Page:Lesser Eastern Churches.djvu/274



some points of view the Coptic Church is the most interesting of all in the East. It is now quite a small body, but it has wonderful traditions. The Copts are the chief of the Monophysites. That heresy began in Egypt — Egypt was always its centre. Except the Armenians (who in many ways stand apart), all Monophysites look to Alexandria (or Cairo) as the stronghold of their faith. So the Copts form the other great Eastern Church, which we can compare with the Orthodox — great not in numbers, but in ecclesiastical importance. What they have in common with the Orthodox we may put down as generally Eastern; what they do not share is specifically Byzantine. Indeed, the Copts are archæologically more important than the Orthodox. Coptic archæology is the most curious, the most ancient in Christendom. In many things the Copts keep an older custom than the Orthodox. Among Eastern Churches the Orthodox have by no means the most ancient stamp. Their rite is a late one; during their years of prosperity (down to 1453) they developed and modified much of ancient Christian custom. But the Copts are wonderfully primitive. Their isolation, the arresting of their development, happened in 639. During the centuries of their obscurity under Moslem tyrants they have attempted nothing but to keep unchanged the customs of their free fathers. A more faithful picture of the days of Athanasius is kept in a Coptic than in an Orthodox church. And this is natural and right. For the Alexandrine Patriarchate, which the Copts represent, is a far more venerable see than the upstart Byzantine throne which so long domineered over, and spoilt, the Orthodox Church.