Coptic Liturgy. See Liturot.
Coptic Version. See Eotptian Versions.
Copts, a denomination of Monopbysite Christians in Egypt Some writers derive the name from Coptos, \ once a great city in Upper Egypt (Wilkins; Pococke), ' but it is generally taken as an abbreviation of the word AiyvjTTOC. The native Christians of Egypt chose this name when the Monophysite doctrines bb- came prevalent among them, and they, on this account, fell out with the court of Constantinople. The Mono- physites chose their own patriarch, while the imperial court sustained an orthodox patriarch at Alexandria. The Monophysites called themselves Egyptian or Cop- tic Christians, and gave to their opponents the nick- name IfeichiteSf i. e. Imperial Christians (from Melek, king ; see Neander, Ch. ffUt. vol. iii).
I. Mistory. — ^The Copts are not an unmixed race. Their ancestors in the earlier times of Christianity in- termarried with Greeks, Nubians, and Abyssinians. After the condcQination of Monophysitism by the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451), the Copts were op- pressed so grievously that, from hatred of the Greeks, they &cilitated the conquest of Egypt by the Moham- medans. We know from the Arabic historian Macrizi (see below) that at that time there were in Egypt only about 300,000 Jacobites, but several millions of Copts. Persecution and intermarrias^es with the Moslems greatly reduced their numbers in the course of time, and laid waste many of their churches and convents. It was not until the reign of Mehemet Ali, in the be- ginning of the 19th century, that they ceased to be a despised race. Some of them have since been raised to the rank of beys. The sad condition of the Coptic Church induced the Church Missionary Society of England in 1825 to send two German missionaries to Cairo for the purpose of awakening among them a new spiritual life. They established several schools and a small theological seminary for the training of priests, where, among others, also the present abuna of the Abyssinian Church was educated. The patri- arch for some time seemed to favor the missionaries, j and to aid their efforts for the education of the clergy i nd the circulation of the Bible, numerous copies of \
which have been repeatedly supplied by the BOile S»> dety (500 in 1859, at the request of Dr. Tattam). TV mission was subsequently transferred to the cai« rf the United Presbyterian Church of the United St^Bi and has since then greatly increased In extent sad m- portance. Several native congregations have bea constituted, and have been organized into the IGsMa- ary Presbytery of Egypt, in connection with the Ges- eral Assembly of the Church in the United St^e^. At the General Assembly for 1867 the foDowis^ sta- tistics of the Presbytery of Egypt were reported: ministera, 9 ; congregations, 3 ; families, 46 ; oocuss- nicants, 126. Besides a number of valuable BBeeiae- schools, there is a theological school for traimng theo- logical students in Osioot. For several years the nor- don has received a contribution of j£1000 aone^ from the mahan^ah Dhuleep Singh, besides occaskni^ liberal donations, the maharajah having met his xnSt in one of the mission-schools at C»Iro. The maia- rajah also presented the missionaries at Cairo with i printing-press, which, up to 1867, has issued « sdeetas of the book of Psalms and 8000 copies of BrowE-t Short Catechism, The Coptic patriarch instttnted & fierce persecution against all the Copts assoiaating in& the missionaries, causing their children to be b^to and withdrawn from the schools, and burning aH tb-; Bibles and other religious books he could lay hands on. The Mussulman authorities at first comiteitaiiced these proceedings, but finally stopped them, m coBue- quence of the representations of the Americui oqbk! general.
II. Doctrines, — It has already been remarked thst the Copts an Monophysites (q. v.). They hold srreE sacraments. They postpone the baptinn of male cb3- dren forty days, and that of girls eighty days, and ad- minister it only in church. In case of emergEBcr. they substitute baptism for anointing. They agm with the Greek Church in using trine immeniaB, and also in the doctrine and administration of the LorIV Supper. Confession among them is rare, and is gn- erally followed by unction. Unction -in geaenl u used among them very extensively in the case of sick- ness, and is administered not only to the sick, but als^ to the by-standers and to the dead. They invoke t^ saints, pray for the dead, and venerate images and rel- ics, but they reject all sculptured representatioiB ex- cept the cross. Their fasts are long, frequent, and rigorous. They observe four Lents — one b^ore East- er, which commences nine days earlier than in the Latin Church ; a second after the week of Peateco»r which lasts thirteen days ; a third after the feast of Assumption, lasting fifteen days ; and a fborth befcn Christmas, which lasts fbrty-three days for the ckf- gy and twenty-three for the people.
III. Worship, — They have three liturgies, called af- ter St. Basil, Gregory of Kazianzus, and Cyril of Al- exandria (see LrruROT), which are translated into Cc^ tic fh)m the original Greek. They continoe to use the Coptic language, though but few persons, even among the priests, underatand it. The liturgical book^ have been translated into Arabic. The reading i^ homOies from the fathen is generally snbstitiited fie preaching. Instead of seats, the congregmtSons are provided with crutches, on which they rest themselves during the service. One part of the wonhip is cele- brated with the clangor of cymbals, in imitatioB ef David's rejoicing before the Lord. The conduct of the priests at divine service is described by all travel- lers as careless, if not iudecoroos. In private, it is saH. they abide more strictly than other Orientals by the prescribed daily services, which, in reference pirobaUj to David's resolution (Psa. cxix, 164), are seven ia number. The full form enjoins the recital of one sev- enth part of the book of Psalms at each service; bet there is a shorter form for the lower classes, contamiBg in each of the seven daUy prayera the ** Pater" terrD, and the ^' Kj-rie Eleison" forty-one times — a string of