Beliefs and Tradition
How does the Coptic Orthodox Church confess the Christian faith?
The Coptic Orthodox Church confesses the Christian faith in full. She worships the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; confesses Jesus Christ as true God and true man; reads the Holy Bible; baptizes in the name of the Trinity; and celebrates the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Center Is Jesus Christ
The center of Coptic Christianity is the Lord Jesus Christ: His Incarnation, Cross, Resurrection, Ascension, and coming again. The Creed, the Liturgy, the Gospel readings, the feasts, the icons, and the hymns all return to this confession.
Ancient worship can look unfamiliar to people formed by a different style of church life, but the faith being confessed is the apostolic Christian faith. The Coptic Church is one of the ancient apostolic churches that has preserved Christian faith and worship from the earliest centuries.
What The Church Confesses
The Church confesses the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation of the Word, salvation through Christ, the resurrection of the dead, Baptism
To understand whether the Church is Christian, listen to the Liturgy. The prayers are offered to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is proclaimed. The people confess the Creed. The Eucharist is offered and received as communion with Christ.
Why The Coptic Shape Matters
Coptic Christianity has Egyptian language, history, saints, and customs, but those serve the Christian faith. The Church's identity is apostolic, Orthodox, and Christ-centered before it is cultural.
- The Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Diocesan overview of the Coptic Church, her apostolic roots, and life of faith.
- Christology, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Catechetical lecture on the Orthodox confession of Christ as true God and true man.
- The Holy Trinity, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Catechetical lecture on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
- Coptic Liturgies, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Overview of the Divine Liturgy, the three Coptic liturgies, and the principal parts of the Eucharistic service.
Orthodox: Right worship and right belief, naming the Church's received apostolic faith and the life of worship that preserves it.
Eucharist: A Greek word meaning thanksgiving. In Orthodox worship it names the sacrament in which bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ.
Incarnation: The mystery that the eternal Word of God truly became man for our salvation while remaining fully divine.
Creed: The Church's shared confession of faith, proclaimed in the Liturgy before the Eucharistic prayer as the faithful stand together in apostolic belief.
Icon: A sacred image of Christ, St. Mary, an angel, a saint, or a holy event. In Coptic practice, church icons are consecrated with Holy Myron and are venerated, not worshiped.
Confession: The sacrament of repentance in which a person confesses sins before God in the presence of the priest and receives absolution and guidance.
Holy Trinity: The one God confessed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one essence and three Persons, worshiped and glorified together.
Baptism: The sacrament of new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, joining a person to Christ's death and resurrection and to the life of the Church.