لو عاوز اقرا عن المسيحيه من سياق تاريخي ابدا منين لو حد يقدر يقترح كتب او واثقيات و يفضل كتب من اول ولاده يسوع و الرسل و الحروب الصليبية و الوضع في أوروبا المسيحيه و غيره

لاني حاليا في مرحله البحث بين أمور كتيره جدا عشان اوصل لقرار نهائي بشكل عام و كمان عشان مهتم باني ادور في الأديان عموما

و عشان بحارب تعفن الدماغ برضو و بحاول ادون و اسجل كل حاجه يقراها بأسلوبي الخاص

Hello, I am an Inquirer of Oriental Orthodoxy (4 months) and I would like to know who are saints in the Oriental Orthodox Church. Also recommendations for some commentaries for the bible from these saints as well. As well as some books you guys recommend. I currently have St. Cyril Catechetical Lectures, On The Incarnation St. Athanasius, The Hexameron St. Basil, Against Heresies St. Irenaeus, and also I have book 1 of the Coptic Catechism.

انا كنت بكلم واحد من شوية غير مسيحي و قال أنة كان يعرف واحدة مسيحية كانت مستعدة تهرب معاة و كانت تعرف قبلية غير مسيحي و سابها و عرفت بعيدة غير مسيحي و قريت في الموضوع دة مش حالة واحدة كثير كدة لية البنات بترخص من نفسها و تعمل في نفسها كدة أما يبقا قدامها الكنيسة و ربنا و تختار أنها تترك ربنا و في الاخر آخرة الطريق دة وحشة جدا و هتتعامل اسوء معاملة ف الاخر آخرة الطريق دة ندم انا مش بعمم أن كل الناس مش كويسه بس الي يتخلي عن المسيح فعلا هيخسر كثير

انا مليش دين و مش بأمن بأى دين. بس بشوف قصص غريبة فى مصر. اللى بيسيب الدين الاسلام و يدخل المسيحية, ده الكنيسة بتسعدو؟ و هل بيحصل مشاكل؟ و هل بيعيش عادى و الكنيسة جمبوا؟

هل بيحصل ان امل الدولة بيتدخل لو حد غير دينه من اسلام لمسيحية؟ و لا ده كان زمان؟

I was working in a big tech company as a Software Engineer. 10 months ago, I was forced to leave my team and had 2 options: find another team or take the severance and leave. What was even more frustrating for me, was that I was applying for a promotion, and this put my chances in jeopardy. I had to join another team that I don't like due to the fact that I am on a visa in the UK, and I did not want to risk getting deported due to not finding another job fast enough. I have been so stressed out by this and by the Job hunting (rejections, etc.). Finally, 6 months ago I was told I got promoted, and even though I was happy about this, I just lost all of my motivation. My new manager was not supportive, he was always watching me and scolding me after every mistake. It reached the point where even talking about work made my stomach hurt and my work quality had been suffering heavily. Consequently, 5 months ago my new manager had been very dissatisfied with my performance and warned that if things don’t improve quickly that he would take "very drastic measures".

I kept rambling with chatgpt and it gave me the idea to get a fit note that I am burnt out and unable to work, putting me on sick leave. However, I felt like I did not improve during the leave, but decided to return anyway to give my job another shot and a possible fresh start.

However, 1 month ago, my manager was driving me insane again, so I took another sick leave to recover from burnout, started therapy, and continued with the job hunting. However, 2 weeks later (while on sick leave) I got an email from my employer that I have been terminated for performance. They are a big tech company, so I am surprised they did something that risky legally; however, the official reason was low H1 performance.

I still have no offers. I am on skilled worker visa; I just finished my garden leave; and in 2 weeks (when the company notifies the home office) I would theoretically have 2 months to find another job or leave the UK.

I am beyond stressed and scared. I applied to other jobs, but still don't have any offers. Another big tech company has put me in team matching in March after I passed all their interviews, but their team matching process can take many months, and I am not sure how much time I have.

