Why Coptic Christians go to Protestant Churches

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  • There is never a need to rush. There is not a requirement to go exceeding slowly either. It is not worth celebrating the Liturgy if we are going to rush though.
  • What's wrong with our liturgy?!....i LOVE OUR LITURGY!!!!!!
    So traditional and filled with wisdom in everything that is done. even if there is nothing happening in church (meaning nothing being chanted) and you just sit there see the church filled with the sun's light, the altar open, the incense filling every place like we are in heaven and you just freeze and contemplate. I really missed the liturgies in egypt where you'd hear birds coming into church while the liturgy. and it doesn't matter how many kids or babies are there, everyone is paying attention and living the liturgy....it's like you can feel the angels calming that little child to pray and to let others pray. it's a true feeling of heaven.

    I did go to a Russian Orthodox Liturgy Once. It was not short (like ours time-wise). there was a lot of movements but many things were kind of "hidden", behind closed doors at some point of time. also there was not much interaction between the people and the clergy. BUT, it was still really nice.
  • Ionnes, forgive me for not articulating myself clearly and this misunderstanding.  I never meant to promote Protestantism, merely acknowledge that it has still brought millions to Christ, and the more welcoming environment of many of their churches is a much more feasible way for people to be introduced to Christianity. 

    and more clearly put by Mabsoota
    "lastly, i love protestants, and know many very sincere ones who find it hard to see the joy of the orthodox liturgy partly because of the blocks in their mind from their own traditions, but also partly because of the reaction of orthodox people who make them feel like ignorant pagans.
    so, it's good to be respectful and kind to them, and focus on the beauty of our church rather than the things lacking in their churches."
  • jfarag, that is an untrue and very unfounded statement. Can you prove that protestantism has brought people to Orthodoxy? As a convert myself I find this statement laughable. Protestantism is not Christianity in any way. You do realize the word protestant means to protest and in its context it is protesting the church and everything about it.
  • [quote author=Zoxsasi link=topic=10823.msg131567#msg131567 date=1298626883]
    Even in the holy liturgy - its priest-congregation-priest-deacons responses.. there's no time in the Liturgy to pray for yourself. When can you do that??
    ...
    * God is already willing to forgive us our sins, if we ask for forgiveness and repent. When is there a time IN ANY of these prayers to even contemplate on our sins??? When can we have time to pray and ask for forgiveness for our sins anyway.


    In addition to what mabsoota mentioned, there are also two great other opportunities during the Holy Liturgy, which are specially created for personal prayers, contemplations on our sins and repentence. I really benefit from these unique moments and I hope you will do as well :)

    1) The procession of the Pauline incense and of the Praxis incense:
    While the priest walks through the church, the people confess their sins during offering the incense amongst them. The church encourage people to start a personal prayer shortly before and during the procession.
    Thats also the reason why the priest says the following passage (in silence) after he returns to the altar: "God who accepted to Him, the confession of the thief on the honored Cross, accept to you, the confession of your people, forgive them their sins for the sake of our Holy Name that is called upon us, Let it be according to your mercy, O Lord, and not according to our sins."

    2) The prayer of the fraction:
    While the priest is breaking the Bread, it is a good opportunity to (bow and to) contemplate about the Body of Christ and on the Love He showed to us on the cross, while we are not even worthy and sinning day after day... The church recommends us to use this time for repentance, that He may grant us, we sinners, the forgiveness of our sins.





