Coptic / OO catechism in English?

dzheremi

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The Copts don't really have a printed catechism in English, at least not that I've seen. The closest we might get in the modern day are probably the handouts given as part of various classes taught by a particular diocese (e.g., the Southern United States diocese had a course on patristics a few years ago), church, or monastery. There is the very old (1892!) catechism of one Fr. Filotheos, which is the earliest that I've been able to find in English, but I wouldn't recommend that one, as the translation was actually made by the Anglicans (for some reason in the late 1800s there was a spate of material by Anglicans about the Coptic Orthodox Church; usually pretty positive, but not necessarily actually reflecting what the Church taught and did and why), and some of the stuff in it seems to have what I would assume is an "Anglican slant" in its wording in a way that seems weird relative to actual Coptic Orthodox writers I've read. Maybe it's just the slightly antiquated English, but I dunno.

Fr. Tadros Malaty wrote an English language introduction to the Coptic Orthodox Church (I think it's just called "Introduction to the Coptic Orthodox Church") in the 1990s that is pretty solid. Again, not a catechism as such, but if you're looking for an entry-level overview in English that is actually understandable (unlike HH Pope Shenouda III's many, many works that clearly did not pass before the eyes of a native English speaker before being printed), you could definitely do worse.

Come to think of it, I do have a little booklet by HG Bp. Sion Manoogian of the Armenian Church. It's about 50 pages and is called "The Armenian Church and Her Teachings", and goes through a bit of the history of Armenian Christianity (e.g., the Armenian translation of the Bible and how it fits in the timeline of other translations), some of the prayers of various Armenian saints like St. Nerses and the theology reflected in them, etc. It's really quite nice, if a bit brief.

From the Syriacs, HH Mor Ignatius Aphrem I († 1957) published a catechism in 1965 (edit: maybe that was the reprinting date for the edition I found on WorldCat, or it was published posthumously; I just noticed this discrepancy; oops), The Shorter Catechism of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. Apparently it's 20 pages, so they weren't kidding with that title. I've never read it, though.

I'm sure there's something from the Ethiopians and Eritreans, but if there is it's probably in Amharic, Tigrinya, or another Ethio-Semitic language so I can't read it. The few books I've seen from them in English have been more like general histories or explanations of their theology presented in academic settings and terms.
 
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anna ~ grace

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dzheremi

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While it is true that HH could be an excellent writer (I prefer his sermons and poetry, but to each their own :)), I wouldn't recommend any of the translations of his works to someone searching for basic information on the beliefs of the Coptic Orthodox Church. I personally own several of his books, and while they are very popular and can be good if you are already Coptic Orthodox and hence already know what HH is trying to say, they suffer from mostly poor translations that sometimes obscure or even distort his points (unintentionally, of course). I haven't read the edition of "The Life of Repentance and Purity" that was published recently by SVS Press (I've heard it's very good), but other than that or anything else you might find that is published by a non-Egyptian publisher (the Egyptian publishers seem to trust their translations and revisions to Egyptians with degrees in English, rather than native speakers), I would steer clear. Maybe come back to HH if you've already been through other, clearer sources, like Fr. Tadros, Fr. Shenouda Maher Ishak, HG Bishop Suriel of Australia, and others.
 
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dzheremi

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Oh, no...no need to apologize for anything, Gracia! HH's books are many, and hence they are likely to be encountered quite easily by anyone who is looking for books from/about the Church, and he is very important to the modern Coptic Orthodox Church. My only point is that in terms of things that might be best for someone looking for an outline or introduction (I know the OP is looking for a catechism in particular, but since we don't have one, this is probably the next best thing), he would not be my first choice due to the problems with some of the translations. From what I've heard, the SVS book is better, but even then I haven't read it myself, so I can't really say.

It is my hope that as the Church grows in the English speaking world, we will see more works produced by native English speaking Copts, or at least people who were raised in the English speaking world, and hence can communicate at a native level. There are hints of that already, with works like the very good Taught By God: Making Sense of the Difficult Sayings of Jesus by Daniel Fanous (I believe he is now Rev. Dr. Fanous; he is also now dean of St. Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Theological College in Australia; this particular work was published in 2010 and there is a forthcoming edition due out soon from SVS). But that is also not a catechism, but a more general theological work (though I think it would be impossible to read it and not come away with a sense of what Coptic Orthodox theology is all about).
 
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