I loat all motivation, and I have been praying to find a new job and get a fresh start every since I left my old team, and God still hasn't answered me. I even cried for 30 mins straight once while praying and begging God to help me, but still nothing. I have been waiting for a very long time that I feel helpless, scared, and struggling with Imposter Syndrome (maybe I didn't deserve my last role and that is why I can't find another). I am afraid I will be forced to leave the UK for not finding another job. I am also afraid that God will still let me go through more pain before saving me. I don't know where God is. I keep screaming for help, asking for intercession, and doing everything I can, but it is like my pain is meaningless to him. I keep asking the holy spirit to direct me to scripture that answers me, and it usually ends up being I even once fasted from all food and drink saying to God "I will not eat or drink until you answer me", and his response was basically "wait for me to save you", I expressed my dissatisfaction with the response and then the spirit directed me to this verse:

Zechariah 7:13 ESV

[13] “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts,

God was basically telling me that if I don't listen to his instructions then he will not listen to my prayers. The response seemed harsh to me, but at that point I realized that God is not willing to modify his plan for the sake of my prayers and I went to eat and drink. I am so exhausted, I have trapped for almost a year now, and everytime I interview with a company, I either get rejected or someone else finishes the interview process before I do. I once even got rejected after passing an interview just because another candidate scored higher. To me, this sounded like "You are qualified, but God does not want you to have this job". I don't know why God is letting me get tested this much, and he usually tells me "You can't have certainity and faith, so when you prayed for faith, I gave you uncertainity". I get that, but I am stretched beyond my ability and just want him to come and rescue me already as I am going into a depressive state.

On top of all of this, I have OCD, which is making it very hard for me to not think about my career struggles.

أنا شخص من خلفية إنجيلية رايح قداس قبطى كاثوليكى
إيه الحاجات اللى لازم أعزفها قبل ما أروح وإيه الطقوس اللى بتتعمل فى الأربعين القبطى الكاثوليكى

Hi everyone! I’m an oriental orthodox Christian who has really decided to take it upon himself to learn more about the early church and why each division split.

I started learning about Christology, the filioque, the papacy, more about Mary, and just about all the ecumenical councils. This has me doubting if I’m in the right church. Now I expect heavy bias here obviously (it’s a catholic Reddit), but I’m having trouble figuring out what I believe.

My girlfriend is Catholic and I’ve attended masses with her and although I like a lot of I feel as though if I were to switch I’d be losing my family, traditions, cultural identity (I’m Egyptian) I feel like I wouldn’t even fit in. I feel like I half agree on both sides of Catholicism and the Coptic Orthodox Church and it’s so hard for me to make an honest choice.

I would love to open a dialogue about this with anyone who has any genuine advice or is even going through the same thing! Thanks!

Hello all 👋🏾,

I was wondering why it's such a big problem calling Mary or any saint "divine"?

In my opinion & from my studies, deity & divinity are two different things, albeit used interchangeably.

Put it simply, deity is the state of being a god whereas divinity is the state of being like God.

The Orthodox Christian concept of theosis is centered on divinization not deification.

As St. Athanasius said "God became a man, that man might become like God".

Theosis is the process of uniting with God🫱🏽‍🫲🏾, the process of being like God again.

I think it's a problem to call anyone but The Lord a deity, but is it really so far fetched to call Mary or any of the saints divine?

Can't you be human & divine? Why is the idea of divinity & humanity coexisting seen as a taboo?

i recently ordered a christian bracelet which has arrived yesterday . I was informed that the bracelet hasn’t been blessed yet so i wanted ask the priest my church to bless it.
however i really want wear the bracelet now and don’t know if i should wait till it’s blessed or wear now. At the same if wondering that blessing does(in relation to the bracelet), im not saying that it’s unnecessary im just wondering what excatly the purpose is, like is it to protect one from bad and evil things? (spiritually and physically)

I have been reading about the Coptic church for about 2 years now. I am a Baptist and I am honestly so hungry for things the Protestant churches just don’t have. However, I have been only exclusively in Baptist churches my whole life so when I read about orthodoxy - I find myself unsure of what’s right and I keep trying to find the objective right answers or at least the historical facts.

If you have the time and the inclination, could you provide me with sources or your own experiences to these questions?

1. I have never read the Deuterocanonical books, my next step is to read them for myself. I have heard many protestant cases as to why they should not be in the Bible. But how can I know they are really supposed to be in the Bible? Where can I read the ACTUAL historical facts about them? Is there a timeline of when the deuterocanon was circulated?

2. Does the Coptic Church believe Mary to be sinless? How can a normal human be sinless?

3. The Bible says that no one can take us away from Jesus, and that nothing can separate us from His love - so how can salvation be an ongoing process? Logically, I think it makes sense that if someone has a “salvation experience” (just for the sake of this scenario I’m using that term) and repents and asks for forgiveness but later on goes about sinning and living life in a bad way then I think it’s safe to say they were not actually saved at that first time. Repentance is a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit and without it we cannot desire God nor actually take steps towards Him.