  • would it be more acceptable if it was termed "brought people to Christ"? 
    And through the people not the 'dogma'*
  • No jfarag. Even as a former protestant I object to the notion that protestantism has "brought people to Christ". Nobody comes to Christ unless the Father wills it. (John 6:64) Protestantism brings nothing but confusion and the only thing it ever did for me was give me the ability to understand it. It prepared me in NO way for Orthodoxy, nor did it bring me to Christ. Christ brought me to Christ. Because I wanted to truth, He showed it to me. The bulk of protestantism wants to believe in a Christianity that suits them. Has Arianism brought people to Christ? Gnosticism, Nestorianism, Islam, Hinduism? Get real.
  • Guys if we can please discuss this calmly in a Christian manner, that would be great. I benefit alot from this site, but I lose that if it just becomes arguments and yelling. (This hasn't happened but I feel some tension).
    :) Thanks


    Please pray for me!  (someone please actually notice this. It isn't a signature and I need your prayers)
  • [quote author=anba bola link=topic=10823.msg131632#msg131632 date=1298684591]
    Guys if we can please discuss this calmly in a Christian manner, that would be great. I benefit alot from this site, but I lose that if it just becomes arguments and yelling. (This hasn't happened but I feel some tension).
    :) Thanks


    Please pray for me!  (someone please actually notice this. It isn't a signature and I need your prayers)


    Sorry I despise this mixing of protestantism and Orthodoxy.
  • Ionnes, I never meant to say protestantISM brought people to Christ, rather Christians who are protestants (neither catholic nor orthodox; many coin themselves simply Christian, follower of Christ, etc) have brought people to know Christ.
    Although i understand your comparison, i feel your relation to the other religions is irrelevant and unnecessary
  • As another former Protestant, I think the best that we can say is that some people may come to Christ through Protestantism. Then again, some people learn to swim by being thrown into the ocean as children, and others learn not to play with matches by burning themselves severely. I wouldn't commend either of those things, as there are far less painful and dangerous ways to learn the same lessons. Granted, God never guaranteed any of us easy lives, but in all cases it's the person's response that may be commendable, not their prior circumstances. If you were a Protestant and are now Orthodox, I have respect for you and the journey you have no doubt been on, and I am willing to concede that every step of it may have been formative in some way. If you are a Protestant who remains Protestant...well, what am I supposed to think of that? Where's the journey? Where's the growth? Where's the understanding of Christianity?

    I think in the case of Protestantism, we can actually chart a de-evolution of sorts, because some of the early "reformers" at least preserved some of the doctrine that is shared by the apostolic churches (I've read quotes from Martin Luther that are full of praises for St. Mary, for instance, with no hint of the modern Protestant stance that "she was just some woman" or whatever). In the succeeding generations, each one has gone off onto his or her own path, away from the narrow path of Orthodoxy. Now "Protestant" includes everything from the relatively conservative Anglicans (and their insanely liberal counterparts, who are somehow also still considered Anglican) to absolutely bananas denominations like "Oneness Pentecostals", Jehovah's Witnesses, and other "Christians" who deny the Divinity of Christ and the reality of the Holy Trinity. Can all of these bring people to God? NO! But God can (and really, really wants to!) bring people out of them, to Him. But since God made loving children and not brainless robots, it requires their assent. Protestants are some of those people who, for one reason or another, have yet to respond "yes" to His call. Some will. Some won't. In either case, let's not pretend that "no" means "yes" and "yes" means "no".
  • dzheremi, what you said is all very true. I feel that some may think that i am promoting the protestant dogma, which is not what i am trying to do, rather simply acknowledge that there followers of Christ who fall under the description of protestantism.
    However, something that makes me very sad is the inaccessibility and relative ignorance and lack of knowledge of the Orthodox church (specifically in the west).  Most have never heard of it and see it as the protestants and catholics competing, and when someone decides to dabble in Christianity, those are the general defaults. 
  • However, something that makes me very sad is the inaccessibility and relative ignorance and lack of knowledge of the Orthodox church (specifically in the west).  Most have never heard of it and see it as the protestants and catholics competing, and when someone decides to dabble in Christianity, those are the general defaults. 

    I agree 100%. I fully believe that if everyone just knew about Orthodoxy we would have people converting on a daily basis. I guess it is up to us to make that happen. Its not really anything fancy either, its just planting the seed by letting someone know that the Orthodox Church exists.

