Beliefs and Tradition
Why is the Coptic Church called Oriental Orthodox?
The Coptic Church is called Oriental Orthodox because she belongs to the communion of ancient Orthodox churches often called Oriental, meaning Eastern. This family includes the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Malankara Orthodox churches.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
The Christological History
The historical division is tied to the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and to the language used to confess Christ. The Coptic Church holds firmly that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, one incarnate Lord. The word Oriental should not be read as an ethnic style or political category. It names a family of churches with a shared ecclesial and theological history.
The Coptic confession follows the language of St. Cyril of Alexandria: the one incarnate nature of God the Word. This does not deny Christ's true humanity or true divinity. It protects the unity of the one Lord Jesus Christ.
The Churches In Communion
The Oriental Orthodox churches share communion with one another. They have their own languages, histories, saints, and local rites, but they confess the same faith and recognize one another as belonging to the same Orthodox family.
That communion matters because the Coptic Church is part of a wider apostolic Orthodox communion with shared faith, hierarchy, worship, and history.
How To Understand The Label
The label makes sense only after the faith is clear. Begin with the Church's confession: Jesus Christ is the eternal Word of God made flesh, fully divine and fully human, one Lord and Savior. Oriental Orthodox names the historical family that has preserved that confession in its received liturgical and theological life.
- Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Dialogue, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States Q&A. Pastoral answer on theological differences and dialogue between Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches.
- Coptic Church and Greek Orthodox Churches, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States Q&A. Pastoral answer on the difference between Coptic and Greek Orthodox churches.
- Christology, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Catechetical lecture on the Orthodox confession of Christ as true God and true man.
- 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.
Oriental Orthodox: The family of ancient Orthodox churches, including the Coptic Church, that share the same non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Christological confession.
Holy Communion: The faithful receiving the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, after baptismal life, repentance, confession, fasting, reconciliation, and pastoral preparation.
Orthodox: Right worship and right belief, naming the Church's received apostolic faith and the life of worship that preserves it.
Confession: The sacrament of repentance in which a person confesses sins before God in the presence of the priest and receives absolution and guidance.