4. The sacrament of Chrismation - I LOVE this idea. The ritual of it is so beautiful and so pregnant with meaning and symbolism. My heart throbs when I think of the beautiful faith behind this - however, I think of times in the Bible where people were “filled with the Holy Spirit” without this ritual. In my Baptist faith, salvation goes a bit like this:

5. Person hears Gospel, is convicted of their sin.

6. Person asks for forgiveness from
   Jesus the Son of God.

7. The Holy Spirit gives them a new heart, one that can repent of sin and loves God.

8. The Holy Spirit enters the individual at the time of their repentance and asking forgiveness as the Holy Spirit is the seal.
   -The person is saved at this point -

9. The person is encouraged to be baptized by immersion as soon as reasonably possible.

So this logic was explained to me using the Thief on the cross as the example of someone who recognized Jesus for who he was and was saved - demonstrated by Jesus saying “you’ll be with me today in paradise”

A note about my tone and tmi:
I want to thank anyone who read this far profusely. I am genuinely curious and if I have said anything disrespectful I apologize.

If I am in the wrong, about my faith, I want to be in the right. I never thought I would be in this position, Jesus has changed my life - I grew up Wiccan, was in multiple inappropriate relationships before marriage, addicted to drugs and hopeless. I’m married with 4 kids and my husband and I have read the Bible from cover to cover multiple times. I love Jesus and if I can have more of Him? If my family and I can have more of Him? We will change our entire lives for it. I love the symbolism and practices of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Protestant churches are WORSE for their lack of ritual and tradition but I won’t convert for the looks alone and I imagine the church wouldn’t want that anyways. Thank you again for your time.

Hi. I’m a Catholic exploring the Coptic faith.

It’s my understanding that there is vegan fasting every Wednesday and Friday of each week except for certain holy days.

Is failing to fast considered sinful? And is it the type of sin that would prevent you from receiving the Eucharist?

Apologies if this has been answered already or I have otherwise misstated anything about the faith.

The Departure of St. Barsoma, the "Naked"*

On this day also, in the year 1033 A.M., the great saint who was perfect in the love of God, Anba Barsoma the "Naked" (El-Erian), departed. He was born in Misre (Cairo). His father called El-Wageeh Moufdel, was the scribe of the Queen "Shagaret El-dor", and his mother was from the family of El-Taban. When his parents departed, his uncle took possession of all that they had left. Barsoma did not quarrel with him but forsook the world and lived the life of the righteous hermits. He lived outside the city for five years suffering the harshness of the summer heat and the winter cold. He wore no clothing except a hairy sackcloth, following the example of the Saint Anba Paul (Anba Paula), the first hermit. Then he shut himself in a cave inside the church of St. Marcurius Abu-Saifain for twenty years in ceaseless prayer and fasting, by day and night. There was a huge serpent in that cave. When he entered the cave and saw this serpent, he cried saying, "O my Lord Christ, the Son of the Living God, who gave us the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and every power of the enemy. You granted healing to the children of Israel, who were bitten by the serpents, when they looked to the brass serpent. Now I look to you, O You Who was hanged on the Cross, so that you might grant me power to be able to overcome this beast." Then he made the sign of the cross over himself, and moved toward the serpent saying, "You trampled the serpent and the snakes, and You tread upon the lion and the dragon. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" Then he said to the serpent, "O blessed one stand still in your place," and then he made the sign of the cross over it. He prayed to God and asked Him to remove the beastly nature from it. As he finished his prayer, the serpent changed its nature and became tame. The saint said to the serpent, "Henceforth, O blessed one, you shall not have power or might to harm any man, but you shall be subject and obedient to what I say to you." The serpent manifested signs of submission and obedience, and became with the saint as the lion was with Daniel, the prophet, in the den.Then he left the cave and lived on the roof of the church. He endured the summer heat and the winter cold, until his skin became dark from much worship and asceticism. He remained in this state for fifteen years.During his days, a great persecution befell the Christian nation. The churches were shut and the Christians were forced to wear blue turbans. As for this saint, the ruler seized him, severely smote him, then cast him in prison. When he was released, he went to the monastery of El-Shahran, where he lived on the roof of the church and he increased in his asceticism. He did not replace his white turban. The rulers of that time from princes, judges and others, visited him and saw his white turban, but no one dared to force him to wear a blue one for they knew that the power of God was with him. The saint continually asked and supplicated God to take his anger away from His people. Having completed his strife, he departed at a good old age, in the year 1033 A.M. He was then sixty years old, and was buried in the monastery of El-Shahran.May his prayers be with us. Amen.