    To leave you with a beatiful verse that relates: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (1 Cor 3:6)
  • In an age where any kind of information can be accessed in an instant, I find it sad that more people have not taken it upon themselves to know the truth. The blame lies on the person, not the church, not God, or anything else. People do not convert from protestantism as much as you may think. Again protestantism is a religion created by the individual for the individual, who is going to leave that? Only people dedicated to seeking the true church in which Christ resides. Protestantism is for those who want to go to heaven but live a worldly life.

    I can honestly say that anyone who leaves the coptic church for protestantism is stupid, and that is a direct insult to the individual.
  • I do think we also need to remember that a large proportion of those attending Protestant Churches have been born into families which worship there. They may well be on all manner of spiritual journeys toward God and have to start where they are.

    But there are also few Orthodox committed to mission among Western people and not much support for those that are so engaged.

    We should not blame those who have never been offered Orthodoxy for not receiving it.
  • I find that the response here has been very harsh. Yes I do agree that some Protestant sects are very far from Christianity but a good portion of them aren't so far. Of course, the Coptic church has a better dogma. That said, why judge them so harshly? One of my favorite parables is about the man with two sons, one of which told him he'd obey him but never did and the other refused to do what he asked of him but ended up doing it. What I mean is they don't have to be perfect in their masses and dogma but they do a lot of good things; they translated the Bible in many languages (including Arabic), they have set up all these electronic versions of the Bible (BibleGateway too which we all use), they have a lot missionaries all over the world, most charities for the poor and homeless in the world are set up and operated by them, they have kept Christian values relevant in the US which has been a rarity worldwide (they have been the main voice against the legalization of same sex marriage for example), and the list goes on.
    I'm not saying they are better than us because they do have more resources than us but we aren't any better than them and either way, let God be the judge of that.
    Secondly, before we start attacking them on why they attract people from our Church why not look at our defaults? Most young people aren't going to sit down and analyze the dogmatic differences they are going to analyze the environmental differences and where they are more comfortable. Unfortunately our church does have some problems in regards to our community structure. Very often people who have done something wrong are exposed and the gossip goes around the whole church to the point the person is aggravated and learns to hate the Coptic church because of this experience and I don't think anyone can deny this happening; I've seen it happen a couple of times in front of my very eyes. I could get into more but I'll keep the rest to myself. Anyways, to these people who see themselves as rejects of the church, many Protestant churches are more accepting and forgiving to them.
    Again, I do not see this as a dogmatic problem but a CULTURAL one so before we accuse them of this and that let's correct ourselves first: "How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?" Let us correct ourselves first.
  • pharoh123, I think you are very gravely mistaken in your view I am afraid.

    You say...

    Of course, the Coptic church has a better dogma. That said, why judge them so harshly?

    I think that this is wrong. The Orthodox Church has TRUE doctrine and the doctrines which are special to Protestantism aere FALSE. It is not a matter of better or not, it is a matter of what is TRUE.

    You say...

    What I mean is they don't have to be perfect in their masses and dogma

    But in fact the Orthodox Christian faith requires us to be perfect in our worship and belief. Who has taught you that it does not matter what is believed? If what is believed is not the TRUTH then it is a FALSEHOOD. You are saying that it does not matter if people believe falsehoods.

    Protestantism does not save anybody. All those teachings which are particularly Protestant are false. People are saved while being Protestants through the grace of God but it is DESPITE Protestant teachings which are not just less good as ours, but they are FALSE. There is not A SINGLE Protestant teaching which I was taught as an Evangelical which is true. There are various degrees of Orthodox truth which remain in various groups, and it is this varying degree of truth which leads people to Christ. But Protestant teachings themselves are FALSE and lead people away from Christ.

