When the Copts cop it – why theology still matters but is not everything

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When the Copts cop it – why theology still matters but is not everything

On April 9 2017 the Palm Sunday liturgy at two Egyptian Coptic churches left 45 dead and over 100 people injured (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39555897). It’s not the first attack on Copts in Egypt (Google “attacks on Egyptian Copts” for more details as recently as December 2016) and, sadly, it’s unlikely to be the last. Besides, death and injury, the Copts have suffered other forms of persecution over the years.

As an evangelical Christian I find much to disagree with when it comes to the Copts. If leisure afforded space for a conversation I’d love to open the Bible and talk. I’d like to talk about the way that the Coptic church and its rituals seem to have crowded Jesus out and to stand in his place. I’d like to talk about how their view of the sacraments puts attention on the sacraments to receive grace and not on Jesus in whom the riches of God’s mercy are found. And I’d like space to talk about their synergistic view of salvation. And somewhere in all that I’d like to go back to the Bible and discuss their rejection of the creed of the 451 Council of Chalcedon and their profession of a “one nature” Monophysite view of Jesus. These are big points of disagreement, for they go to the heart of the gospel which is  .. concerning his Son .. (Rom 1:3).

But that’s not the point right now, for there is no leisure for such conversation. The Copts are copping a beating and this is a time to identify with brothers and sisters who profess Christ. It’s time to remember those who are persecuted, to pray with them, and to seek to publicise their cause in the hope of some relief. When the Copts suffer, every Christian suffers (1 Cor 12:26). When one is in prison, we are all in prison (Heb 13:5).

And that’s why this evangelical Christian wants to pause the theological conversation, identify with the Copts and say that their suffering is my suffering and their persecutors are my persecutors. I’ll pray for the “kings and governors” of Egypt that my brothers and sisters there may be able to live a peaceful and quiet life and that there is space to tell of God’s salvation on behalf of God who desires that all people should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:1-2).

And if that prayer is answered we can sit down and discuss the big questions about Jesus that Coptic beliefs and practices raise. However, that is not the need of this present hour.

Perhaps the title of this post should be changed: When the Copts cop it – when theology still matters but is not everything.