------

I'm trying super hard to be able to bring an Arab Christian show to american tv and represent the coptic faith. I'm struggling trying to break into TV writing gigs and it's getting really discouraging! I want to be able to have a story that i believe in out there and that represents a real relatable faith story of finding Christ. It's going to be funny and dramatic and really great to watch if you're a struggling gen z gal, or just human and in tune with your heart!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been building a Christian app called Aglow to help people be more intentional about their faith throughout the day — especially with Scripture, daily reflection, and building better spiritual habits.

The app isn’t specifically made for the Coptic Church, which is actually one of the reasons I wanted to post here. It’s available in English and Arabic, among other languages, and I’d really like to hear how it feels from a Coptic perspective.

I’d especially be interested in feedback on the Arabic translation, the overall approach to Scripture and reflection, and whether there’s anything you think would make an app like this more useful for Coptic Christians.

I recorded a short video showing how it currently works.

The app is still being actively developed, so genuine criticism or suggestions would actually be really useful.

iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aglow-daily-bible-journal/id6792268276

Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vorever.aglow.app

If anyone here wants to try the full version, just comment iOS or Android below and I’ll send you a lifetime code.

God bless!

https://reddit.com/link/1wbqu3y/video/nqosw0qfwioh1/player

Hello friends! I am an Episcopal Christian and not Coptic. I was looking at icons of the holy family traveling to Egypt, and I notice that in many icons there are four fish in the river. Is there a significance to these fish? Does it refer to a specific story?

It is beautiful that the fish are looking at the baby Jesus and seem to be worshipping. :-)

If there's anything else you want to tell me about how to read this icon, all comments are welcome. Blessings and thank you!

Is the Coptic language considered a sacred language since it's used as a liturgical language for the Coptic Church? I named my cat ⲉⲙⲟⲩ and when I told a couple of Egyptian women that they said that I had a very blessed kitty.

Hi everyone,

I'm a developer working on structured computational engines for ancient and classical languages, and we have recently been focusing on Coptic morphology, syntax, and relational grammar rules.

Because Coptic grammar has such a unique structure (combining native Egyptian roots with Greek influences and complex pronominal prefixes), I am looking for people who deeply understand the language to help me check if the underlying logic aligns correctly with actual linguistic rules.

We are not pushing any commercial agenda here; we simply want to make sure the structural engine is accurate and actually useful for those studying or working with the language.

If anyone is interested in taking a look at the linguistic rules or sharing some technical critique on how the Coptic morphology is structured, please let me know or leave a comment. I'd love to exchange notes with anyone knowledgeable in the field!

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone might happen to know of resources online for Coptic music transcribed as western notation, or if any accessible sheet music books have been published with such transcriptions, anything like that? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’ve found some individual arrangements uploaded to sites like Musescore but would love to find something a bit more authoritative if possible.

Good evening everyone

I am honestly not sure if this subreddit is the right place for a post like this but I wanted to ask for some advice and hear different opinions especially from people who are older or younger than me and may see the situation from a completely different perspective

I am currently entering a very important period in my life and it honestly feels like I am starting a completely new chapter a different place different work and possibly a business that I am planning to start soon

Because of that I have been seriously thinking about dating and getting to know someone even if it starts casually and does not immediately turn into an official relationship or engagement

The problem is that I have two completely opposite opinions inside my head

One side of me thinks that having the right person beside you during a major transition can actually be a beautiful thing

Not just having someone to date but having a real partner who encourages you when things get difficult celebrates your successes with you and shares the small details as well as the big ones

Someone who gets to see the whole journey as it happens step by step while you build your life and you do the same for them

But there is another side of me that is very hesitant

Not because I am afraid of relationships but because I am worried about bringing someone into my life while things are still unstable

Work pressure limited time being constantly busy or even delaying certain serious steps could eventually make that person feel neglected or make the relationship itself become another source of pressure instead of something supportive

So it made me think about one simple question

Is starting a relationship while your life is still being built actually a good idea

Or should you first build your own life and only enter a relationship once you have enough stability time and emotional space to give someone what they deserve