    This is not harsh. It is the truth. Orthodoxy is not better, it is true.
  • I am not saying that which they teach is true or false but they do a lot of the things that Christ asked his followers to do. I am not saying people should convert but it's not like they worship idols and wage war on unbelievers...they do a lot of good things too and we must be grateful for that and learn to improve ourselves before faulting others for our problems. People leave not just because the Protestant church is attractive but because the Coptic community becomes more condemning and less comfortable to it's followers.
  • [quote author=pharoh123 link=topic=10823.msg131652#msg131652 date=1298728382]
    I am not saying that which they teach is true or false but they do a lot of the things that Christ asked his followers to do. I am not saying people should convert but it's not like they worship idols and wage war on unbelievers...they do a lot of good things too and we must be grateful for that and learn to improve ourselves before faulting others for our problems. People leave not just because the Protestant church is attractive but because the Coptic community becomes more condemning and less comfortable to it's followers.


    This statement is about as generalized as you can get. Where is the evidence for your claims? And why cannot people distinguish between the individual and the belief? I am, and always will be, criticizing the protestant BELIEF, not the person. Buddhists do many good things and do MANY things Christ asked His followers to do, are they then Christian on that alone? It seems you want to believe that protestantism is Christian, its not. You cannot just make up a religion and call it Christian. Its simple.
  • So let's completely disregard the Christian or not part of this because I'm sure many people here know more than me about this subject. I just want to answer this thread and I want Copts instead of making fun of Protestants  and insulting to realize that Protestants have done a lot of Christianity as a whole and it's not their fault Copts are going to their church but it's our fault for driving Copts away from our church. I remember when I was younger a teenage Copt was ridiculed by a priest in front of everyone; he left the Coptic church and went to a Protestant one. Is that the Protestants fault? Or is it ours? I'm sure that if the priest had taken the young aside and talked to him he'd still be part of the Church. Btw, I'm not saying there is a problem with priests it's just an example out of many I chose, it's a community problem that we have to admit we have and fix before it gets worse.
  • [quote author=pharoh123 link=topic=10823.msg131654#msg131654 date=1298739158]
    So let's completely disregard the Christian or not part of this because I'm sure many people here know more than me about this subject. I just want to answer this thread and I want Copts instead of making fun of Protestants  and insulting to realize that Protestants have done a lot of Christianity as a whole and it's not their fault Copts are going to their church but it's our fault for driving Copts away from our church. I remember when I was younger a teenage Copt was ridiculed by a priest in front of everyone; he left the Coptic church and went to a Protestant one. Is that the Protestants fault? Or is it ours? I'm sure that if the priest had taken the young aside and talked to him he'd still be part of the Church. Btw, I'm not saying there is a problem with priests it's just an example out of many I chose, it's a community problem that we have to admit we have and fix before it gets worse.


    The thing is dogma isn't just words. Its not just something that we believe in, that matters, but not that much. Our beliefs are key to our relationship with God. For example if I believe in Sola Scriptura (Only Scripture, No tradition), I will lose out in my spiritual life by disregarding all that was passed by the apostles by word of mouth. Also, if I believe that it is through faith alone that I am saved, and that salvation happens in a moment, my relationship with God will lose out a little. The devil can use these things to say, "Oh you are already making it to paradise, you can do what you want now." That's dangerous, because then I can go be sinful and lose out on my reward and my relationship with God. Or if I believe that the Holy Eucharist isn't essential for my salvation, I lose partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord. This is really made clear by a quote from an early monk named Evagrius, "If you are a theologian, you will pray truly. And if you pray truly, you are a theologian."

    Now as Orthodox Christians our goal is not to go around  speaking against Protestantism. Certainly there is a place and time to say that the parts of Protestantism that differ from us (dogmatically) are not Christian, and the difference between us and them. HH Pope Shenouda wrote a book about the differences, and how certain Protestant practices are wrong, but he did this in a loving manner, and this is what we have to do. If it becomes out of anger or out of irritation there's a 90% chance that it isn't solely out of love. However, our main focus is to show the beauty of our Church, and if we are able to do that through our words and actions, I can't imagine someone still rejecting it.

