Q&A Home > C > Coptic Church

• I have been searching for the true church of God for over 2 years now with no avail. I have visited Protestant, Catholic Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish churches. I am contacting you, the Coptic Orthodox church, to find out about the Truth and be a pupil of God.
• How was the Church founded (original roots)?
• I am a Christian who is interested in knowing about other groups of Christians. What is a good book to read about the Coptic Church?
• I have an earnest desire to learn more of the Coptic Orthodox Church. I was taught by my Elders that the Coptic Church of Egypt/Ethiopia is the oldest. I have so many questions regarding Doctrine, the Papacy, Apostolic Succession, the differences between the Coptic Orthodoxy of Egypt and that of Ethiopia. Also, what is the difference between the other Orthodox Communions accepted by Rome; and does Pope Benedict XVI recognize Pope Shenouda III? I would appreciate it if you could direct me to a list of books would answer my questions, clear up my inquiries.
• I'm interested in learning about the Coptic Orthodox Church. How may I begin to do this? Are there any good books on the Church you could recommend? Any help at all would be appreciated.
• We are currently studying the Wisdom of Sirach Last week, we ran into verse 16 of Chapter 44 http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/sirach.html] which reads "Enoch pleased the Lord, and was translated, being an example of repentance to all generations." Someone questioned how the author can use Enoch as an example of repentance for all generations since all we know about Enoch is that "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:21-24). Even if the author knew Enoch's biography through Jewish tradition, how is it that it didn't get passed down to us? We had a member from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with us and he mentioned that the story of Enoch was well documented in the Book of Enoch. Most everyone didn't recognize the book; but just by chance I had recognized it because I watched a documentary about it that was presented by the History Channel more than one year ago (when I watched it, I thought it was all a hoax, but maybe there's some truth to it). We read a quick synopsis of it, and it related Enoch to an event found in Genesis Chapter 6. The relationship is as follows: replace every instance in Chapter 6 where it says "sons of God" or "son of God" with "angels" or "angel". It said Enoch interceded for the angels' sakes and God had mercy on them, and therefore, this story is an example of repentance because the angels repented. When I tried to research the book of Enoch, I found that at one point, the entire church, along with the Jewish people recognized the book, but sometime early in the church history, the book was lost, until an Ethiopian copy was mysteriously found in the 1700s. This opened a discussion about the Ethiopian Church, and this is when the member that was with us claimed that their priesthood is through Aaron and the Levites. Does Christ not also follow the order of Melchizedek? He also said that the Ethiopian people don't eat anything that is unclean (for example, while we're fasting, they're not allowed to eat shrimp or crab or any kinds of shellfish, and when they're not fasting they can't eat pork, etc.). My questions are as follows:
  1. What does the Coptic Orthodox church have to say about this whole angel story?
  2. What does the Coptic Orthodox Church have to say about the Book of Enoch? (Some of the articles that I read say that the Book of Enoch must have been recognized by the early apostolic fathers because St. Jude quotes it in verses 14 and 15).
  3. Was that member of the Ethiopian Church who was with us on that day just confused or were all those things that he said about his church true?
  4. How can we take communion at their church, and they at ours, if our priests follow different orders of the priesthood (we follow the order of Melchizedek)? How is it in the first place that they can claim a different priesthood than Christ’s (when I asked him this, he said that Ethiopia was originally Jewish before converting to Christianity and that they already had priests to care for the Ark of the Covenant)?
  5. Why do they still follow the laws of the Old Testament?
• What do you think is the most unique aspect of the Coptic Orthodox Church in America today compared to American Denominations?
• What is the difference between our Coptic Church and the Greek Orthodox churches?
• What proof is there that the Coptic Orthodox Church has existed since the first years of Christianity?
• Which church came first? The Orthodox or the Catholic Church?
• Why don’t the Orthodox Churches believe in“the rosary”, in which the Catholic Church believes? I personally do not see anything wrong with saying these small prayers to saint Mary . I see it as there is nothing wrong with having this “the rosary” with me. Please, I want some evidence or a detailed answer which qualifies whether or not we believe in it, and why we do not, and if we do believe in it, then why we believe in it.