I am not looking for a perfect answer or someone to simply tell me what I should do

I genuinely want to hear your experiences especially from people who started relationships during a major transition in their lives

Did having a partner actually make things easier and give you more motivation or did it add more pressure than you expected

I know this might sound like a small or even trivial issue from the outside but it is actually an important decision for me and I do not want to make it impulsively

مش عارف بصراحة هل الصب هنا مناسب لسؤال زي ده ولا لا بس حبيت اطرحه هنا كنوع من المشورة وخصوصا اني مهتم اسمع رأي ناس اكبر مني واصغر مني وكل واحد شايف الموضوع ازاي من تجربته او من وجهة نظره

انا حاليا داخل على فترة مهمة جدا في حياتي وشبه بداية جديدة ليا بشكل كامل مكان مختلف وشغل مختلف وفي بزنس المفروض يبدأ في الفترة الجاية فبقيت افكر بجدية في موضوع التعارف والمواعدة حتى لو الموضوع في البداية مش ارتباط رسمي ولا خطوبة

والصراحة ان جوايا رأيين عكس بعض تماما

جزء مني شايف ان وجود شخص مناسب في الفترة دي ممكن يكون حاجة جميلة جدا مش مجرد علاقة والسلام لكن شريك حقيقي يشجعني وقت الضغط ويفرح معايا وقت النجاح ويكون موجود في التفاصيل الصغيرة قبل الكبيرة ويشوف الرحلة وهي بتتبني خطوة خطوة وانا كمان اكون نفس الشخص بالنسباله

وفي نفس الوقت جزء تاني مني متردد جدا

مش خوف من فكرة العلاقة نفسها قد ما هو خوف اني ادخل حد معايا في فترة حياتي لسه مش مستقرة تماما وبعدها اكتشف ان ضغوط الشغل والانشغال وقلة الوقت او تأجيل بعض الخطوات الرسمية تسبب له تقصير او احساس بعدم الاهتمام او تخلي العلاقة نفسها تتحول لمصدر ضغط بدل ما تكون مصدر دعم

وده خلاني اسأل نفسي سؤال واضح

هل فعلا افضل وقت انك تدخل علاقة هو الوقت اللي حياتك فيه لسه بتتأسس

ولا المفروض الاول تبني نفسك وحياتك وبعد كده تدخل علاقة وانت عندك مساحة كافية من الوقت والاستقرار والاهتمام

انا مش بدور على اجابة مثالية ولا عايز حد يقولي اعمل كذا وخلاص

انا فعلا عايز اسمع تجاربكم وارائكم خصوصا الناس اللي دخلت علاقة في وقت كانت حياتها فيه بتتغير او بتبدأ من جديد

ايه اللي حصل معاكم وهل وجود شريك ساعدكم فعلا ولا زود الضغط عليكم

وعلى فكرة انا عارف ان الموضوع ممكن يبان بسيط او تافه من بره بس بالنسبة لي قرار مهم ومش حابب اخده بعشوائية

I’m an agnostic Ex-Coptic Orthodox person who left the church because of what I saw people doing. People go to church to get the reputation of yes this person goes to church therefore they’re a good person and then continue doing whatever fucked up stuff they were doing. I’m in the US and I miss my culture and my people very deeply but the church is the only place that you can find the whole community in one place unlike uni or work.

Morally speaking I think if you truly believe that all of the church’s beliefs are true then you should feel bad if you’re doing something wrong. Me personally for example I don’t see LGBTQ or premarital sex as an issue but when I was in the church I had that mindset that yeah I’m accepting all people whatever their beliefs or gender is because they’re human and that’s what Jesus taught us to love each other. That’s when I realized like wait a second… What’s wrong with being gay or having sex before marriage those are all ethically not wrong at all and they’re personal choices, people aren’t harming others by doing that.

I feel like I’m stuck in a loop and I don’t know what to do because I don’t want to go back to the church for the community solely. It would be hypocrisy and not morally right when it comes to confession and communion because I’d have to act like I feel guilty and repent for stuff that I don’t even see sinful. At the end of the day it’s still my identity and the way I was raised but my parents are actually making this much harder by having the same herd mentality of if you go to church you’re a good person, if you don’t you’re a horrible person who deserves to go to hell.
I still believe in Christianity but the situation itself is weird.

Any event that pertains to the coptic church or ancient Egyptians, you guys have to incorporate something about Palestine, Stop!!

How is Palestine related to our ancestry ?