My friend George had some advice for one of Christianity’s oldest churches.  See the column below ...

Spirituality Column #867

June 27, 2023

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

‘Whoever Says …’  Part 1

By Bob Walters

“I have not written here any anathemas, but warnings.  I hope that what is said will not be lost in the uproar of the mob – but those who are enlightened will know the seriousness of what I wrote.” – Dr. George Bebawi, to the Coptic Church, 2012

An “anathema” is a severe religious untruth.  Think of a heresy on steroids, a poison pill that will kill a doctrine, condemn a soul, and benight the truth of God.

Eleven years ago, my friend and mentor George Bebawi published a 12-point article warning the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Christian church of Egypt, of severe doctrinal stumbles he observed among its leadership.  Written in Arabic, as was most of George’s published writing, I’d never seen the piece until this summer when a mutual friend sent an English translation to me.  Wow.  A theological geek-fest, and sobering.

George died in early 2021.  He grew up in Cairo and was ordained a Coptic priest in the 1960s. He had a PhD from Cambridge University, served at high levels of the Coptic administration in Cairo, was Coptic emissary to the Vatican, studied the ancient papyri (Bible texts and commentaries), taught at various universities including Cambridge, and was a renowned expert on the ancient church, Eastern Christianity, and the church fathers. He knew 11 languages, including Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Syriac, and Arabic.  English, I believe, was his fifth or sixth language.

Studying with George – he taught weekly at East 91^st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis from 2004 to 2017 – meant navigating his thick, multi-cultural brogue (accent), enjoying his middle eastern humor, and becoming accustomed to hearing ancient truths, biblical subtleties, and the names of early Christian doctors of the faith.

George also had an ongoing, multi-decade, internationally recognized row with the Coptic leaders in Cairo – in a nutshell, he considered them too legalistic – and was himself excommunicated and then later anathematized for speaking and writing firmly against doctrinal alterations. Reinstated to communion with the Church in the months before he died, George throughout led a global online ministry of like-minded Copts.

So … that’s what we’re going to do starting today and for the next few weeks: look at those firm “warnings” George issued to the Coptic Church.  The current-day reader, however unfamiliar with Orthodoxy, the Copts, Eastern Christianity, or ancient church structure, will nonetheless discern George’s clear understanding of Jesus Christ.

We all tend to be a little isolated in our own churches and our own Bible studies, cultures, small groups, etc.  George shines a very bright light and casts a very wide net on the great truth of the Church as the Body of Christ for us all.  We’ll do two or three points a week.  Here’s the first one, and I’ll follow up with a comment after each point.

“First: Whoever says that the Church is not the Body of Christ but that it is a social institution or a society of believers only, then he denies his birth from waters and Spirit and has returned to his first birth from Adam that is dominated by death.”

In baptism we must love as the Lord loves and take seriously our position in the Body of Christ; a gift not of this fallen earth but of God’s divine grace.  It is a gift and a responsibility that must govern and animate all corners of our life, purpose, and identity. Otherwise, we remain in the death of Adam, which is all an earthly society offers.

Think about it.  More next week.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) has no beef with the Coptic Orthodox Church, but harbors a profound appreciation for George’s clarity and orthodoxy on so many important and difficult points. Thanks to Joyce Vanatta for sending along this translation.