    We do have to show others the beauty of Christ and his Bride (the Church), through our actions, and nobody denies that. You are right that we must be more loving. We are not perfect people in any way, and we as people obviously have faults (I know it shocked me too!), but we do have the True faith.


    Please correct me if I'm wrong in anything. The reason that I'm not afraid to post here, is because I trust someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
  • pharoh, I feel like you are not reading anything anyone else is writing. We are not making fun of people or insulting anyone, we are merely pointing out that protestantISM, the belief, is inherently wrong. I would like to ask you, what exactly has protestantism done? Create erroneous doctrines that make people think they do not need a church, or sacraments for salvation? How about making people think that anyone who claims to have "spoken to God" can start a church? How about all these silly, and often times dangerous, cults that have sprang from protestantism? Many muslims, hindus, buddhists, and yes even atheists do many good things for humanity, does that make their beliefs correct because they did good things? Does it make them Christian?

    I am quite offended that protestants continually come on here and try to make it seem as if we are intolerant, ignorant, and downright mean. Everything you have said is speculative. You have no proof of any of this that you claim. WE ARE ATTACKING THE BELIEF NOT THE PERSON. If that offends you, leave, because you do not seem to intent on hearing anything anyone else on here has to say.
  • I was just thinking of another example of how Copts often alienate their bothers and sisters but I think you just examplified it Yoannes.                                                                By the way, I am fully Coptic and my whole family is I'm not a Protestant trying to get everyone to follow my lead. By the way what have I said that needs proof exactly? Also I already agree with you we have better dogma than them but that's often not gonna stop people from leaving . The truth is some people get alienated from the Church and Protestanism is an easy place to turn to. Projecting our faith as better doesn't really solve the problem
  • Pharoh, we project our faith for what it is, truth. I asked for examples of how we supposedly alienate people, you said that I am a perfect example? You have not even read one thing I have wrote because you continually say I am attacking people when I have made it clear that I am attacking their beliefs, do you not understand the difference between the two? The reason I suspect you as being protestant is because of how you speak and act. To you this is an argument about who is better, that is not the case at all. Your ability to misinterpret things and take the conversation down to the level of a mud slinging contest is something many protestants do when they find out just how superficial their faith really is.

    You want us all to be nice about a heretical belief system masking as Christianity and ruining peoples salvation? I am sorry my friend but you will not get that here, from me atleast.
  • I don't understand this. It seems like a stereotype. "Copts (or whoever isn't Protestant; you fill in the blank) alienate people with their exclusivity and harshness towards others; Protestants are the opposite, so welcoming of everyone all the time." I heard that about Catholics when I was Catholic, because they practice closed communion. Well I defended it then, and I'll still defend it now because it's the right thing to do. And not for nothing, but I just wrote my story the other day at the behest of another poster, and in case Pharoh or others who paint the Protestants as the archwelcomers missed it I was kicked out of a Protestant church. These are churches that by and large don't even have a concept of excommunication, and yet they practice exclusion without even holding to a minimum of doctrine by which the excluded could be judged as not holding their same faith (i.e., they have no basis for their behavior, while the churches that they and those of their mindset criticize most definitely do).
  • The truth is some people get alienated from the Church and Protestanism is an easy place to turn to. Projecting our faith as better doesn't really solve the problem

    The thing is our faith is True (with a capital T). Its not a matter that our faith is better. It is the True faith. HH Pope Shenouda wrote a book about the issue of errors in the Protestant belief. The link to it is: http://www.orthodoxebooks.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Comparative%20Theology%20-%20HH%20Pope%20Shenouda%20III.pdf

    Please read it, it is a very good book! Don't even listen to us, but read His Holiness' book and it should help explain everything in a better way than anyone here probably can.
  • I'm really happy to find people defending the Truth that much :)
    However, Zoxsasi started this really important topic and I'm still wondering why some people do move to Protestantism then? What is it that we do or dont't do which cause this to occur so often? And can we do something about it?

