the truth, not neceesarily be the source. History is filled with God speaking through various people, and it’s the church’s job to confirm it or not. In this case, they confirmed it. It matters little who said it first. There’s probably exists a coptic doctrine that didn’t get confirmed as well.

 

[SyroMalankara]

I was chatting with a friend this morning who is an Egyptian Copt and he made a startling assertion: that the Coptic Church taught the western Catholic Church in the early days of Christianity. Not knowing what exactly he was referring to, I did some research and came across this:

The Coptic’s were one of the earliest Christian groups to see Christ as being both God and Man or what is called “one hypostasis in two natures.” Only later would the Eastern Orthodox, the Catholic and the Protestant churches come to this conclusion. The Coptic Christian tradition says that when John Mark took a missionary expedition to Egypt he was well received because many of the Egyptians had already believed in eternal life but in a different setting. They were more eager and willing to believe this because this was not that different than what they believed happened after death; that they passed from death to the Underworld and then to the next life. This was the primary reason why the Pyramids were built…to supply provisions for the Pharaohs so that they could pass from this life into the next as well as protect their valuable treasures.

Not sure what the credentials of this blogger are but what do you think? Is it historically accurate to say that the Coptic Church taught the Catholic Church things?

What do you mean “the Coptic Church taught the Catholic Church”?? This was before division in the Church. The Coptic Church and the Latin Church in Rome were one Church Communion.

 

[tomarin]

What do you mean “the Coptic Church taught the Catholic Church”?? This was before division in the Church. The Coptic Church and the Latin Church in Rome were one Church Communion.

I don’t know exactly what he meant by that. He was afraid he was going to offend me. Perhaps he meant the Eastern Christians led the way for the Western Christians.

 

[SyroMalankara]

I don’t know exactly what he meant by that. He was afraid he was going to offend me. Perhaps he meant the Eastern Christians led the way for the Western Christians.

Can’t deny that, since Christianity is a Middle Eastern religion that was brought to the West. However, many Western Saints helped form the East as well.

 

[RyanBlack]

St. Cyril of Alexandria, who is a saint of the Coptic Orthodox Church (as well as the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches) articulated the teaching of the hypostatic union. However, at that time, the Coptic Christians had not broken communion with Rome.

 

[tomarin]

Can’t deny that, since Christianity is a Middle Eastern religion that was brought to the West. However, many Western Saints helped form the East as well.

I wish I knew more about this period in church history in order to have an informed discussion with my friend.

 

[SyroMalankara]

The Church spread from Jerusalem to the various centers of the then known world. Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome primarily within the Roman Empire, later when the political empire moved to Constantinople, this See became a major center. Seleucia-Ctesiphon was the major center in the Persian Empire. From these major metropolitan areas, the faith spread further. The Church centered in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, later known as the Church of the East, and later still Nestorian/East Syriac, had at one time, missionaries from Iraq to India and China.

 

[ThundersnowIV]

I was chatting with a friend this morning who is an Egyptian Copt and he made a startling assertion: that the Coptic Church taught the western Catholic Church in the early days of Christianity. Not knowing what exactly he was referring to, I did some research and came across this:

The Coptic’s were one of the earliest Christian groups to see Christ as being both God and Man or what is called “one hypostasis in two natures.” Only later would the Eastern Orthodox, the Catholic and the Protestant churches come to this conclusion. The Coptic Christian tradition says that when John Mark took a missionary expedition to Egypt he was well received because many of the Egyptians had already believed in eternal life but in a different setting. They were more eager and willing to believe this because this was not that different than what they believed happened after death; that they passed from death to the Underworld and then to the next life. This was the primary reason why the Pyramids were built…to supply provisions for the Pharaohs so that they could pass from this life into the next as well as protect their valuable treasures.

Not sure what the credentials of this blogger are but what do you think? Is it historically accurate to say that the Coptic Church taught the Catholic Church things?

The Protestant denominations didn’t individually accept anything. They split from the Catholic Church with this already a part of their belief.

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

He is right to say that the ancient church of Alexandria in it’s famous figures like Origen, Athanasius, Clement of Alexandria had a positive influence on other parts of the Church in terms of their christological theology and theological method. But one cannot ignore the influence of early Christians who were located primarily in the west, like Ireneaus, Justin Martyr and etc. Different parts of the church helped to form and shape the Church generally, though perhaps when the western church began to use Latin as it’s primary theological language it’s influence in the east began to wane. Augustine for example was not a major contributor to the theology of the eastern Church though even his influence can be seen through the response to the Donatist controversy.

 

[Reuben_J]

I was chatting with a friend this morning who is an Egyptian Copt and he made a startling assertion: that the Coptic Church taught the western Catholic Church in the early days of Christianity. Not knowing what exactly he was referring to, I did some research and came across this:

The Coptic’s were one of the earliest Christian groups to see Christ as being both God and Man or what is called “one hypostasis in two natures.” Only later would the Eastern Orthodox, the Catholic and the Protestant churches come to this conclusion. The Coptic Christian tradition says that when John Mark took a missionary expedition to Egypt he was well received because many of the Egyptians had already believed in eternal life but in a different setting. They were more eager and willing to believe this because this was not that different than what they believed happened after death; that they passed from death to the Underworld and then to the next life. This was the primary reason why the Pyramids were built…to supply provisions for the Pharaohs so that they could pass from this life into the next as well as protect their valuable treasures.

Not sure what the credentials of this blogger are but what do you think? Is it historically accurate to say that the Coptic Church taught the Catholic Church things?

Never heard of this, but it is interesting. It’s quite common for members of a church to highlight their originality or uniqueness, something that they can be proud of.

If the assertion was true, it is not surprising either because the Church’s doctrine developed over time. It is good to know that this particular belief originated from the Coptic Church since they were also founded on the apostle.

As for saying that they taught the Catholic Church, well, not sure whether that is a proper word usage or if at all, true.