    [quote author=anba bola link=topic=10823.msg131632#msg131632 date=1298684591]
    Please pray for me!  (someone please actually notice this. It isn't a signature and I need your prayers)


    May God be with you...
  • I don't understand what this issue is about personal prayer during the Liturgy. Personal prayer can be and should be every single day of your life, how can you complain about there being not enough personal prayer time during the 3 hours a week of liturgy. The liturgy is for worshiping as a CONGREGATION. The point of liturgy is not for personal prayer, its for congregational prayer, thats why we have "congregational responses", thats why the hymns which are 90% straight out of the Bible are suppose to be sung by everyone in the church, its not meant to be sung but just the deacons.

    The point is, if one wants to find God he does so on his own, throughout his life, he worships God in his everyday actions, he spends his days meditating on the word of God, he reads the Bible, studies the Bible, and always performs personal prayers. You don't go to a specific church to FIND God, he is not located in certain areas, or restricted to certain churches. The idea of Church is to unite believers to worship God together. Jesus Christ instituted certain sacraments to the Church, the group of believers, these sacraments are meant to be a help for us, to join us together, and to join us with Christ. Its your decision whether you want to accept the sacraments or not.

    The fact of the matter is, we DON'T know how to worship God, what can we as humans do to worship God? How do you worship the creator? The Bible, the Old Testament, and the New Testament give us these "Holy" traditions showing us how to perform liturgical worship, this is worship that was given to us by God himself, it is him who is saying do these things, sing these hymns, say these words, and you will benefit from them. God is not doing this for himself, he did it for US... So for people to say "I don't like that way, I like to worship God in my own way", hey, thats fine, its not like God will hate you for not doing it His way, its just that you will never be fully satisfied, the fullness of Gods grace goes to those who love Jesus and DO THE WILL OF HIS FATHER (Heres where the "rules" come into play). The most important sacrament is obviously communion, which gives up power over death itself, thats another topic that I don't want to open up here, but you can see why the sacraments and liturgical worship are so important.
  • Adding on to what dzheremi said:
    The whole "Copts hate and are ultra-harsh towards Protestants" stereotype is in fact false and misguided.  If anything Orthodox Christians are usually disappointed that Protestants left, or stubbornly refuse to consider Orthodoxy.  The only harshness I've ever noticed is purely DEFENSIVE in nature.  Example: Many Protestant youth (in Egypt) try to draw in the Coptic youth by asking them to join weekly prayer/religious meetings held at Protestant homes where older Protestants lead in prayers and then push and sell their beliefs.  With time, these Copts don't convert but instead switch places of worship.  Most Protestant groups here don't try to compete with Orthodoxy, but instead try to sell themselves with it.  They don't require membership with their church, and only theirs (so as to not seem closed-off)but leave the doors open, knowing well that most 'switchers' will prefer the fiery sermons and the catchy tunes.  It's this poaching of Orthodox people, that often angers the Copts.  Mainly because Copts feel as if someone is telling them "NO Copts, your 2000-year old religion is not wrong, but misguided, come join us for a prayer meeting and we'll show you how our religion is right, fun, and Christian.'

    I actually know a priest, who upon hearing one of his youth was involved in these meetings [to the point that the visited the kid in his house], physically showed up and essentially took down their misguided beliefs one by one in an open-debate manner.  The 'preacher' evantually excused himself and left the Priest and the kid's company.   But to say Coptics hate or are not warm towards Protestants is just plain out wrong.  Copts in Egypt are always bringing up the reported numbers of Muslim to Christian  converts even though they know that a good percentage of them are converts to Protestantism.  They don't deny their work, or their efforts, or their attempts at bringing people to Christ, if anything they praise it.   Which brings up a sort of philosophical question, is it better or equal for a person to remain in a religion that does not believe in Christ as God, than to join a misguided church that does?
  • Thank you everyone for this beautiful defense of the faith.
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